The Puzzle and The Poem

It was time to reformat the dough session, to introduce it in a more formal, ‘academic’ way..... The crossword puzzle was created. ... The students became fascinated with this newest literary tool and its structure: squares, carefully placed, on the blackboard where chalk had been used, previously, to illustrate letters, numbers, words and phrases for the day’s lessons. ... The class looked and wondered at what those squares meant. ... What was their significance? ... Soon the students realized these simple little boxes might contain letters that together would form words, words they knew. ... Their interest grew in this latest thinking game.

After the morning announcements, the word retrieval game began. ... With each clue- Across or Down- a new word was added. ... Momentum was building. ... What were these words?...  The students were having fun. ... Filling in the blanks was easy. ...  Yeast dough was nowhere to be found, yet the class’s attention was as if the object of their affection had been present all along. ... Each new word helped to form another one or two, up or down, no one knew. The letters of one word linked the student’s thinking into the next one. ... The excitement grew as the ‘squares’ came to life.

Occasionally, the class attempted to figure out what the puzzle meant without help from the ‘Across and Down’ clues... At the outset, the maze of words seemed daunting until the seeming 'random' letters, in their respective squares, began to "light up the board."... A picture was now forming, in the students' minds, of what some words ‘looked like’ ... As one student walked by the puzzle, he looked at the longest ‘series’ of squares, along the bottom, and began mouthing the words, ”It’s the car------bo---------di--- word”, he muttered to the assembled crowd. ... No clue had been read...The rather large number of squares hinted that it might be “carbon dioxide”. ... He was certain of it. ... And so it was.

Then came the poem.  The story of the making of cinnamon buns in Mary’s class was now  poetry.  “Cinnamon Buns” grabbed the attention of the class... What they had been learning was now in print, in something formally called a poem.  The Primary Intensive Language class now had a ‘story’ written about them and Mary to honour their efforts in making the famous and favourite classic, cinnamon buns. ... “Cinnamon Buns” used words, familiar to the students, in creating a print illustration of the class’s efforts in making the famous treat. .... The poem was light and informal. ... It could be called literature. ... The word at the end of each line rhymed with the word above it, line by line, everything in harmony, like the melody in a song. ... Mary’s name was included, making the poem special and personal for the each of the students in her class.

As we introduce novel ways to engage at-risk students, we begin to show them the vast universe that awaits their participation. ...  It is endless. ... The point of novelty is to engage the child in  conversation, reading, writing and thinking in a continuum that is forever expanding. ... And at the center of this gigantic experiment is the brain and its capacity to change in an instant and forever. What we, as parents and educators, must be mindful of the trajectory of our children's lives, in a week, month, or year. Our direction is simply that, a plan to take them to that happy thinking place where their dreams and learning can begin to take hold, unfolding in extraordinary ways!