The Running Space – a collaborative experience and poem

The Running Space

Running up hill and then down, and then up hill, and then down the hill, and then up . . .

Picking grass . . . a whole bunch

Awesome

Running down

Falling Down

Bald eagle

Down hill

Action Running Space

Fly, fly, fly, I was determined to fly

Following, talking

Mixing . . . really fast

Jumping

Digging for treasure

Eating soup

Like climbing up a mountain

We made cupcakes and donuts

Going down, down the mountain

Fast as lightning

Looked down, it was scary

The bug was playing with me

Go down the hill holding hands

Pinecones and dirt . . . a whole bunch

Rolling down the hill . . . dizzy

. . . I didn't know where I was going.

  Up the hill . . .

  and down the hill. . .

  Mixing. . . making cupcakes

Picking grass . . . a whole bunch

Digging for treasure. . .

    We invited the children to reflect together about their shared experience hiking to the space Opal School calls The Running Space. During an afternoon meeting, aided by photographs taken on the hike, we listed the class' reflections in the form of a collaborative poem. By sharing language and mental images from each member of the community, we assembled and created a shared image, synthesizing their individual experiences into one work. Through
this experience the children were offered the opportunity to create
shared meaning through individual memories of being together. As we read the poem back to the children, a collective image formed that they will all carry of this special place named by children before them as the Running Space.