New Baby at Heart Rock Farm

Nora Nuzzles Her Baby

Photo by Amy LV

Mother and Child

Photo by Amy LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Look who's here!  Our newest addition, yet-unnamed.  This morning I woke up to (my husband) Shepherd Mark's voice, "Nora gave us the most beautiful white lamb last night.  It looks like it's a week old!"  And so she did.  And so it does.  Welcome to this new child, a bouncy haiku on an emerald of a day.

In celebration of new life and another joyous spring morning, I am thrilled to share this beautiful Poet-Tree made by Susan Kellner and her first grade students at Harold O. Brumsted Elementary in Holland, NY.  Some of you may remember Susan's lovely poet-tree from 2012!

A Vibrant Poet-Tree Grows
Photo by Susan Kellner

Close Up of Leaves

Photo by Susan Kellner

Thank you to Catherine Johnson for sharing my fiddlehead poem from FOREST HAS A SONG at her blog today.  On Wednesday, she'll share Shepherd Mark's recipe for a delicious fiddlehead frittata, this year's Mother's Day brunch at Heart Rock Farm.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Love Letters and Chalk Poems

Writer Tree

by Amy LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today's poem is about the season we are in right now.  Spring.  When this time of year rolls around in Western New York, we are always very ready for it; winter is long here.  And it always feels like there is one magical day when all of the trees mail their leaves to the sky.  I notice it every year, and every year I marvel.

Today's poem relies heavily on a technique you may have heard of -- personification.  In this verse, I make the trees like people, writing.  We know that trees do not write, but in this poem they do. In this poem, they are like people who feel hope and relief and even joy.

The first two stanzas each have an ABCBDB pattern (every other line has the same end rhyme), but the third stanza is shorter.  To me, this makes it feel more finished, breaking the pattern and all.

There's a bit of alliteration (same beginning letter repeating) too.  Can you find it?

It is an honor today to welcome kindergarten teacher Betsy Hubbard and her kindergarten poets from Fern Parsons Elementary School in Olivet, Michigan.  Many of you know Betsy from her warm, rich blog, Teaching Young Writers, and her students' families also know her through her classroom blog, Hubbard's Headlines.  Some of you might even remember when Betsy and her students visited The Poem Farm last June with their book, RHYME SCHOOL.  Today they share their chalk-a-bration poem, written at the end of April, National Poetry Month.  What a fantastic idea!  I welcome Betsy and her students....

Photo by Betsy Hubbard

Chalkery

It doesn't take long,

not hard to find a space.

Go get some chalk

and poetry the place!

~Betsy Hubbard

Back in March of 2012 my husband was outside with our children doing chalk on the driveway. He got the idea to write some song lyrics. This idea of writing words on our driveway spread. I started writing poems on our driveway, then my husband started writing poems too. 

I began thinking, what if others shared writing underfoot? What if someone, somewhere wrote their favorite poem or an original poem and someone else stumbled upon it? I felt a rush of excitement at the idea of someone’s day getting a smile from shared words. Chalk-A-Bration was born! 

Throughout last year, poets, students and my family shared poems and illustrations during the summer months. This year I decided to share the idea with my students again, and we got to work. We went outside with our writer’s notebooks and scoured for ideas. We illustrated our topics and lines as a planning tool and together wrote a shared poem. In partners, students illustrated each line of the poem in chalk outside. We put it all together and had our poem in pictures for everyone to see. It was a great way to celebrate the end of poetry month with kindergartners.  Here is our poem in pictures and in words:

Senses Outside

by Mrs. Hubbard’s Kindergarten Class

Smelling flowers that smell like lemonade

a red bike

a can

a spiky ball

green tree

green grass that grows

hearing owl -- whoo, whoo

a yellow dandelion

a stick shaped like a Y

and those were our senses outside.

About chalk-a-bration, Saige says, "I like doing it (chalk-a-bration) because it is so beautiful, and I like doing the poetry because I get to make my own stories and pictures." 

Sophia says, "I like poetry because its fun writing and drawing pictures to go with your writing." 

Reagan says, "I like to draw with chalk, it is fun to do things like this with my friends. I love all the colors of things."

Chalk-a-bration is on May 31st, and I am also hosting Poetry Friday that day at Teaching Young Writers! I would invite any and all chalk holders to join in the chalketry celebration. It can be an original poem, a personal favorite, or an illustration to a poem. Anything poemy will do.  When you're done getting dusty, post a photo on your blog and link it to teachingyoungwriters.blogspot.com on celebration day! You will be in good company. And, you can even come back on June 30th, July 31st or August 31st to do it again! 

Don't you just want to get out and chalk?  I do!  Remember....May 31 at Betsy's place. Thank you so much to Betsy and these young poets for filling The Poem Farm with joy today.

Today I am guest blogging over at Kirby Larson's blog, Kirby's Lane, a wee bit about writing and the two selves I must be to do so.

Ed DeCaria is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Think Kid, Think! Stop by and check out the menu of poetry fun all around the Kidlitosphere this week.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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One - A Sad and Happy Cat Day

Little Wilbur

Photo by Amy LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Friday was a sad day and a happy day.  The sad part was that kittenWilbur died. He was the runt of Freya's litter, and he lived for six weeks. We'd named him after Wilbur from CHARLOTTE'S WEB, in the hopes that he too would survive.  But it was not to be. We tucked Wilbur's body into a tiny box, and in the rain, Mark buried him in our little graveyard underneath the pear tree.

The saddest picture we've had here at our farm in a long time is the picture of mother Freya licking her little Wilbur, trying bring him back to life.  Writing today's poem helped me to do something with the teary feelings   I held in my heart that night.

The happy news was that Phoebe (Freya's sister), who had two dark gray kittens as of Friday morning, gave birth to two more (sandy and orange) on Friday!  This was a complete surprise as we did not know cats could do that.  The four new babies are doing well, and the three (six week) old kittens are now ready for homes.

Update on May 14, 2013 - Third grade teacher Jennifer Wright and her students read this poem and allowed it to inspire their own heartfelt and honest poems of loss.  Jennifer explains her lesson and shares some very beautiful poems at her wise blog, Teaching Simplicity. 

Phoebe and Her Four Kittens

Photo by Amy LV

Today I bring you two poems by student friends.  The first is by fifth grader Grace McCormick, who some of you remember from Sharing Our Notebooks.  Her class decorated their door to match FOREST HAS A SONG cover, and Grace's poem was written on one of the leaves.  This joyful verse celebrates red boots, something the girl in my book wears on many many pages.

Red Boots

by Grace McCormick

Dakota's poem comes to us from Silver Star School in Vancouver, Washington.  School librarian Ms. Mac from Check It Out always invites anyone who wishes to request a poem postcard in April with a poem written by a student in her school.  I was lucky enough to receive this powerful one.

by Dakota M.

Thank you, young poets, for sharing your poems with all of us!  We are very grateful.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Moon Mama and a Poem about Writing

Phoebe and Her Two New Kittens (Born Wednesday!)
Photo by Georgia LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today's poem grew from a real farm happening this week.  We foster kittens here, but we've never had kittens born here because we have our own cats spayed and neutered.  Well, we were fostering a pregnant mother, Phoebe, and it was such fun to wait for her kittens.  On Wednesday, they were born...two tiny snugglers.  

In writing today's poem, I wanted to honor Phoebe and her sister, Freya, who is taking care of four kittens of her own up in our barn.  After all, Sunday is Mother's Day!

Freya and Her Four Kittens

Photo by Georgia LV

So, I just began writing and writing, and the whole poem shaped itself around the idea of the moon.  I loved that image.  Then, on purpose, I repeated words: kitten, treasure, moon, snuggle.  What was the hardest part of writing this poem?  The ending!  I believe it took me as long to write the last line as it took to write the whole rest of the poem.  Sometimes writing is like that, but having faith that your hard work and persistence and willingness to wait for just-the-right-words, often gives you just the line you wish for.

Four of Freya's kittens are ready to be adopted right now, so if you are interested, please drop me a line to my e-mail address at amy at amylv dot com or leave a message in the comments.  We are in the Buffalo, NY area.  Here's a bigger picture of them for you to see!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms and teachers and friends of children everywhere!  And children, a poem for your mother is a splendid gift!

Hope and Kittens

L-R: Tundra, Guinevere, Wilbur, and Otter

Photo by Amy LV

Today I am very grateful to welcome kindergarten teacher Nicole DiBattisto and her students from Quest Elementary in Hilton, NY.  Last week, I had the good fortune to visit Quest as a visiting author.  I know many of the teachers at Quest from writing workshops, and it was a delight to see them again.  Librarian Stephanie Harney had students share poems in their pockets (and in her husband's shirt pockets), and the day was full of festive poem fun! 

Nicole's young students wrote a poem about writing poems, and I had the chance to read it. After being charmed by their words, of course I asked if Nicole would be willing to share here.  She was, and so I welcome Nicole and her poets to The Poem Farm today! 

Isabella, Tessa, and Madison 

Photo by Nicole DiBattisto

Write A Poem

by Mrs. DiBattisto's Class

Look at the world in a different way.

Look through your heart.

Write.

Break the rule

use white space

Wow how cool.

Sometimes a poem is long.

Sometimes a poem is short.

Maybe it will have a song.

Maybe it will repeat.

Maybe it will rhyme.

Write a poem...

anytime.

This how it all came about:

1.      I threw out the idea of writing a poem about poems.

2.      We started talking about what we knew about poetry and how to craft a poem.

3.      Kids started saying what they knew.

4.      I typed their words.

5.      We looked and read  what we had and moved things around, added some, and took things out.

6.      I guided the students to think about how we could include what we know about poems into the actual poem.

7.      We added some rhymes, noticed that we already had repetition and white space.

8.      We read it a few times and decided we liked it the way it was.

And there it is!  An absolutely delightful how-to poem about writing.  Thank you so much to this class and to Nicole for sharing this poem and their process with us today.  I imagine that many many students will be reading it for inspiration for their own poetry.

I would also like to extend a special thank you to teacher Joe Long and his fifth graders at Iroquois Intermediate in Elma, NY, for surprising me with their beautiful classroom door decorated as the cover of FOREST HAS A SONG.  Around the edges of this door, you see leaves filled with poems - theirs and mine.  Illustrator Robbin Gourley (I sent the photo to her right away) and I were simply tickled.

Door Decorated by Fifth Graders and Teacher Joe Long

Iroquois Intermediate

Photo by Amy LV

Anastasia is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at her poetry blog.  Visit her place to check out what is happening in the poetic Kidlitosphere today!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Returning with a Daydream

Let the Cat Out of the Bag!

Photo by Amy LV

I'm back from Screen-Free Week, a week that I spent free from my blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  I did use my cell phone, did take care of work related e-mails, and I read a few other blog posts.  But my screen time was seriously diminished, and that was a gift.

Here are the last two sketches from Drawing Into Poems, my daily drawing/seeing/writing study into poetry from April  (I took a break for Screen-Free Week).  You can read more about this month-long project here on my April 1 post.  I am so happy to have taken this time to slow down and focus on my seeing.

Day 29 - Rocking Chair

Click to enlarge the drawing.

Day 30 - Mancala Board

Click to enlarge the drawing.

Here is my last poem inspired-on-purpose by my April sketches. This one comes from the fountain sketch I made on my last day in Fort Worth Texas for the Texas Library Association Conference.

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Well, I was away for a week, and it is good to be back!  But it was good to be away too.  I transplanted a lot of roses and spent some cuddly time with our kittens, went for lots of walks, worked on a new manuscript, and fried up some dandelion fritters.  All of these were good reminders for me to balance screen time with screen-free time.

You'll notice that today's poem has four short stanzas.  It's quite close to what I jotted in the margins of my fountain sketch, but the part about spitting is new.  New and necessary! You'll also notice that I've repeated the phrase "I want" three times.  (Wishes seem to be on my mind lately.)

Parents - You might be interested in the post I wrote for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books blog including some ways to be screen free with children, and I also have a post at Pragmatic Mom about writing poetry at home with children.  Please feel free to share these if you find them useful.

Much much gratitude to my friend Renee LaTulippe for her enchanting story about FOREST HAS A SONG this week over at her magical blog, No Water River!  Renee knows how to make a person feel very special, no question, and this post made me beam.  I feel very lucky.  FOREST is also very happy and grateful to receive an enthusiastically lovely review from Wendy Lawrence over at the family that reads together.

I had a fabulous time at the Texas Library Association Conference last week.  It was an honor to be part of two panels, both organized by Sylvia Vardell, and it was a delight to see old friends too.  Thank you, Sylvia, for all of your hard work and hospitality, and thank you to Marianne Follis, Chair of the Children's Round Table (of the TLA), for having this idea and having us all to this wonderful conference.  Over at Poetry for Children, you can watch video clips of poets reading at the 9th annual Poetry Round Up here and see all kinds of photos of P*CON here.

Friends at TLA from Left to Right

Editor Rebecca Davis (WordSong), and Poets Charles Waters,

Me, Charles Ghigna, Rebecca Dotlich

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Goodbye!

I am participating in Screen Free Week
from Monday, April 29 through Sunday, May 5. 

In the meantime, I invite you to pledge to unplug with me.

Let's play outside! Let's make something!

One Charming Fountain

Welcome to Day 28 of Drawing Into Poems, my daily drawing/seeing/writing study into poetry.  You can read more about this month-long project here on my April 1 post.  Feel free to read the books with me and pull out your own sketchbook and jewelry box full of metaphor too...

Day 28 - Waterless Fountain

Click to enlarge the drawing.

Students - I notice that this month, I have been pulled toward sketching many artistic objects.  There is something about interpreting an object that was conceived of by another human, something different from drawing nature.  I feel a connection to the person who made this fountain, this person I will never know.  And I think I'm getting better at some small elements of perspective too.

This blog and The Poem Farm Facebook page will be dark from Monday, April 29 - Sunday, May 5 as I am participating in Screen Free Week.  I welcome you to unplug with me!  

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!