Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My Birthday - Poems about Occasions

Calendar
Photo by Amy LV


Happy birthday to all leap year babies!

Students - Today's poem is a holiday poem, a math poem, and a riddle poem! The other day, when I sat down to write, I got thinking about what a special year this is...leap year! I stopped to think about those with birthdays on February 29 and how they can only celebrate their true birth date every four years.

Writing a math riddle poem is a neat little exercise.  Just come up with a math problem in your head (or on paper) and then play around with it and with words, turning it into a verse.

Having a leap year birthday puts a person in a special sort of club, much like being a lefty. And so of course, there is a group you can belong to. It's called The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies. You can read about why founder Peter Brouwer founded this group here at the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

Did you know that there is a special newspaper that only comes out on leap days?  It's in France, and it's called La Bougie du Sapeur!

To read about some children who have leap year birthdays, check out THE WASHINGTON POST.  To read a bout a leap year couple, check out npr.  Too, npr has some suggestions about how to spend this extra 24 hours...

And now for a few words from Marilla, NY native, Scott Gowanlock, about having a leap year birthday.

I love having a leap year birthday because I can trick people when they ask my actual birthday. They don't actually believe I am actually five years old, so when I show them my license, they are amazed. Also, 75% of the time I can have a 2-day birthday because I was born in February so we celebrate it on the 28th, but I was also born the day after the 28th which is March 1. This gives me a 2-day birthday! We usually celebrate it on whichever weekend falls closest to the day, either before or after.

When I was born, I was supposed to be on the news as I was the first Buffalo leap year baby born in 1992. However, on that same day, a woman had her second leap year baby so they interviewed her instead.


Thank you, Scott.   Happy birthday!

Did you figure out the answer to this poem's question?

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4 comments:

  1. Very fun. It is a special day! There is a colleague at school who celebrates her wedding anniversary on this day. Guess they won't forget it, ever. Thanks Amy!

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  2. This is wonderful, Amy! I'm sending it on to a friend whose daughter is celebrating her leap day birthday today. :)

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  3. Amy, I was searching for leap year material, and stumbled upon your poem. I see it's been posted for awhile, but I'm excited to share it with my students this year, as we will be marking the leap year with a share about grandparents. That's because my grandfather was a leap year baby! I'm so happy to discover that you are, too, and that you have a poem just for this special status. I remember celebrating my grandfather's 18th birthday! :)

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  4. Dalila, What fun that your grandpa was a leap year baby! I actually am not, but it was fun imagining that I am. :) I hope you share about what you write about grandparents for this neat day. xo

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