Write About a Process & a Peek

Almost Socks!
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about one of my favorite hobbies...knitting! I have been knitting for almost 40 years, as I learned when I was a Rotary exchange student in Denmark. While I am still nowhere the knitter I wish to be someday, I regularly take on small challenges (this week a bit of lace in a winter headband) and so get better inch by inch. For many years, I began many hobbies and abandoned them because it took too long to become good at them. I wish I had learned about the importance of mistakes sooner.

This week you may wish to write about something you have made or about the process of making something. Try listing me-made things in your notebook. Or maybe....make a list of mistakes you have made and write about one of those. Mistakes make much more interesting stories than perfection does. I love making things so much that I wrote a whole book about it - WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.

Today I am grateful to welcome Kensley, a writer from Alden Intermediate School in Alden, NY. Kensley is a wise young person who understands the importance of writing not only to connect with others but the importance of writing to connect with ourselves and to heal our own hearts. Thank you, Kensley, for joining us here today.

I, for one, will be keeping Kensley's advice close at hand as like Kensley, I, too, have found writing to be a good friend in times of sadness and grief. Thank you again, Kensley, for your generosity in sharing your words and advice with us.

Linda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Word Edgewise with a cool poetry mash-up. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Here in Western New York this week, it is snowy and chilly. May words keep all of you warm, wherever you are.

xo,

Amy

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Listen to Your Secret Self

Mushrooms in Strykersville Cemetery, Strykersville, NY.

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I wrote today's poem from a photograph taken earlier in the week, on a walk through a cemetery near my home. And where did this poem come from? I don't know. I have read poems about mushrooms being quiet, and truthfully, this poem just arrived. I wrote a line, read it out loud to myself, and listened to my secret self to know and write the next line. I recommend this. Listen to your secret self as you write. We each have a secret self, and it can be a good friend to us as we create poetry or other art, but secret selves can get lost in the hullabaloo of life if we don't make time for them.  (I protect my secret self by giving it quiet time and by not watching violence or spending too much time consuming media.)

One thing to notice about this poem is its long lines. I considered breaking it up into shorter lines as I often do, considered adding more punctuation. But I decided not to do either of these things, because, as I read the poem aloud, I enjoyed its breathless, quick feeling, as if the speaker is telling the listener an important secret that must be told right away. I rather like how the lines all run together even though I may decide to change this one day in the future. This poem gives a bit of advice, something you might enjoy offering in a poem sometime.

Know this: your poems are yours. You can write them one way today and change them tomorrow if you wish. Your mind is a wide meadow filled with endless surprises, and you may write these poems in whichever way brings you the most joy.

I am happy to share that my friend Gart has once again made music to go with last week's poem. You can hear his joyful voice of Fox HERE, as I have added it to the post. Thank you, Gart!

Thank you to the students, teachers, and administration of Alden Intermediate School in Alden, NY for welcoming me to your school so warmly this week. I loved speaking to and writing with the third and fourth grade students and look forward to more time wiht fourth grade and also fifth grade next week. I am still thinking about the student poems I read over the past two days, reminded once again how young people write so deeply, clearly, and honestly.

Catherine is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today at Reading to the Core with a celebration of Irene Latham's newest book, THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON and an original poem to go with it. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

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I Never Told Anyone This

Brain Boat

by Amy LV

Students - Today's little poem is about something I actually do. And something I have never told anyone else about. Isn't it interesting how we each have a completely personal inner life that no one can enter? For me, the transition from awake to sleep is mysterious and interesting, and sometimes I do imagine floating my brain on a little boat...to give it a break from my thoughts. You are the first people I have shared this with.

So, there's a writing idea. Three actually. You might wish to:

1. Write a poem about something you have never told someone. You are welcome to change the details of course.

2. Write a poem that gives advice as this one does. Your advice may be about anything!

3. Write a poem about something that goes through your head when you are falling asleep or when you wake up in the night or morning.

Remember, it helps a lot to read your poem out loud to yourself as you write it. When I am not sure what to write next, I read what I already have aloud...and the next words appear in my mind.

And...news! On Tuesday, I am excited to share that my new book, THE SOUND OF KINDNESS, beautifully illustrated by Teresa Martinez and published by Magination Press, will be out in the world. I will be having a little party at The Bookworm bookstore in East Aurora, NY, and you can see details about this in my sidebar.

Learn More About This Book Here

(a few pages, educator guide, read aloud video)

Tabatha is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today at The Opposite of Indifference with an assortment of treats including a poem by Geoffrey Brock. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I wish your brain a glorious journey...by day or night! It is your very own brain, and I wish it well.

xo,

Amy

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Give Some Free Advice...in a Poem

Students - Today I enjoyed writing another poem about the moon. Irene, as you will see below, is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup and invited us all to write moon poems. Writing is funny - sometimes I love choosing my own subject, and sometimes I love being assigned a topic to write about. If you're ever not sure what to write, try asking someone to give you an assignment. You can even give yourself an assignment by filling a jar or bowl with little slips of paper, each with a different writng topic. When uncertain, choose a slip!

Sometimes I do lay awake at night, thinking all kinds of thoughts. Today's poem is a reminder to me - and to all - that Old Moon will always listen. How lovely to imagine our thoughts as future moonlight. This is also an advice poem, offering advice for what to do when one cannot sleep. Might you offer advice for something you have experienced or even simply imagined?

One last thing to think about: as you write, read your poem aloud. Often, to write a new line, I read aloud what I have written so far. Then...the next line almost writes itself.

Irene is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today at Live Your Poem with a moon celebration to welcome her forthcoming book THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON: THE CURIOUS OBJECTS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

May your wishes all turn to moonlight on this eve of a new July.

xo,

Amy

ps - Did you notice that today's poem is all one sentence. Go back and look. It is!

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Give Free Verse Advice

amylvpoemfarm · Sometimes It's Simple - a poem by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Students - Have you ever watered a plant? When I water plants, I almost think I can hear them whisper, "Thank you." Sometimes it really is the smallest, simplest act that brings a person joy. Here's something to try: pay attention to every small part of a day. Which bring you clear happiness? Keep a list of these things. Maybe one day you will wish to write long about one of them.

Today's poem does not rhyme and does not have a special rhythm. But the lines are short, and they are short so that a reader slows down while reading. I have decided to call this a free verse advice poem.

Here is one of my freshly watered plants. It says, "Hi!"

Happy Plant

Photo by Amy LV

Catherine is hosting this week's Poetry Friday party over at Reading to the Core with a magical book recommendation and the magical poem one of its paintings inspired her to write. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

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Poem Pep Talks & A Poetry Peek

My Pencil Case and Current Notebook

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I have been out of my normal writing routine.  Some good family things, and a big and different writing project have pulled me away from my notebook. These things have been good.....but oh, how I have missed my notebook.  I feel like I have been missing part of me.

So when I began writing this morning, I really did need to give myself a pep talk.  I wrote and wrote to myself about how much better I feel when I am writing regularly, and how much easier it is to write when writing is a habit.  Good habits help with living, yet sometimes I let my habits go.  Then, I must happily chase them down again.  That's what today looks like.

As way led onto way in this morning's notebook writing, my pep talk became a poem.  I thought I was writing it for you.  But if I am honest, I will tell you that I wrote it for you...and for me.  The words in this poem are true for me.  I hope that it will give me courage when I think to myself, "I don't know if I can find a writing idea today."  And I hope it might help you too.  Just begin.

We all have struggles in life, and sometimes writing a pep talk or a pep talk poem can lift a person up.  You might choose to write a pep talk or a pep talk poem for a friend or a family member...or for yourself.   The way we speak to each other and ourselves changes our thinking.  So writing to ourselves in positive ways matters and makes a difference.

And now...a Poetry Peek!  Today I could not be happier to welcome second grade teacher and author Mary Anne Sacco from P.S. 290, The Manhattan New School in New York City.  Mary Anne is author, with Karen Ruzzo, of a book I love, SIGNIFICANT STUDIES FOR SECOND GRADE, a book that I know helped inspire my own EVERY DAY BIRDS.  

Available through Heinemann

The Cozy Writing Home of Our Grade 2 Poets

Photo by Mary Anne Sacco

by Mary Anne Sacco 

This winter’s second snow day in NYC was announced the day before it occurred. I perused The Poem Farm, as  I do often, when looking for some mentor poetry to use with my second graders.  Even though the first day of Spring was only a week away, on this Snow Day Eve, we found ourselves reading aloud John Rocco’s BLIZZARD.

Available at Your Local Book Shop

We read these two poems from Amy. 

That evening the students had these poems in their home learning packet as mentors to help them write their own snow day poems.

It’s March and we have been using poetry in our home learning packets and in class since the beginning of the year. I also immersed the kids in a short December poetry genre study.  We focused on list poems and poems of address.  The most powerful teaching came from studying a few mentor poems. And these young writers are still holding those lessons with them. The slashes in some of these poems you'll read indicate the places where the students are planning their line breaks. 

My students love poetry and many of them choose writing a poem as a home learning choice to share with the class or a family member.  

Here are a few poetry writing tips from my students.

A Tip from Gillian

Tips from Serena and Georgia

Here are some Poetry Hands.

Poetry Hands Write

Photo by Mary Anne Sacco

Poetry Hands Make Books

Photo by Mary Anne Sacco

And here are some poems students wrote for snow day home learning.

by Olivia

by Conor

by Shiloh

by Georgia

by Aidan

by Caitlin

Some of these students' winter poems, as well as their spring poems, will soon be included in home learning packets too.

Thank you so much to Mary Anne and these poets for joining us today, during the first week of spring!  We can write about any weather at any time of year...and now as we totter between winter and spring, we thank you for these celebrations of snow.

Please allow me, too, to share a beautiful book about snow days.  If you do not yet own BEFORE MORNING, by poet Joyce Sidman, do not miss this enchanting work of art.

Available at Your Local Book Shop

To honor today's poets, I will offer a giveaway of Joyce's book, to be sent to a commenter on today's post.  I'll draw names next Thursday, March 30...and will announce the winner next Friday as I host the Poetry Friday, Poetry Month Eve festivities and share my April Poetry Project.  (If you think your class might like to play along this year, pull out some crayons.  I'm buying a new box of 64 Crayolas.)

Catherine is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup and Kwame Alexander's new OUT OF WONDER at Reading to the Core.  Please stop by and visit. We share poems each week, and everyone is always invited.

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J. Patrick Lewis: My Earth Day Guest

Happy Earth Day!

Veronica: A Small Gift from Earth

Photo by Amy LV

It is with great pleasure that I introduce my guest blogger today, former US Children's Poet Laureate (2011 - 2013)  and winner of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Award fpr Excellence in Poetry for Children...J. Patrick Lewis.

Take it away, sir!

J. Patrick Lewis

Photo by Robert Donaldson

As April is World Habitat Awareness Month as well as National Poetry Month, I thought I’d combine the two themes in one poem.

In fact, this poem, Make the Earth Your Companion, is the title of a gorgeous forthcoming book from Creative Editions, 2017. (I’ve seen the art by Anna and Elena Balbusso, sisters from Italy.) So I'm delighted Amy has given me a chance to share it pre-publication.

Make the Earth Your Companion

Make the Earth your companion.                    
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do.
Let the Sky paint her beauty—she is always
                  watching over you.
Learn from the Sea how to face harsh forces.
Let the River remind you that everything will pass.
Let the Lake instruct you in stillness.
Let the Mountain teach you grandeur.
Make the Woodland your house of peace.
Make the Rainforest your house of hope.
Meet the Wetland on twilight ground.
Save some small piece of Grassland for a red kite
                  on a windy day.
Watch the Icecaps glisten with crystal majesty.
Hear the Desert whisper hush to eternity.
Let the Town weave a small basket of togetherness.
Make the Earth your companion.
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do. 

© J. Patrick Lewis

If I’m asked to say what is the first thing to do if you want to be a poet, it’s simply this: Be a reader. Never trust anyone who writes more than she or he reads. (Thanks to Samuel Johnson for that quote over 200 years ago.)

Start every day with a poem—and end it with a poem. 

Read poetry out loud, even if you are all alone in a room.

• Poetry is song. Poetry predates books and the alphabet. 
• Reading good poetry aloud resonates through your entire body.

Imitate other poets.

• Imitation is not plagiarism. Remember: You are not writing for publication; you are writing for practice.
• Choose your favorite poems and write parodies of them.

Thank you so much, Pat, for joining us today.  It is a privilege to share this space with you and a delight to read your wise and beautiful poem celebrating our planet.

Jama is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Jama's Alphabet Soup with a beautiful and delicious celebration of one of my favorite new books.  Enjoy all of the offerings, and please join in as you wish!

I will be back later today with Wallow in Wonder 22!

And in the meantime, in celebration of Earth Day, I am hosting an Earth Day giveaway of FOREST HAS A SONG on Twitter.  Please find me there at @amylvpoemfarm to enter.

xo, 

Amy

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Wallow in Wonder Day 19 - Eat It - Advice Poems

Welcome to Day 19 of Wallow in Wonder!  For my 2016 National Poetry Month project, I will celebrate learning and writing from learning, writing poems from each daily Wonder at Wonderopolis.  As I did with my Dictionary Hike in 2012, I am looking to surprise myself with new inspiration daily.  This year, such inspiration will show up in my inbox each morning.  I will print it and carry each Wonderopolis Wonder around all day...and in the afternoon or evening, I will write and post the poem for the next day.  

I invite anyone who wishes to take this challenge too.  Just read today's wonder over at Wonderopolis, and write a poem inspired by it for tomorrow.  Share it tomorrow at your own site, and if you wish to link in my comments for others to find (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.  If you would like to share any ways you have used Wallow in Wonder or your own site (safe for children only please), please feel free to do so in the comments.

My April Poems Thus Far

April 1 - So Suddenly - a poem inspired by Wonder #1659 

April 2 - Thankful Journal - a poem inspired by Wonder #1660

April 3 - The Storm Chaser - a poem inspired by Wonder #779

April 4 - A Jar of Glitter - a poem inspired by Wonder #641

April 5 - To Make Compost - a poem inspired by Wonder #1661

April 6 - Deciding Now - a poem inspired by Wonder #1662

April 7 - Hummingbird's Secret - a poem inspired by Wonder #1663

April 8 - Limits - a poem inspired by Wonder #1664

April 9 - Sundogs - a poem inspired by Wonder #1665

April 10 - Perspective - a poem inspired by Wonder #128

April 11 - At the History Museum - a poem inspired by Wonder #115

April 12 - Seventy-Five Years Ago Today - a poem inspired by Wonder #1666

April 13 - Homer's Poem - a poem inspired by Wonder #1667

April 14 - The Right - a poem inspired by Wonder #1668

April 15 - 5:00 am - a poem inspired by Wonder #1669

April 16 - Writing - a poem inspired by Wonder #1670

April 17 - Sometimes - a poem inspired by Wonder #194

April 18 - Once - a poem inspired by Wonder #192

And now for Day 19!

Wonder #1671 - from April 18, 2016

A Friend in a Bowl

by Amy LV

Students - Greetings from Houston, Texas!  I usually write to you from Holland, NY...but I am at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference this week.  I am very thankful to Scholastic for bringing me and to Pomelo Books for inviting me to be part of this panel with some of my favorite poets.

Today's poem came at a good time for me, right on the day I was suggesting that my own child eat some chicken noodle soup. It's been a sicky winter for our family, and so soup has been a good food to have around.  

Reading the Wonder about chicken noodle soup, I was interested by the fact that it really does seem to have healing properties.  I am a fan of comfort foods, and it's neat to think about how both the ingredients and the love in a food can help us to feel better...in so many ways.

Can you see how I have woven just one rhyming word through this poem.  It took a bit of time to make it work, as I always insist to myself that my rhyming poems make total sense...but I think I did it.  And as I do like to do sometimes, I did bring that first line around to the end again.

Today's poem is an advice poem, trying to convince someone to do something. Have you ever written an advice poem?  If you're not sure what to write about today, you might make a little list in your notebook of pieces of advice you might give - to a person, or to an animal, or to something else.  Perhaps a poem idea will spring from this list!

It is my privilege to host teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada at Sharing Our Notebooks this month. This is a fantastic post full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie. Please check it out, and leave a comment over there to be entered into the giveaway.

Happy Day 19 of National Poetry Month 2016!  

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Advice for the Voice in Your Head - Advice Poems

Keep Trying, Keep Learning
Photo by Amy LV

Students - At the top of this post, you can see a couple of rubber stamp question marks.  I carved them from erasers last Sunday.  And even though I KNEW that the question mark needed to be carved in backwards in order to stamp properly...I forgot.  Oops, but it's okay.  I carved another one.

Each one of us has a voice in our head that is made up of many different voices we have heard before: voices of our parents, voices of our teachers, voices of our friends, voices of book characters and sometimes voices people who are have not been nice to us.  We hear this voice when we feel brave or scared, when we make decisions about what to do and what not to do, when we decide how to think about our mistakes.  And as we get older, we can learn to choose (it takes some work) which voice we will listen to when we think about our own successes and failures. Will I listen to a kind voice, or will I listen to a critical voice?

I have done a lot of reading about growth mindset, and I believe very deeply in learning to train my own voice to see more possibilities than problems.  One book that is helping me with this right now is a great book titled RISING STRONG by Brené Brown.  I like to read books that help me become more thoughtful about my actions, and sometimes when I write, this reading comes out in the writing.  Today it popped out in the form of an advice poem!

Available at Your Local Bookstore

What is something that you believe strongly?  Each of us has ideas about ways to live better, and writing is one way to share these ideas along.  You might want to make a list of ideas you have, ideas that might help other people live more happily.  Then you might choose to write an advice poem of your own.  What would the voice in your head like to tell the voice in someone else's head?

You may have noticed that today's poem says to smile through the failure as well as at the point of success.  This may be because I am also listening to an audio book right now...by a Buddhist teacher named Pema Chödrön.  She teaches us about how life is a balance between pain and pleasure, and she explains that it is healthy to learn to accept pain and pleasure equally as neither lasts forever. Since life is always changing, why not choose to accept every part of it and smile?

Another reason I am smiling today is because it was fun to repeat that same rhyme (do it/through it/blew it/knew it) over and over!

In other news, it is an absolute delight to be visiting Keri Collins Lewis and her beautiful chickens (yes, chickens) over at Keri Recommends today.  This was my first chicken interview ever, and gosh...I hope I get to do another someday.  I even brought my own chickens along!  Thank you, Keri-and-chickens, for having us to your cozy farm and for asking all about EVERY DAY BIRDS. 

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I am happy to host Stacey Dallas Johnston and her high school students from Las Vegas, Nevada!  Peek into Stacey's notebooks and learn about how she and her students notebook on the West Coast of the United States.

Heidi is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at My Juicy Little Universe.  Don't miss her enchanting small poem about a nest's wonderings as well as all of the other poetry goodnesses on this last Poetry Friday of March.

Next week is April 1, both April Fools Day and the first day of National Poetry Month! I will be hosting the festivities here with an announcement of my own Poetry Month project, still in its development phase.

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Day 25 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 25 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Rattlesnake, Rattlesnake.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Ms. Simon's students from Jefferson Island Road Elementary in New Iberia, Lousiana have figured it out! You can hear them singing this silly tune below. Well done!

Welcome to Mrs. Doele's third grade class from Wealthy Elementary in East Grand Rapids, MI.  They are singing about our dear rattlesnake in full voice here.  Such fun!  Thank you to all of the classes who have taken on these challenges; I have truly loved sharing this songpath with you.

           

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Great Grandma Elsa's Handprint

Handprint Taken by Edythe Toebe

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This poem is dedicated to my friends who have lost loved ones. When something sad happens, writing a poem can help you understand your own feelings.

Today's poemsong grew from a couple of places.  One is the heartplace in that several of my friends have lost loved ones recently.  When I was a young girl, and now too, I would think about how strange it is that in the very same moment on the very same day, one family somewhere will rejoice in a new baby when somewhere else, at that exact time, another family will mourn the loss of someone dear.

This poem also grew from admiration I have for Marie Howe's poem, My Dead Friends, which is about asking the dead for advice.  This part is especially meaningful to me.

From Marie Howe's Poem, My Dead Friends

If you read many many poems, then bits and scraps of these poems will come out of you in lines of your own poetry.  So, read great things.  Ponder these great things, and let them become part of who you are.

If you were wondering about the photograph accompanying today's poemsong, it is an inking of my Great Grandmother Elsa's hand with a flower from our front garden. My Great Aunt, Edythe Toebe (Aunt Tom), read palms for a while, and she kept a book of inked handprints along with her readings.  Most of the people were friends of hers, people I do not know, and someday I may look them up.

Would you like a hint about the remaining six tunes for Sing That Poem?  Here, in this last week of Sing That Poem...is the biggest hint I've given this month.

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