I Build, Fun Poetry Mondays, and Poemdesigns

Our Daughter Hope Built a Stool
Photo by Amy LV

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

Students - Today's poem is a shortie and a sweetie.  It is about something that I believe is very important: making things.  I love making things, and I love watching other people make things too.

Did you notice how each line except the last one begins the same way and then the last line is an invitation?  I very much like inviting readers right into a poem.  What do you build?  (Me?  Poems!)

Today I am very happy to welcome second grade teacher Laurie Luft and her students from Terry Taylor Elementary in Spencerport, NY.  I had the opportunity to visit their classroom in June, and I learned about something new and neat: Fun Poetry Mondays. Welcome, Laurie and students!

Teacher Laurie Luft

Photo by Librarian Mrs. Paul

Click the arrow to hear a Fun Poetry Friday welcome!

The Fun Poetry Friday Folder

Photo by Laurie Luft

Have you ever heard of Fun Poetry Mondays?  This was an idea that my student Meghan had for sharing poems over the loudspeaker of our school each Monday after announcements.  She quickly had three other students get on board with her idea: Trevor, Arriyanna, and Taylor.  They planned and practiced.  First, they decided to write and share theme-poems about famous people.  Then they worked on the roles each one of them would have in the group,

The Fun Poetry Monday group met daily, wrote the opening and closing "jingle", decided on the poem to be read the following Monday, and then practiced the announcement. It was so exciting to see a student-driven project like this come out of one student's love of poetry! 

I was the facilitator and would check in with the group periodically throughout the week to provide guidance and make suggestions. The group performed three Fun Poetry Mondays during the month of June, and I am so proud of them for their creativity, collaboration, and ability to apply those 21st Century critical thinking skills on this real-life project. 

These students got to share their love of poetry and their project idea with Mrs. VanDerwater when she visited. They were so excited! 

Meghan wrote and shared a poem about Amelia Earhart.

Amelia Earhart 
by Meghan

I will find her.
I know I will.
Amelia Earhart.
Her story is sad but I will find her.
She should be somewhere in the Howlind ISlands.
I will.  I know I will.
Amelia Earhart wrote a letter
to her husband
Before she left on her big flight.

It said...

"I want to do it because I want to do it.  Women must try to do things as
men have tried.  When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

Meghan and Amy with Meghan's Poem

Photo by Laurie Luft

Click the arrow to hear Meghan read her poem, "I Will Find Her".

Trevor, Arriyanna, Taylor, & Meghan with Amy

Photo by Laurie Luft

It was an absolute delight to visit Laurie Luft and her second graders, and I was so happily surprised to find this wonderful slide show of our time together at the class blog.  Thank you, poet friends and thank you, Laurie Luft, for opening your classroom to me.

Today I also welcome George Welgemoed with two more poemdesigns for poems he found here.  In each of these designs, George has used either his own or his son's photographs (yes, that is George's son's tarantula), and then, through filtering and various brushing effects, he brings the imagery to life. Notice how he uses different fonts and colors to create a mood for each poem. If you click on either one, you will be able to read the poems. I have made a special place here at The Poem Farm for George's work, and you can find it by clicking on the Find a Poem tab above, and then following the link to George's art.

Click to enlarge and read the poems.

Sherry is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Semicolon, and Matt Forrest is hosting over at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme. Poetry Friday is EVERYWHERE.

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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Big Cat & Kindergarten RHYME SCHOOL

Oscar & Houdini (Both Need Homes!)

Photo by Hope LV

 

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

Students - Whenever these last days of school come around, I find myself thinking about changes.  How have my children grown and changed?  How have students I know grown and changed?  How have I grown and changed? Because we have kittens in the house right now, I am also watching them change day-by-day.  All of this rolled together into today's poem.

You will notice that "Big Cat" begins with the speaker comparing him/herself to a kitten.  I wanted to keep this same comparison through my whole poem, and you can see this in stanza two, especially in the verbs playing, pouncing, and pawing.  In the third stanza, the speaker is a grown up cat...a year has gone by.

It's neat to do this, keep one comparison throughout a poem.  Pay attention to your writing - if you discover that you have a strong metaphor in one line, ask yourself, "Hmmm....might I carry this through more than one stanza?"

Today I am thrilled to welcome kindergarten teacher Betsy Hubbard and her students from Fern Persons Elementary School in Olivet, Michigan, on one of their very last days of school.  It is a treat to host a writing party for them here at The Poem Farm!  

Teacher Betsy Hubbard

Photo by Shawn Hubbard

This school year has been a huge one in terms of my growth as a teacher. I have stepped out of many boxes this year and almost everything I did here with students was a first for me and a great experience.

My kindergarten students love reading and listening to poetry all year long. However, in April they enjoyed new adventures in poetry; writing their own! To find inspiration, the students first explored walking trails, creatures under logs and leaves, and a floral garden. With their writer's notebooks students made lists of observations, listened to quiet sounds and drew pictures of what they saw. Each student wrote poems about their outdoor adventures and drew matching illustrations with everything from watercolors to chalk.

Tyler and Lane Peek Under the Leaves
Photo by Betsy Hubbard

Zoe...
Photo by Betsy Hubbard

...Peter...
Photo by Betsy Hubbard

...and Kden Record Observations in Their Notebooks
Photo by Betsy Hubbard

We explored all kinds of poetry written by all kinds of poets, and we even listened to several poems from Amy here at the Poem Farm and peeked into other classroom poetry journeys.  From all this exposure, students began to learn about what makes poetry so interesting. VARIETY! Onomatopoeia, rhyme, and alliteration make poems appealing to the ear, while free verse can have a sound and meaning all its own. My kindergarten students learned from each other and shared their poetry with classmates, teachers, and third grade buddies who commented on their hard work.

Comment Compliments

Photo by Betsy Hubbard

Each student made a book of poems to treasure, and we taped comments to the back. This positive feedback was both a motivator and confidence builder. Students then had the task of choosing a favorite poem from their personal collection, and we created a classroom poetry anthology to collect all of their poetic memories!

I gave each of my students their personal copies of the anthology yesterday and told them they were each published authors. One young poet came up to me and said, "My mom is going to be so proud of me!"

I send many many thanks to teacher Betsy and all of her poet students for joining us today and for sharing their warm words and joy-filled illustrations. Congratulations, poets, on your class poetry anthology! I know that you will keep this book, Mrs. Hubbard, and each other in your hearts forever.
For more inspiration, you can follow Betsy Hubbard's blog at Teaching Young Writers.

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