Writing the Rainbow Poem #5 - Tumbleweed

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2017!  Students - Each day of April 2017, I will close my eyes, and I will reach into my box of 64 Crayola crayons.

Aerial View of Crayola Box

Photo by Georgia LV

Each day I will choose a crayon (without looking), pulling this crayon out of the box. This daily selected crayon will in some way inspire the poem for the next day.  Each day of this month, I will choose a new crayon, thinking and writing about one color every day for a total of 30 poems inspired by colors.

I welcome any classrooms of poets who wish to share class poems (class poems only please) related to each day's color (the one I choose or your own).  Please post your class poem or photograph of any class crayon poem goodness to our fast-growing Writing the Rainbow Padlet HERE.  (If you have never posted on a Padlet, it is very easy.  Just double click on the red background, and a box will appear.  Write in this box, and upload any poemcrayon sharings you wish.)

Here is a list of this month's Writing the Rainbow Poems so far:

March 30 - Pick a Crayon, Write a Poem - Project Introduction 

(Comment on this 3/30 post for book drawing through 4/11)

April 1 - Misty - Inspired by Carnation Pink

April 2 - Each Morning - Inspired by Lavender

April 3 - Outside My Building - Inspired by Dandelion (!)

April 4 - Mr. B. - Inspired by Olive Green

And now...today's crayon.  Tumbleweed!

I Pretend

by Amy LV

Students - I did a little bit of tumbleweed reading to write today's poem.  I've never seen a tumbleweed in real life, and now I want to see one (and hear one) very much. Tumbleweeds are parts of certain plants that break off and tumble away in the wind, bringing their seeds and/or spores with them.

You can see some pictures about tumbleweeds and learn more about them at Wikipedia HERE or at DesertUSA HERE.  I love that some people call tumbleweeds "wind witches."  And I guess that some people even decorate with tumbleweeds.  You can buy them here at Dried Decor.  Isn't that funny?  (I kind of want to buy one and blow it around my living room.)

You can hear a simulated tumbleweed sound...or perhaps it is a real tumbleweed sound...below, recorded by McCosbury Studios.

You may have noticed that this month's poems are all centered around one child's life and around the apartment building in which this child lives.  Sounds play an important part in our days, and so thinking about the color tumbleweed made me think about the sound a true tumbleweed would make.  One never knows the path one's writing mind will take when tickled by color!

If you write a poem today, you might choose to think about sound too.  Is your color associated with a sound?  Might you make this sound the central idea for your poem?

Colors can take us anywhere.  And if you'd like to join in with us on our WRITING THE RAINBOW PADLET, please do!  It is growing like crazy, with calendars and videos and poems and book suggestions.  Please join us!  We're only 1/6 of the way through our month-long poetry rainbow!

Don't miss the links to all kinds of Poetry Month goodness up there in my upper left sidebar.  Happy fifth day of National Poetry Month. 

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Elf Owl and Second Grade Gifts

Happy greetings from All Write!!! Summer Institute 2013.  It has been wonderful to be in Warsaw, Indiana, celebrating reading and writing with so many new and old friends.  I was so excited to be here that I got my days confused and actually posted early, by accident! Happy Poetry Every Day!

Elf Owl

by Amy LV

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

Students - Elf owls are very small birds, about the size of sparrows.  They are desert birds who live in saguaro cacti in the southwestern parts of the United States and in Mexico.  For today's poem, I pretended to be an elf owl and to speak as an elf owl.  Learning new facts and spinning them into poems is one of the most joyful parts of my life.  You will easily find the repeating line...and maybe you will notice what is perhaps my most-proud-rhyme ever!

This spring, I had the good fortune to Skype with Barbara Lehn's second grade class from Willard Elementary in Concord, Massachusetts.  After we talked poetry and visited (even some pets) through our computers, the students burst into a flurry of writing their own poems.  I was very lucky to receive a whole envelope full of notes and poems which I am pleased to share with you for today's Poetry Peek.  Simply click the poems to enlarge them.

by Anna

I would like to say many thank you hugs to Barbara Lehn and her class full of poets and readers.  I very much enjoyed my first-ever-Skype ever with them, and one of these young poets, Matilda, expresses my gratitude best -

by Matilda

May you all enjoy the many gifts of poetry all summer long...and throughout your lives.

It's still not too late to register for Kate Messner's Teachers Write! free online summer writing camp.  I'll be visiting for a session, as will many other authors, and it's a wonderful way to get back writing in community and in your own home at the same time.  Kate Messner offers many gifts to the Kidlitosphere, and it was her Kid-Lit Cares: Superstorm Sandy Relief Effort that connected Barbara Lehn's class and me through educator, author, and mother Linda Booth Sweeney. Linda bid on my books and Skype visit, and I'm so glad she did.  Thank you!

This week at Sharing Our Notebooks, I am so happy to have my friend Emily Krempholtz generously offering a look into many of her notebooks, past and present.  This blot has been a bit fallow of late, and I could not be more grateful than to have Emily bring it back to life. Please stop by and get re-notebook-inspired and enter Emily's giveaway too!

If you happened to miss Monday's post, please visit it if you'd like to learn about Professor Cathryn Smith's poetry pole, a wonderful thing indeed!

Today Carol is hosting Poetry Friday today at Carol's Corner.  Visit to discover a variety of poetic picture books and find a multitude of links to all poetry goodness in the Kidlitosphere today.  Next week, I will host the festivities here and hope to see you back.

In the meantime, here is a writing technique for you to try, from second grader Caroline!

by Caroline

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