Showing posts with label Drawing Poems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drawing Poems. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

D is for DRAW - Dictionary Hike

DRAW
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Once again, I was very happy to point to today's word!  (One might think that I was CHOOSING these words - they are so good - but I am not.) When I sat to write this, I first began writing about my own experience of drawing, then I wrote about drawing with a grandmother, and finally I arrived at a cavechild artist.  Prehistoric paintings enchant me, and stories swirl all around them.  And so, I started wondering, "Did cavepeople ever feel nervous about what to write and draw on their walls?"  Sometimes I'm unsure of what to write and draw.  Perhaps they were too.

You may notice two things.  One is that this is a story poem, a fiction story poem much like my poem for letter B.  This one, however, has a little moral at the end: Someday/we will all be gone./But art we make lives on and on. Consider trying this.  After writing your poem, ask, "Does this verse have a moral?  Would it make sense to state the moral directly or to let the readers figure it out for themselves?"   Each of Aesop's fables tells the moral right at the end.

Another thing you may notice is my use of italics.  Many times, I use italics to indicate that someone is talking.  I think that italics look neater in a poem than quotation marks.  So, if you were wondering, "Why those italics?" now you know.

You can see pictures and read more about cave paintings at Wikipedia, in this Google archive of photographs, or at the Bradshaw Foundation.

This week, if you visit Sharing Our Notebooks, you will be able to hear Janet talk all about how she (doesn't) keep notebooks, the way she revisits old ideas, and you (like me) will learn some great revision strategies for your own poems.  You can also leave a comment on that post through Thursday to be entered in a drawing for four of Janet's books, generously donated by Janet!

You can win these books over at Sharing Our Notebooks!

Each day of this project, Lisa V. will write and post a haiku for that day's word at her blog.  You can read all of these over at Lisa's Poem of the Week.  Please join us and share in the comments if you wish!

If you would like to read my poems for letters A, B, and C, just take a look at the upper left hand sidebar!  Tomorrow we hike to the Land of Letter E.

And if you look at the (new!) top tabs, you will see that The Poem Farm is becoming searchable by topic and poetic technique.  Slowly, I am linking to all that is here as I hope this will make this resource more valuable for teachers and young writers. If you have a suggestion for me, please share as I welcome ideas!

Please share a comment below if you wish!
You can like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poemlove...

Monday, February 6, 2012

I Doodle Poodles - Reading Changes Writing

 
Sylvie in the Grass
Photo from the Collins/Fleischer Family

Poodle Doodles
by Georgia & Amy LV

Sylvie at the Lake
Photo from the Collins/Fleischer Family


Stoodlers - I mean Students - sometimes it is just fun to play with words, to feel them in your mouth like food, roll them around with your tongue, let them bounce your teeth. Moments before drafting this poem, I was reading my newest old book, AN ALMANAC OF WORDS AT PLAY (1975) by Willard R. Espy, found on Saturday at Buffalo, NY's Rust Belt Books. Month-by-month Espy's book takes a reader through many many wordtumbles, and just reading made me feel playful!


Remember this - we are changed by what we read. After I wrote the ending of "I Doodle Poodles," I heard an echo of the ending of one of my favorite poems, "The Pickety Fence" by master poet David McCord.

pickety
pickety
pickety
pick.


Who do you want to be like?  Hang around people who will help you be more like you wish to be.  Who do you want to write like?  Read their books!

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul." -- Joyce Carol Oates

Do you think you know the difference between Doodles and Poodles? Find out here!

And if you are over 16 and interested in becoming a Book Giver (a wonderful chance to hand out free books on April 23), this is the last day to apply. Visit World Book Night for more information. I am excited to be a part of this celebration of reading!

Sylvie at Home
Photo from Photo from the Collins/Fleischer Family

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