Poems Can Make Statements

Disconnected

Photo by Louise M.

Students - We all have things in our lives that trouble us, that we see as worries or dangers.  For me, one of these things is the way that technology connects us...but sometimes seems to disconnect us even more.  Today's poem explains the way I feel sometimes.  Perhaps you have felt this way too.  Life is full of ups and downs and beauties and concerns.  

And we can write about any and all of them.

We can comment on the world through our poems.  And when we're lucky, the poems we write will meet others at the right time for them.  Most of the time, we will never even know when this happens.  But we still write.  I would love to read some statement poems by young writers, so if you're writing them, please feel free to share them with me through your teacher.

Writing can lift the world.

Speaking of goodness, over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I am happy to welcome third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her third grade writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey.  Take a peek at their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a new notebook of your own!

Thank you to Librarian Jone McCullough for featuring my READ! READ! READ! with illustrator Ryan O'Rourke over at Check It Out today!  There's a giveaway for the book, thanks to Boyds Mills Press, so if you leave a comment by next Thursday...you may win a copy.

Catherine is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup by celebrating the wonderful new book CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR: POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP by Irene Latham and Charles Waters over at Reading to the Core. Please visit! 

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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

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

Wallow in Wonder 22 - After a Week in Foster Care

Welcome to Day 22 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

April 19 - Eat It - a poem inspired by Wonder #1671

April 20 - Chatty Green Tomato - a poem inspired by Wonder #1672

April 21 - This Argument We're Having - a poem inspired by Wonder #1673

And now for Day 22!

Wonder #1674 - from April 21, 2016

Counting

by Amy LV

Students - You may have picked up on the fact that today's poem ends with missing someone, just as yesterday's poem does.  Why is that?  I am not sure, but again, sometimes a writer has a theme running through his or her mind without even realizing it, a sort of background music, perhaps, that affects what he or she writes.  Maybe I am missing someone...

Thinking about yesterday's wonder, never having been a child in foster care or a parent caring for a child in foster care, I imagined how I might feel if I were a child in this situation.  As you read in the Wonder (if you read it), there are many reasons that children spend time in foster homes.  And while foster homes serve an important role in helping families and children get the space and shelter they need, it must be very difficult for a child to move into a new strange home for a period of time.  I imagined how I might feel, even if my parents were struggling as parents, living in a new place for a little while.

This is a list poem, beginning with a list of all of the things that are good and healthy in the imaginary writer's foster home, yet it ends with a twist.  A twist that reflects upon how although there is much good, there is still deep love for family and loneliness for them.

Making a list and then reflecting at the end of it is an interesting poetic structure.  You might wish to try this out, with a serious topic such as I did...or with a more playful subject.  Explore all kinds of techniques and topics with your poetry.

It is a treat 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 22 of National Poetry Month 2016...Earth Day!  If you did not see my post featuring the wonderful J. Patrick Lewis from earlier today, please catch it HERE.

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!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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

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