From a True Story to a Bit of Advice

Just Getting Gas

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's small free verse poem grew from a real experience that I had this week, one that I keep thinking about. I simply wished to hold onto this bittersweet memory (so sad, but so many people stepped in to help) by shaping the minutes and hours of that day into a poem to keep. I realize now that it is a bit of an advice poem, offering advice to myself and possibly to readers.

Consider paying close attention to your own life this week, to the small lessons you learn when you listen to your heart. Where have you been? What have you seen and heard? How have you grown? How might you shape this all into a memory or memory-and-advice poem for yourself or others? 

Feel free to use the words You might....

Our lives and stories matter. When we write about them, we learn. And once in a while, we may even teach without even knowing it.

As you may remember, a few weeks ago I had the good fortune to write color poems with the third graders of Greenacres Elementary School Greenacres Elementary School in Scarsdale, NY. We are lucky that Teacher Amy Correnti and her students are generously sharing their crayon color poems with us today. Enjoy these poems, noticing how one hue can bring a person to a character, to a moment, to life!

Thank you, Poets, for sharing with us today. I know that many of us will look for colors and see them in new ways this week thanks to you.

Denise is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Dare to Care with a sacred seven poem and information about some upcoming poetry happenings. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.

If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

with a parent or as part of a group with your teacher.

A Memory & A Guest

Hello, friends! I have just returned from a long trip away from home, visiting a few schools and feeling very lucky. Thank you to all at Sicomac Elementary School and Washington Elementary School in Wyckoff, NJ for your warm welcome this week as I had the opportunity to visit and write with first and second graders. It was wonderful to be in your schools again. Now, though, I am back home for the summer, gardening, making jam, reading, knitting, writing in my shed named Gratitude and planning school visits for next year.

Florence Conolly Dreyer

Students - Today's poem sprouted from the beginning of a poem I wrote a few weeks ago while visiting a school. Again and again I am reminded of the helpfulness of a notebook for the gathering of ideas. Just as we gather ingredients in cupboard and refrigerator before preparing a meal, we can gather words and memories, wonderings and facts into our notebooks before preparing a piece of writing. Every piece of writing need not be a finished piece of writing. Rather, any piece of writing can inspire another. So those little jottings count and matter!

It is interesting to write about food and the memories that come with food. HERE you can watch an old video I made in Betsy the Writing Camper. It teaches how to make a food timeline to inspire memories. There are 71 other such videos at my YouTube channel.

The picture you see above of my grama was likely taken around 1920. I did not know her then but am fortunate to have an old family scrapbook with many treasured photographs like this one. The lemon memory comes from around 60 years after this photograph was taken.

And now for our special guest!

Earlier this month, I mentioned my happy visit to Cayuga Heights Elementary School in Depew, NY. Librarian Tonya Bulas introduced her students to my books in so many beautiful ways, and I will share those soon. But today it is an honor to highlight one special poet, nine-year-old Angelina, who I was fortunate enough to meet during a grade two and three writing workshop. She had brought her notebook to our session, allowed me to read some of her fine poems, and was willing to share them with you here. Thank you to Poet Angelina! And thank you to Librarian Tonya Bulas. Such educators make the good world go round. 

Please enjoy Angelina's poems below, and take inspiration for your own!

Angelina and Amy

Cayuga Heights Elementary, Depew, NY

May 2023

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

All About Me: I am Angelina. I am deaf, Puerto Rican, Italian, but we'll talk about that later. My hobbies are: playing on the new swing my dad got for me, playing soccer, monkey in the middle, etc. I am 9 years old and I will be a future poet. I am Puerto Rican and Italian. I almost always get good grades in school. I have lots of friends. My mom is a teacher for disabled kids like me! (She does not teach me.) I go to Cayuga Heights Elementary School. My dad is a person who used to be a guy who made movies but now he talks to college kids. That is all about me!

Angelina's Notebook

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Puffball by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Puffball

by Angelina

Little little puffball.

So big, so small.

It's cute.

What is it?

It's a little puffball.

So big.

So small.

What is it?

It's a little puffball!

Snakes by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Snakes

by Angelina

They're slippery, slimy,

slithering around, and

when they hiss they

make a horrible sound.

Often found in the

desert, they eat bugs

for dessert! They can 

be 3 feet long,

and when it hisses,

it sings its deadly song.

Waves by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Waves

by Angelina

Watching the waves wash away

it is beautiful

Always calming me down when

I'm angry

Very relaxing when I dip my toes

in the water

Escaping reality and life when

I go and watch the water

So...perfect...

Angelina is a poet today, and I agree that she is likely to be a poet in the future as well. Thank you again, Angelina, for generously joining us all today at The Poem Farm. 

Patricia is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reverie with a most loving anniversary cento celebrating 40 years of marraige with her husband. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.

If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

with a parent or as part of a group with your teacher.

It Is True. (What Is True?)

Dance

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Students - This week I read a new-to-me poem written by a poet who died many years ago. Right away I felt like we were friends, as if its words had lived in my heart forever, that we had known each other for our whole lives. I felt so grateful. And while a person and a poem can not exaaaaactly hold hands and dance, it felt just like we did.

Today's poem once again takes an actual memory and brings it into the world of of make-believe. You may have noticed before that I do this often - begin with a moment that really happened and then allow it to bring me to a new and imaginary place. This is one of my favorite truths of writing: we do not always need to direct our writing, rather, we can sometimes take its hand and follow.

As I wrote this poem, I kept scribbling and scribbling, crossing out lines and reading the words aloud until they sounded just right. I could not find the ending for quite a while, but I kept writing and kept listening....and at last the lesson found me. Today's poem is a bit of a lesson poem, sharing in its final lines something I have learned: it is true/that you can find/and recognize/the thing/you never knew/you missed.

Know this: you need not know the ending of your poem before you write it. Follow the trail of wordcrumbs, and follow where they lead you. Keep your mind open for possible lessons and learnings. And remember too that your poem need not rhyme. To know if it will sound good to you, just keep reading it aloud as you go. Each time you write a line, read your poem again - up to that line - and listen for what comes next. Often, the line will be right there...waiting for you.

You may be wondering about the title of this new-to-me-best-friend-poem. I will share it soon, but for now, we are still getting to know each other. Have you ever had a little secret or treasure that you were not quite ready to share quite yet?

Jan is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Bookseed Studio with a celebration of the inspiring author illustrator Sharon Lovejoy, writer of one of my favorites, ROOTS, SHOOTS, BUCKETS, AND BOOTS: GARDENING TOGETHER WITH CHILDREN. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

May you find a surprising truth (or poem or treasure or teeny secret) this week. What is true for you?

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish. 

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

or as part of a group with your teacher.

Copying Quotes and Listening

Quote from My Notebook

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I woke up very early this morning with some words in my mind:

Late last night - I walked outside - and stars fell from the sky.

I didn't get out of bed right away. Instead I stayed and thought for just a couple of extra minutes, repeating these words, asking myself, "What might the next line be?" Soon I turned on the light, snapped up my notebook, and began drafting the messy lines you see below.

Morning Drafting

Photo by Amy LV

While I am not sure, I think that the idea for this poem draft came from a quote that I copied from a book into my notebook just this week:

Perhaps they are not stars, 

but rather openings in heaven 

where the love of our lost ones 

pours through and shines down 

upon us to let us know 

that they are happy.

Inuit Proverb

Copying snips and bits of beautiful writing, collecting these into my notebook and including the names of authors and writers along with them is a way for me to hold onto words I love. Sometimes these words find me in other ways, creating new ideas and poems. Had I not copied this proverb into my notebook this week, I honestly do not believe that I would have written today's magic-trimmed poem.

Allow enough space in your life to let lines drift into the window of your mind. And know this: the more regularly you write, the more often interesting sentences will surprise you when you least expect them. Keep a notebook (or a napkin!) nearby for when this happens. Listen to your inner writing voice. It may speak when you don't have a pen in your hand.

Too, remember that your notebook is your place, and in its pages you are always free to write some magical memories of your own.

I feel very lucky to have spent most of this week visiting schools and working with teachers in the Wyckoff School District in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Thank you to the teachers and students of Washington School, Coolidge School, and Lincoln School for so warmly inviting me into your classrooms. I can't wait to visit Sicomac School and to return to you all in February!

Sharing Notebooks and Writing Possibilities

Photo from the Washington School Twitter Feed

Marcie is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Marcie Flinchum Atkins with some recommendations of books to go with her WAIT, REST, PAUSE: DORMANCY IN NATURE. (I am unable to link to this post yet, but will as soon as it is available.) Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

Remember: a memory may be real....or it may be real in spirit.

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish. 

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

or as part of a group with your teacher.

Remember Imagination

Happy 2022 to You!

Snug Mug

Drawing by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is a true memory poem. When I was in upper elementary school, our classrooms were very cold. And so my friends and I did exactly what this poem describes - we pretended to drink hot cocoa...and we really did feel warmer inside. Looking back, I think it was because we were together and we were using our imaginations to help our bodies.

It has been many years since I have remembered these moments, perhaps thinking of them now because my 2022 happy goal is to drink more real hot chocolate. In fact, I am drinking hot chocolate right now!

This Morning's Drink

Photo by Amy LV

A writer like you or me can turn any true memory into a free verse poem. By adding a few more words and taking out the line breaks, I could have written this as a story. But with fewer words and line breaks, it is a poem. 

If you are seeking a writing idea, I suggest you try beginning with the two words I remember... I recommend this sometimes and sometimes turn to this strategy myself. Sometimes memories are waiting to be called up.

Also, imagination. When have you pretended something in your life? The world of pretend is a world full of writing ideas!

It is a new year, and this means that Sylvia Vardell is sharing her annual "Sneak Peek" list of children's poetry collections and anthologies, poem picture books and novels in verse to be published this year. Find all of the goodness at Poetry for Children, a treasure box of poetry and poetry resources. I am so happy to share that I have a book on this list together with illustrator Emma Virján - our IF THIS BIRD HAD POCKETS: A POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY CELEBRATION - will be out on March 1, 2022.

Learn more at Wordsong, Astra Publishing House

Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond Literacy Link, sharing her "One Little Word" for this year along with a winter poem to go right along with it. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

I am grateful to be starting a new year with you and with a so many days of poetry possibility stretched out before us. Stay warm, dear friends, in your body and in your imagination too.

xo,

Amy

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.

A Snugsafe Summer Memory

Hummingbird Coming In

Photo by Amy LV

Hummingbird Landing

Photo by Amy LV

Hummingbird Perching

Photo by Amy LV

Students - We have a hummingbird feeder on our front porch, and anytime we head outside, we can hear one -- ZZZZZZZZZ!  We always hear the hummingbirds before we see them, and today I decided to try to get a picture of one. Well, hummingbirds are very fast and flitty, so I had to sit still, camera poised for quite a while before one chose to drink the new nectar I'd just poured into the feeder.

Here is a video, taken just this morning. It is of the same hummingbird you see in the pictures above. I think it is funny how it is hiding behind that feeder post! Be sure to listen as it hums away into the day at video's end.

Mary Oliver, a poet I love, once wrote a poem titled The Place I Want to Get Back To, about a lovely nature memory of deer. We all have memories we can keep and revisit during dark or lonely or sad times. Part of making a life is watching and waiting carefully to beauty and then keeping it close. I will always have this hummingbird, and now, should you wish, so will you.

Consider slowing down today. Go somewhere nature lives. Sit and watch. Be open to skies and weather, bugs and birds. Listen to wind. Tuck your own memory of wild beauty somewhere where you can find it later. Writing a poem is a joyful way to keep a magnificent sight forever.

And if you ever want to make a new word by smushing two words together, go ahead. I rather like snugsafe and somewinter.

The winners of last week's generous giveaway of SCHOOL PEOPLE by Lee Bennett Hopkins are: Cheriee, Jena, Buffy, Molly, and Linda M. (I will be in touch with you for your address.) Much gratitude to Boyds Mills & Kane for this generous giveaway of one of Lee's last anthologies.

Kat is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Kathryn Apel with two new Australian verse novels and some good news.  Please know that we gather each Friday, sharing poems and poemlove, and all are always welcome.

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.

Pretending and Remembering...

Ghost and Jack

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I often think about the days before and after holidays.  Today found me thinking about the sheet I still use on a bed sometimes, the sheet with eye holes cut into it.  See, four years ago, I was a ghost for Halloween, back when our black cat Fiona was small.  And I haven't had the heart to throw the sheet away.  You can see it in the picture (taken today) above, with Jack and in the picture below, with Fiona.

Amyghost & Fiona, 2014

Photo by Someone LV

I so like pretending to be other things, and today, as I sit beside a lit pumpkin after the holiday, I like thinking about how special days come and go and how our memories remain.  This is not the first time I have done this...perhaps I am a wistful and nostalgic gal.

Not sure what to write? Think about the days before or after a big holiday or event.  Write from your point of view or from the point of view of someone or something else.  Switching perspective helps a writer understand something in a whole new way.

And I have a question for you to think about.  Just when did you realize that the speaker in this poem was a bed sheet, anyway?  I considered using the word sheet in the title...but then, instead, I chose to preserve a bit of mystery until a few lines in.  Remember this: as author, to a certain degree, you control when readers make various realizations.  These decisions are in your hands, my friend, so have some fun with them.

I very much look forward to the Rochester Children's Book Festival tomorrow! It is always a treat and an honor to attend this wonderful event in Rochester, NY.

Jama is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup with a wise and beautiful call to vote and a poem by Judith Harris. Please know that each Poetry Friday, we gather together to share books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  Everyone is always welcome to visit, comment, and post.  We invite you!

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.

Write About an Object Within Reach

A Gift from Emily

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Writers often work on more than one project at a time.  At the moment, my main writing focus is revisions for  WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! the forthcoming (2020) companion to READ! READ! READ!, my book with talented illustrator Ryan O'Rourke. (This companion will also be illustrated by Ryan - squee!) As a busy reviser, I am spending lots of time at my desk tinkering with words and lines and still writing new entries in my notebook too.

For today's poem, I simply reached out and grabbed something nearby...this DREAM rock from Emily, a beautiful writer who was once a student of Margaret Simon.  I decided to hold this rock, to look at it, to write about it.  And there you are.

'Not sure what to write about?  Stretch out your arm in all directions.  What objects are nearby?  Choose one of these objects, and write about it.  Start with your senses.  Move to the story.  Hold it up to your ear and listen to what it has to tell you. Draw the object. Consider what, if anything, it makes you feel and remember and wonder. Break all of this thinking up into lines, read it out loud to yourself a few times, maybe add a bit of repetition, and once you like it, you've got yourself a poem.

I chose to give today's title a job.  Its job is to give new, not-in-the-body-of-the-poem-information about my rock: where I keep it.  You may choose to have your title do a bit of extra work too.  Sometimes a title can lift a bit of weight on its own.

A new year often means a new notebook!  If you are starting a new notebook or curious about some newness in my notebooks, please visit my latest post at Sharing Our Notebooks where you will also find a call for notebook keepers willing to share.

Carol is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond Literacy Link. Each week we gather together, sharing poems, books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  All are always welcome to visit, comment, and post....and I will host next week!

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.

A Leaf Journey & Poet Guests

Pressed Sumac Leaves

Photo by Amy LV

Students - The poem above is simply a true story stretched out as a poem.  It is about last night in my living room. In beginning my writing last evening, I decided to read a bit about poetry first.  But when I opened my book, I found all of the sumac leaves you see above.  I held and touched and thought about the leaves, the tree, the meadow.  

I often save little mementos of seasons (leaves, pinecones) or outings (ticket stubs, programs) or holidays (cards, bits of wrapping paper).  Today I find myself thinking that these simple saved objects might be wonderful writing springboards for many of us.  What do you tuck away and save?  Did you ever find a wee something that brought back a memory of a specific place and time?  If so, you might consider writing about it.

You will notice that this poem rhymes every other line....until the last few lines.  What happens there?

Today we have special guests! I am thrilled to welcome Reading Specialist and Leader in Me Teacher, Alicia McKenrick and her students from Pembroke Primary School in Pembroke, NY. Join Alicia on a journey from eye to finger to brain to heart, from shape to memory to color.

In the slides below, teachers will learn how to explore metaphor and analogous thinking with The Private Eye, an incredible resource explained with great wisdom and humor by Alicia.

If you are a student and you do not need to learn about teaching writing, please skip ahead to slide 32 and then to 34 and then to 39 and onward.  On these particular slides, you will find poems and yarn art highlighting students' fingerprints.  You may wish to learn from these models, studying your own fingerprint design as writing inspiration!

Click Enlarge Box to Enlarge

I extend my gratitude to Alicia and these young poet-artists for generously sharing this beautiful process, for allowing us to enjoy these poems and yarn paintings.  It was an absolute delight!  Teachers, you may access Alicia's Lesson template referenced in her slides HERE.

Linda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at TeacherDance with a celebration of almost-spring! Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Linda this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.

Happy Poetry Friday!
xo

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.

May First - Poemsongs and a Poetry Peek

Thank you so much for joining me in my project

for National Poetry Month 2015

I am so grateful for all of the fun and fellowship all around the Kidlitosphere throughout this year's National Poetry Month.  Thank you for all that you shared on blogs, with me in person, with the world.

Sing that Poem! 2015 has officially ended with the recording for yesterday's poem, the final poem, Joanna (for the real Joanna).

And now...a Poetry Peek!

Today I am very happy to welcome Librarian Gayle Kerman from Country Parkway Elementary in the Williamsville Central School District in Williamsville, NY. Below she shares her students' experience with Sing That Poem!.

Recently, I got caught up in Amy’s April challenge of matching her poems to the meter/tune of familiar children’s songs.  I decided to try it with my fourth grade students. What a lucky find.  Most of the work was already done for me.

I am an elementary school librarian and since I only see the students once a week, I was looking for something that would fit into a 30-minute period.  I selected eight of Amy’s poems and pasted them into a Word document. I also made up an answer sheet that listed the 8 songs that matched the poems.  I only had to do a quick introduction to get the class started.  I used a few examples from Alan Katz’s book I’m Still Here in the Bathtub just to give students a better idea of what they should expect once they got started.

Many of the students were already familiar with the Katz book and were big fans to boot, so they were excited about this new challenge ahead of them.  Before turning them loose, we quickly sang the original version of the 8 songs on their answer sheet to be sure that the tunes were familiar to them.

They worked in groups of two or four.  It was a fun activity and many students chuckled over the idea of having “music class in the library!!”

I circled the room for any questions, but the activity really just hummed.  The students LOVED it…both girls AND boys.  I noticed two boys who were intently focusing and enjoying the activity so much I had to pull out my iPhone to take this video of them.

Joseph and Emilio from Mrs. Moser's Fourth Grade Class

Play Sing That Poem! in the Library at Country Parkway Elementary

Video by Librarian Gayle Kerman

During the last 5 minutes of class the solutions were revealed and we sang each poem to the matched tune.  I plan to select 8-10 more poems from the last half of Amy’s April posts and use them at the end of the school year when I will really need some fun stuff!

I am so grateful to Gayle, Joseph, and Emilio for sharing this story and video here today.  I love that we spent some of our National Poetry Month together.

Today, I would like to welcome you to the new page I made with all of my Sing That Poem! poemsongs from April 2015. You can find this page here, and it is filed under the FIND A POEM tab that you see atop this site.

You can find today's Poetry Friday roundup with Ellen at Space City Scribes.

Letterpress Print by Chris

Moon Rabbit Press

(Thank you, Chris, for allowing me to share.)

Please share a comment below if you wish.