Poetry Friday is Here! Wallow in Wonder with Me!

Happy first Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month 2016! 

I am so glad that you have joined me in this warm gathering of poetry friends, and I hope you will continue to join us in our poem-festivities all month long.  If you wish to learn more about all poetry happenings in the Kidlitosphere throughout the month, please visit Jama's Alphabet Soup.  There you will learn about many poetry challenges and other goodnesses you can enjoy each day of April.

If you are new to Poetry Friday, please know that we celebrate poems each week, all year long.  You can learn more about Poetry Friday at No Water River.  We welcome everyone, always!

And now, before the links, my own poetry project for April 2016...

Welcome to 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 (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.

Here we begin...

Wonder from March 31, 2016 

Coral Memories

by Amy LV

Students - I often write about things "I was before."  Whether I really have been these things before or not, I feel that I have been.  Writing poems allows me to revisit parts of myself that I have not visited for a long time, or maybe even ever.

Today's poem, as will be true for all poems this month, was inspired by yesterday's post at Wonderopolis.  I am challenging myself to learn about different subjects and to see what poetry-journeys I will take with these topics.  Writing is an adventure...always!

You may have noticed that this poem has a very regular meter. What do you notice about the syllables in each line? What do you notice about the rhyme?  This is actually a special type of poem called an English - or Shakespearean - sonnet. While this month's poems will not always be so form-focused, I do enjoy tapping out syllables on my cheek or desk.

You can read another coral poem if you visit Wonder Lead Ambassador, literacy advocate, teacher, and writer Paul Hankins at his Wonder Ground blog where he, too, is writing daily poems from Wonderopolis wonders.

Much gratitude to my friend Robyn Hood Black who is hosting me at Life on the Deckle Edge today with an interview about EVERY DAY BIRDS, my new Orchard/Scholastic book illustrated by Dylan Metrano.  It is such fun to be at her place and to see Robyn's kitty reading all about birds.  

It has been fabulous to host teacher and writer Stacey Dallas Johnson at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  If you have not yet read her post, please do so by Sunday...and leave a comment to be entered into the book giveaway too!

If you have a Poetry Friday post to share to begin this magical month, please do so below.  I look forward to visiting all of these blog posts and finding new poems to love.

Happy Happy Poetry Month...and Happy Poetry Every Moment.  I look forward to wondering with anyone who wishes for the next twenty-nine days!

xo,

a.

An InLinkz Link-up

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 17 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 17 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Memories.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Margaret Simon's students from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana, have done it again!  You can listen to their strong voices singing about that old barn.  Thank you, singers!

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Freedom

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem does not have much of a story behind it other than it began with some notebook writing.  I knew which tune I would write to because I knew that we were lucky enough to have guests with the same tune here today. But which topic should I choose?

I wrote about a few ideas in my notebook, and some were too silly for today's rhythm and song.  I adore this tune, and I wanted to write something worthy of it.  I hope I did.

Today we have a special Poetry Peek from Joy Keller's fourth grade poets Brooks Hill Elementary in the Fairport Central School District in Fairport, NY.  These students have been researching oceans, and they used their research to write a class song...to the same tune as my song for today.  

Taking information and restructuring it into the rhythms and lines of a poemsong is a complex task, and these writers did a beautiful job here. This might be something that other classes wish to try.  It's a glorious way to culminate a unit in science or social studies.  And when you read this poem (and tomorrow, listen to these students' singing voices), you will feel that you are in the sea. 

Thank you so much for sharing your song with us today, students.  It's a treat!  Welcome to teacher Joy Keller and her fourth graders.

We began by brainstorming a list of topics that had to do with the ocean (the water, fish, ocean mammals, etc.), and then the kids grouped themselves based on which topic they wanted to write about. Each group wrote a stanza. We talked about syllables and emphasis, but most of them just felt when they got it right by repeatedly singing it! We finished with a discussion about the order in which to put the stanzas and--voila!--we had our poem.

I think the trickiest part was that everyone kept singing the tune of "You are My Sunshine" instead of today's secret tune so that we messed ourselves up. I asked my musician husband why this was happening, and he gave me the very technical answer of "They're kinda alike at the beginning." :)

The Ocean

by Mrs. Keller’s Fourth Graders

The ocean’s turquoise, with bubbles floating,

There’s emerald seaweed, with ruby coral.

With pearls in clams and some diamond seashells,

Barnacles cling to opal rocks.

From the sunlight zone down to the twilight zone down

To the midnight zone down to the abyss,

From the abyss down into the trenches,

Those are the levels of the sea.

There are the mammals that live in oceans,

They have to come up for a breath of fresh air.

The whales have blowholes that spurt out water

Dolphins and seals will splash and play.

Fish breathe through their gills, and swim in schools,

And they have scales, and they have fins.

Sharks have sharp teeth, and the sailfish swim fast.

Tripod fish even walk around.

Deep in the ocean, strange fish are glowing.

Most fish down there have bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence is like a bright light bulb—

That’s what helps fish to catch their prey.

Invertebrates live down in the ocean.

They don’t have backbones, but some have hard shells

Like jellyfish and lobsters and crabs and

Octopi squirting out black ink.

Don’t throw your garbage into the ocean

You’ll hurt the fish and you’ll cloud the water.

The dirty bottles and destructive poisons

Can really ruin our gorgeous seas.

Robyn is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Life on the Deckle Edge. Have fun feasting on the poems all day, all week long!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 13 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 13 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poems were Ocean Writer and The Best Dog.  Here is the tune that goes along with them, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Vase of Flowers - 2011

by Georgia LV

This poem has been removed as it hopes to appear

in my forthcoming book, WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.  

I am sorry, and I will try to write a new one with the same meter for this spot.

xo, a.

Students - Painting and writing are very similar to each other. Both require facing a blank page and making something new. Both ask us to look outside and inside ourselves, to find what it is we have to say.  Both welcome us as explorers!

Today's song was a little bit of a challenge for me because it has a very different rhythm and pattern.  It was a fun puzzle, and what is interesting for me is that writing these as songs makes me think of them as songs.  I want to try to step back and see if I can see them as poems - do they still work as poems...or do they need the tunes to work?

This week begins NYS Common Core testing.  It is very important to be sure to play outside, draw, paint, do all kinds of things to express your gifts.  Humans are multifaced, and by exploring many ways of making, we discover who we are.  I wish you some good messy play!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 12 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 12 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was In the Harbor.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

One Pen at a Time

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday I began trying to write to the tune/beat of a different song, but you know what?  I just wasn't in the mood for that tune, so I switched to this one instead.  It is funny to me that one tune would not somehow appeal on a certain day, but this is exactly what happened.  Now that other meter is all counted out and waiting for the just-right day.

I do adore the idea of octopi and writing and ink.  In fact, I wrote another octopus-writer poem back in 2010, and you can read it here if you wish.  It is interesting to hold onto your writing, students, because if you keep at it, you will notice themes in your own work.  Who knows? Maybe in 50 years, I'll have a complete collection of octopus-writer poems.

Did you know that the preferred plural of 'octopus' is actually 'octopuses' and not 'octopi'?  Here is why.

from Grammarist.com

Well, I certainly AM a "fan of quirky words" - so much so that this seven letter delight landed in my thirty-five word poem not once, but twice!

Which quirky words do you like?  Consider making a list of these and then just choose one to write from. Simply place one of those quirky words atop a fresh page...and go! Writing from one word often yields surprising poemjourneys.

There is a second poem to go with today's song, and it is actually the first one I wrote.  You can read/sing it below.  I am curious as to what you think of the differences between these two and if you prefer one to the other.

Hope and Eli at Camp - Summer 2000

Photo by Amy LV

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 2 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 2 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Let's Play Ball.  Here is the tune that goes along with it. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Concrete Whales in Pittsburgh, PA

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is a poem of joy, of remembering and of longing too.  If you have been here to The Poem Farm before, you  know that I like imagining that I am or have been all kinds of animals and things.  This verse matches the tune of one of my most favorite songs, and I like to think that the words pair well with the feeling of the song.

When I first wrote today's poem, there was only one verse.  But I just felt that it needed a second verse, so I came back and added one.  And you know what?  I may add a third.  Perhaps I really was once a whale...

Jama is keeping a wonderful list of all kinds of poetry projects and happenings all around the Kidlitosphere this month.  You can check this list out at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Tomorrow I will be hosting Poetry Friday here at The Poem Farm.  Please come back to learn about about all of the wonderful poems and poetry ideas that everyone will be sharing on this first Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

A What If Poem & A Poetry Peek

An Unknown Gift

by Amy LV

Students - The other week, I heard an interview on npr (I cannot find it now) with Kevin Dykstra and Fred Monroe, the two divers who have found a shipwreck that may be the long-lost Griffon, a ship that vanished from Lake Michigan in 1679.  (You can read more here at Great Lakes Exploration and in The Washington Post, in an article posted this morning.)

Well, I just could not get that - still cannot get that - interview out of my mind.  I began writing today's poem the day after hearing that radio show, and inspired by Laura Purdie Salas's poem at Writing the World for Kids today and by Irene Latham's poem - Titanic Remenbers April 16, 1912 -  in the voice of the Titanic, I thought I'd play with my own shipwreck poem a bit more.  

This is a free verse poem, and it's a what if poem too.  I like exploring ideas that have never happened, imagining worlds and people and even gifts such as the gift for detecting shipwrecks.  Writing can take us to new places; we are free. You can read another what if poem from The Poem Farm in 2012 here.

What radio or tv stories, magazine or newspaper articles are stuck in your mind?

What poems have you read that make you wish to get writing yourself?

What if? What if? What if?

Today I am honored to welcome my new friend, third grade teacher Kim Doele and four of her Poetry Club students from Wealthy Elementary School in Grand Rapids, Michigan! I am excited that I'll be spending the first week of February as a visiting poet in the East Grand Rapids School District, learning alongside students and teachers, and this Poetry Friday, I extend a hearty welcome to Poetry Club members Nora, Sophia, Teagan, and Hania and to Kim who shares her love of poetry with them each Wednesday.

Every Wednesday afternoon I eat lunch on my feet. That is, if I remember to eat at all. When 11:30 arrives my classroom evolves into a Poetry Club (but smells more like a cafeteria.) Between 30 and 40 third and fourth grade students enter, notebooks in hands, and settle in to eat their lunches.  They are eager to begin writing, and it doesn't take long for their lunches to disappear.  Soon, they are ready to write.

I usually begin our Poetry Club meeting by reading a few poems, sharing a new book of poetry, introducing a poet, or playing a recording of a poet reading.  This group is not only hungry for lunch but also for writing ideas and I try to fill them up. They each keep a list in the front of their notebooks which they add to each week. I float among the third and fourth grade poets during our workshop.  "Float" because that's how it feels when you are lingering over a young poet's shoulder watching words pour out into a notebook.  I will admit that sometimes it feels more like flying because it seems everyone wants me to hear a poem at the same moment.  We read, we write, and make sure to leave time to share.  I am in awe of this poetry-loving group

In anticipation of Amy's February visit, we have been spending extra time reading poems at The Poem Farm.  Often times the students will choose to respond to poems with a poem of their own, and many times they have chosen one of Amy's. Inspired by her recent photo of a box of snow and her poem A Wish for a Friend, some of the students chose to write their own wishes for a friend.  I was surprised at their unique approaches.  Of course when they shared the poems that follow, other students were inspired to write wishes as well.

When I asked the Poetry Club how they would choose to spend their lunchtime during Amy's visit, the most popular idea was to ask her if they could read their poems to her.  We can't wait!


A Wish for a Friend
 by Nora

I wish...
I could mail some pumpkins that people
in Antarctica could carve
and give them a "how to" manual
to say it is not hard.
I want to give them this so they
can carve on Halloween Night
and give the trick or treaters a
snowshoe running fright.


A Wish for Zeus
 by Sophia

I wish that I could mail a...
New thunder bolt
for you to grip in your
big, huge, gigantic hand when
you get mad at people
like Hera.
Are you still mad at her
for stealing your old
thunder bolt?


A Wish for a Friend
 by Teagan

I wish...
to send a
right foot to the
three stooges
because two left feet don’t
keep you from
bumping into things.


A Wish for Harry Potter
 by Hania

I wish for Harry Potter
not to be in danger
So that he'd have his parents back
and so Hermione Granger
would fall in love with him.
And he would not have to go
into the Chamber of Secrets
and if that wasn't so
he'd be much safer.
So he'd have Sirius Black
So that he'd go get Cedric back
So that he'd never know an Umbridge name
So that he was never in the Triwizard game
So that he never hated Snape
So that he'd never speak Snake
So that he could never fight
in the dark misty night,
 Lord Voldemort

These poems from Kim's Poetry Club are a wish come true for me.  Thank you to each poet and to their teacher for sharing with all of us on this Poetry Friday.

Yesterday was the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and we celebrate this day with a school holiday on coming Monday.  We continue to need Dr. King's and his vision as we learn to live in peace together.  Here is a poem - For Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.- from The Poem Farm archives, 2011.

Irene Latham is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Live Your Poem.  Join us to make poemfriends, wallow in words, and rub poems all over your body.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

She Sells Seashells - Borrowing Lines

Painted Seashells by A. - Ocean City, Maryland

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Our family spent last week camping on Assateague Island, and one evening brought us to the boardwalk of Ocean City, Maryland.  There I met a young girl, perhaps twelve years old, who sells seashells down by the seashore, just like in the tongue twister.  I was enchanted by her and by her shells, and I bought one to hang on our Christmas tree this year.  (As soon as I find this shell, I will share a photo of it with you.) I asked permission to take the picture of all of this young artist's shells, and she kindly allowed me to do so.

Later, I saw some other customers talking with her about her work.

Seashell Seller - Ocean City, MD

Photo by Amy LV

One reason I love writing poetry is that it causes me to stop more often, to pay close attention to the beautiful people and things I find along the path of life.  And when a moment of life crosses a song or poem or book or tongue twister that I already have in my heart - well, wow!  That is like a small spark glowing.  I was excited all week to come back to this old wooden desk, to write about this creative child and her salty, painty shells.

You may have noticed that today's poem uses words from the famous tongue twister, and sometimes poets do this - borrow lines from other poems, songs, sayings.  There is even a type of poem called a cento, wherein a poem is completely made up of lines from other poems.  You might want to try some borrowing in your own writing. Simply open a poetry book, read some poems, choose a line you love, and let it inspire a poem of your own.  You might begin your poem with the line you love, or you might tuck it into the middle of your poem.  You might choose a line from a poem or song that you already have inside of you, as I did today.  If you borrow a line from a famous poem or song, your readers will have fun discovering it and remembering that other song or poem too. Your piece and the other piece will echo back and forth to each other.

Remember, borrowing one line is very different from copying someone else's poem.  If you read a poem by another poet, and if you love it, copy it into your notebook and include the author's name.  It is wondrous to have a collection of poems that match your soul completely.

She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.

The shells she sells are sea-shells, I'm sure.

For if she sells sea-shells on the sea-shore

Then I'm sure she sells sea-shore shells.

Did you know that this seashell tongue twister was originally part of a song written by Terry Sullivan in 1908?  It is based on a real woman named Mary Anning.

I have been away for much of the summer: teaching, making jam, playing in water.  But now fall calls, and so I am back, here at the old desk, so happy to see you again.  

Jone is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Check it Out.  Hop on over there to meet some new poetry friends, visit with some old ones, and simply enjoy the offerings.  Happy Poetry Friday!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

"Once Somebody Asked Me" - Beginning With a Line

Choosing Water
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I went to the big Buffalo library and very much enjoyed reading David Elliott's book illustrated by Holly Meade, IN THE SEA.

Shop Indie Bound

Perhaps this is why I wrote about the sea yesterday.  Or maybe it is because we had the good fortune to have Allan Wolf stay at our home this month, and he acted out some poems from his fabulous book-in-many-voices, THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT: VOICES FROM THE TITANIC.

Shop Indie Bound

Or perhaps it was just time for me to - once more - feel fascinated by the fact that a human being has never seen a live giant squid (though they have been recorded).  

It could be that this week of coldcoldcold weather has me dreaming of the ocean.  I do not know the reason why this poem appeared yesterday.  But as soon as I wrote the first line, "Once somebody told me..." I just followed the line on and on until the end.  

It can be interesting to take a line from someone else's poem, sometimes a first line, and follow it for yourself, creating a whole new poem from the same first few words as someone else.  You might wish to try this strategy if ever you feel stuck for an idea.  You could try my line, "Once somebody asked me..." or you might choose a line from a poem you have always loved or a poem you just open up to in a book right now.  It is always good to have a multituide of ways to get writing, even when it seems tough to begin.  

In giveaway news: Margaret Simon is the winner of last week's giveaway of Jeannine Atkins' beautiful, autographed book VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT: THOUGHTS ON WRITING AND LIFE.  Margaret, please just drop me a line at amy at amylv dot com with your address, and I will mail your book next week.

Tricia is hosting today's Poetry Friday extravaganza over at The Miss Rumphius Effect, so you can head on over to her place to see what's brewing poetry-wise all around the Kidlitosphere this week. And do not miss her delightful book review and interview with Joan Bransfield Graham from yesterday.  And while you're there, scroll on back to check out some of Tricia's "Poetry Stretches", her regular Monday feature inviting writers to work their poetry muscles.

Happy Poetry Friday to one and all!

Please share a comment below if you wish.