Writing the Rainbow #24 - Asparagus

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.

As of April 2, it happened that my poems took a turn to all be from the point of view of a child living in an apartment building.  So, you'll notice this thread running through the month of colors. I'd not planned this...it was a writing surprise.

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 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 

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

April 5 - Once in a While - Inspired by Tumbleweed

April 6 - On Miss Johnson's Fire Escape - Inspired by Yellow Orange

April 7 - The Guy Downstairs - Inspired by Spring Green

April 8 - I Watch Her - Inspired by Forest Green

April 9 - Their Hands - Inspired by White

April 10 - Up and Down - Inspired by Orange

April 11 - Eavesdropping - Inspired by Sky Blue

April 12 - Mr. Mick - Inspired by Red Violet

April 13 - Sights - Inspired by Purple Mountains' Majesty

April 14 - On Saturdays - Inspired by Melon

April 15 - Bundle - Inspired by Robin's Egg Blue

April 16 - Our Rooftop - Inspired by Periwinkle

April 17 - Childhood Trees - Inspired by Mahogany

April 18 - In Our Laundry Room - Inspired by Blue

April 19 - Summer Treat - Inspired by Red

April 20 - Home - Inspired by Timberwolf

April 21 - After School - Inspired by Apricot

April 22 - Misty's Eyes - Inspired by Yellow Green

April 23 - City Night - Inspired by Black

And now...today's crayon.  Asparagus!

Pets Love Friends

by Amy LV

Students - You might recall that a few days ago, our young speaker was talking about eating peanut butter and apricot jam on the stoop with a friend.  Well, for today's poem, I got to thinking about what these two pals might do after eating. Most children and adults that I know like playing with their pets after school.  Enter Asparagus, the apartment lizard.

This was just plain fun to write.  I enjoyed fiddling around with the different sounds and just letting them roll over me.  I think that picking such a silly color name and such a silly word got me in this silly mood.  I did notice, while writing, that this poem ends much like my poem Kindness.  But I still like it, so it's staying. Writers have themes.  This is one of mine.

Why a lizard named Asparagus?  Well, to be honest, it may be because I met a small, sweet white girl kitty named Richard this weekend.  Perhaps unusual names are on my mind.

If you are Writing the Rainbow with me, perhaps your color for today will make you want to play with words and experiment with sounds. Perhaps you will be reminded of something you believe deeply or of a kind act you remember from your own life. Or maybe you'll have a completely surprising, new and totally different inspiration. That's the neat part of writing.

Colors can take us anywhere.  And if you'd like to join in with your own poem at our Writing the Rainbow Padlet, please do! It is one colorful and beautiful place to visit..

Today I am hosting the 2017 progressive poem!  Find this in my last post.  Only six days left to wrap it up!

And please don't miss the links to all kinds of Poetry Month goodness up there in my upper left sidebar.  Happy twenty-fourth day of National Poetry Month!

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.

Writing the Rainbow Poem #1 - Carnation Pink

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 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.)

And now...today's crayon.  Carnation Pink!

Meow

by Amy LV

Students - Misty is a real cat I know, and she wanders around her apartment building making friends with everyone.  Her real owner is very generous, allowing everyone to pet her and be her good buddy.  And Misty must feel like she has many many family members, all behind different doors.

When I chose Pink Carnation as today's color, one of the first things I thought of is a pink cat nose.  What could be cuter?  When I wrote today's poem, I read each word and line out loud over and over again as I was working toward a run-on, conversational feeling.  I wanted this poem to feel breathless, the way that I speak when I feel excited.

If you are Writing the Rainbow with me, you might choose to connect the color you choose today to a creature...or not.  Colors can take us anywhere.  And if you'd like to join in with Carnation Pink, please do!

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

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 Day 15 - 5:00 am

Welcome to Day 15 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 link to the #WallowInWonder padlet.

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

And now for Day 15!

Wonder #1669 - from April 14, 2016

Good Morning?

by Amy LV

Students - I had fun reading about circadian rhythms, thinking about how we almost seem to have little clocks inside of us.  I read a little bit beyond the Wonderopolis post you can explore at the link above, and thought about pets and how sometimes our pets seem to be on a different time schedule than we are.  Well, they ARE on a different time schedule than we are.  They are not humans.

Fortunately, none of our five cats paws our faces at 5:00am, but Mini Monster does get meow-y at that time, wanting to go outside to explore.  Sometimes we pretend not to hear him, but he usually wins.

Mini by Day

Photo by ?? LV

To write today's poem, I thought about the Wonder, about how are bodies are set to times of sleep and wakefulness.  Then I imagined a situation, a little story of life, that went along with the Wonder.  The morning-pawing is true for some cats, and the daily sleep is true for ours.

As always, I wrote a couple of lines, read them out loud to myself, and then wrote a couple of more lines.  This is how I often write, in circles, going back to the beginning, reading aloud again and again.

I am grateful for the time I spent this past week visiting Jefferson Ave Elementary, Brooks Hill Elementary, and Dudley Elementary, all in Fairport, NY.  All second graders, all day long, and we had all kinds of fun in assemblies and small writing groups too.  Here's a bulletin board full of quotes and birds - from Brooks Hill - that makes me smile -

A Celebration of Poetry and Birds at Brooks Hill Elementary

Photo by Amy LV

Today I am visiting Heidi Mordhorst with a Poetry-Music Match-Up over at my juicy little universe.  This is a fun series of posts that you can follow all month long, connection poems and songs.  The theme of my share is "kindness."

I am also happily hosting middle school teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada at Sharing Our Notebooks all month long.  This is a fantastic post full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie.

You can find today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Today's Little Ditty, online home of Michelle Heidenrich Barnes.  Enjoy all of the offerings, and please join in as you wish!

Happy Day 15 of National Poetry Month 2016!  

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.

Writing About Love...What I Want to Squeeze

Mini

Photo by Hope VanDerwater

Students - This Sunday is Valentine's Day, and this has me thinking about people and pets and things that I love.  One pet I love a lot is Mini Monster, and I have written about him many times including HERE.  Sometimes my family laughs at me when I hug Mini really hard and he tries to wiggle of my arms, but he often stays in my arms and lets me kiss him on his ears and tell him how handsome he is.

Today, or anytime this week, you might think about writing about someone or something you love.  What do you want to squeeze and hug and what do you adore?  Valentine's Day is a grand time to think about love, big love and small love...like my love of drinking tea and of teeny pine cones.

You will notice that today's poem is written in free verse, in quatrains.  Nothing rhymes, but I still needed to read this aloud to myself many times to hear if it sounded just right to my ears.  On another day, I may reread this poem aloud again and make some more changes, but today it sounds as I wish it to sound.

Kimberley is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Written Reflections with a delightful story and a celebration of one of my favorite poetry collections. Enjoy all of the offerings and the good people who join together each week to share poems and thoughts about poetry.

May this week fill you up with love, for things you know and for unexpected surprises too.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

First Catch - A Poem for Two Voices

Sarah the Manx

Photo by ?? LV

(Click to Enlarge)

Students - This is a poem for two voices.  You can see it is written in two columns, and one side is for one reader (the human) and one is for another reader (the kitten).  To read the poem, readers take turns reading their lines in order of how they fall down the page.  When two lines sit side-by-side, both readers read at the same time.  You can hear my son Henry and I read it together above.

We have five cats here at The Poem Farm now, and lately Sarah has been bringing back little dead voles to the back door.  When she catches one, she meows loudly so that we will come to the glass door to praise her.  Early last week, she brought a vole back, and I took it away from her.  The next time she came with one, she ran away with it as soon as I opened the door.  It is confusing to be a cat parent sometimes.

I had the good fortune to visit two schools last week as a visiting author: H.B. Milnes school in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and Vernfield Elementary in Telford, Pennsylvania.  They were wonderful visits for me, and at Vernfield, I wrote a bit with the third graders.  One thing we talked about was two possible ways to write a poem:

to something (poem of address)
or
as something (mask poem).

I wrote on a chart in front of them, pretending to be my kitty, proud to have caught a bird.  Then, in my notebook, I wrote from my own perspective, how I feel when Sarah catches a small animal.  I want to be proud...but...I am sad for the wee bird or vole or mouse too.

Below, you can see the chart paper on which I started the mask side of the poem.

Here is my notebook-play of speaking to the kitten.

And then above you can see the mash up.  It was interesting to write a two voice poem in this way.

After visiting H.B. Milnes school, and later, Vernfield Elementary in Telford, PA, I had the good fortune to attend part of the 2015 KSRA Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  As part of the Thursday Poetry Evening, poet Sara Holbrook invited me to co-read a poem for two voices from her book  WHAM! IT'S A POETRY JAM.  This, I believe, is what made me choose to write today's poem as a poem for two voices, what helped me decide to mix together the two short demonstration drafts from Vernfield - the good feeling of reading with a friend.

WHAM! IT'S A POETRY JAM is a wonderful book, and if you like performing poetry - or if you've never tried to perform poetry - you will want to check it out. Sara is a fantastic writer, and I loved reading from this great book right with the author herself!

Published by Boyds Mills Press 

Learn More Here

In notebook-news, if you have not yet commented on author Jeff Anderson's post at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, please do.  You may win a copy of his first middle grade novel, ZACK DELACRUZ: ME AND MY BIG MOUTH.  Jeff is author of many of my favorite professional books for teaching writing, and I highly recommend you check out his project journal post.

Last week' Poetry Friday roundup, in case you missed it (as I did) was is at Jama's Alphabet Soup.  There you will find Penny Klostermann's beautiful poetic buttons wrapped up in teddy bears, in chocolates, and in all manner of happiness.

Please leave a comment below if you wish.

Teaching Poems - What Do I Know?

New Friends
by Amy LV

Students - I am a dog lover!  Our family has two dogs, Cali and Sage, and we love them and they love each other. Sometimes when I walk down the street and see a new dog, I just want to get to know it.  But it's not so safe to pet strange dogs, so I always ask the owner and follow the steps in this poem when meeting a new dog.  When our chidren were small, I taught them to ask the owner for permission before petting any dogs as well.

This is a poem that teaches HOW to do something.  And writing a procedural poem is almost like writing a how-to book, only in a poem, the writer writes from line to line and the reader reads from line to line instead of from page to page.  You may notice that today's poem rhymes, but it rhymes in a conversational way.

What do you know how to do?  Funny things? Serious things? Crafts? Cooking? Games? Friendship tips? Building? Anything in the world...what could you teach? Might you write a poem about it?

Here is a dog I met last month in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Just looking at his picture makes me smile.

Happy week ahead!  I wish you dogs!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Some Cats - Life in New York City

(Please excuse my tardiness!)

Harriet at Shakespeare and Company Bookshop

Photo by Amy LV

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

Students - This week finds me in New York City....and many memories of living here in the early 90's.  One of my favorite parts of the city is that there are just so many fabulous and exciting things to see and think about.  Yesterday I took a walk and went in to Shakespeare and Company Bookstore on the Upper East Side.  There I met sweet Harriet the cat, and she helped me choose a book.

My visit to the bookstore reminded me of two favorite Cynthia Rylant picture books: The Bookshop Dog and The Cookie-Store Cat.  I find something very charming about pets-in-unlikely-places.

Writing this poem, I took a while to decide on where and how to focus.  At first I planned to write about all of the things that Harriet does (and reads) in her bookstore...but then I began thinking about other cats, all around the world, and all of the places and ways that they live.  That's when this became a list poem.

Yesterday evening, my mom saw this photo and said, "You could write about city kitty!"  That's where that wonderful rhyme came from - thank you mom!

Do keep an eye out for things or creatures in unlikely places...a poem may be hiding there too.

Cathy Mere is sharing her DIGITAL or PAPER notebook question and exploration at Sharing Our Notebooks. Stop by to learn about all kinds of notebook apps and learn what Cathy has discovered about these and about herself too.  There is also an app giveaway, many thanks to Cathy.

Betsy is hosting this past week's Poetry Friday roundup at I Think in Poems.  You can catch up there to read the latest in the poetry Kidlitosphere.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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My Bunny - Cinder Blocks & Quatrains

Aerial View of Thistle's Obstacle Course

Photo by Amy LV

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

Hope and Thistle
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Meet Thistle!  S/he (we're not sure yet which) is the newest member of our family here at Heart Rock Farm.  3/4 Mini Lop and 1/4 Angora, s/he is one inquisitive and huggable bunny who became part of our family this summer.  Many thanks to Ally (6th grade) and Emily (4th grade) Gordon for raising this little one and selling her/him to us.  They even gave us baby pictures!

Ally & Emily with Baby Thistle (far left) and Her/His Litter Mates!

Photo by Tammy Gordon

Yesterday morning, Hope and I decided to make Thistle's old milk house digs a bit more exciting by building a cinder block and wooden ramp obstacle course.  I love to just sit and watch as s/he sniffs, explores, and hides in every little hiding spot possible! I often think about little pets and wonder what they think.  Yesterday it was fun to watch Thistle's curious mind at work.

In terms of rhyme, I'd like you to take a look at the copy of this poem below.  "My Bunny" is in quatrains, and the rhymes show up every second and fourth line.  What was funny about writing this particular verse, however, is that ALL of the 2nd and 4th lines rhyme with each other.  As you can imagine, I made a big list of all of the -ee rhymes I could think of so that the poem would make sense.

Below you can see a picture of our bunny house.  Thistle lives here now, but for seven years, this was home to Irwin, our first bunny.  And next to this milk house still stands a hutch where Mr. Fluffles (another bunny) used to live.

The Old Milk House (Current Bunny House) & Me

Photo by Elizabeth Pellette

Today is Labor Day.  And Labor Day is 130 years old today!  To read the Labor Day poem I posted 2 years ago, visit here.

This week over at Sharing Our Notebooks, I welcome author Peter Salomon and congratulate him on his forthcoming book, HENRY FRANKS. Please stop by and read about his first notebooks, and enter yourself in the giveaway of his new book - coming out this week!

If you are interested in entering to win a copy of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY (in which I am happy to have 5 poems!), please stop by Friday's post and leave a comment there.  Thistle will draw a winning name on Thursday night, and I will announce the winner on Poetry Friday!

This week also marks a change in The Poem Farm schedule - I am now back and posting poems and poem greetings each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Please come back and visit for lessons, poem ideas, book recommendations, and classroom Poetry Peeks.  If you are a classroom teacher or homeschooling parent, I invite you to share your students' poetry or your poem teaching ideas here.  If you are interested, please send me an e-mail to amy at amylv dot com, and I will get right back to you.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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