Day 21 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 21 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 Still.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Welcome again to Margaret Simon's students from Jefferson Island Road Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana.  We can enjoy their lovely voices singing Still here below.

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.

My Silly Happy Feet

Photo by Amy LV

Students - For today's poemsong, I decided to match mine to the structure of the mentor song (hint!) in that this poem, like that one, includes two speakers: one asks a question, and the other answers it.  This may be enough to help you figure it out. (Emily...was I inspired by your topic?)

In 2011, I wrote another poem - quite different - about mismatched socks.  You can read it here - scroll down, as it is the second (red) one.  Mismatched socks are clearly a weird theme of my life.  What is a weird theme of your life?  Make some lists of things that interest you.  Do this every month or so.  Then look at the lists and see - what comes up again and again?  Here are a few of the themes and ideas that I return to again and again.  You may have noticed.

1.  Connections with Strangers

2.  Mismatched Socks and Being Different

3.  Saying Goodbye

4.  Owls

5.  Noticing Small Things in Nature

6.  Objects Telling Stories

7.  Normal Life Turning Magic

8.  Animals Mattering to People

Don't ignore the ideas and topics and themes that come to you again and again. They want to be fed by you.  How do you feed them?  Well, you draw them.  You write about them.  You make up songs about them.  These visitors have messages and secrets and ideas that will teach you about you.  Love them and get to know you, weird and cool as you are.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

A Sock Dreams in #305 - End of Sock Week

Sock Dreams

by Amy LV

This is the final poem of sock week, a challenge inspired by Jamie Palmer's fifth grade students to write about socks each day for seven days.  We had talked about how one can write about anything for many days, even toilet paper.  (Thank you, Rachel, for this funny link!)

Students - I've honestly been looking forward to writing this poem all week.  As you may have noticed, I love writing mask poems, poems in the voice of something else.  What could be better for a sock than to come alive as a puppet?  We all have dreams...and being our best selves each day...makes those dreams come true.

Teachers - part of the fun of this week has been reading Jamie's students' poems.  I encourage you and your students to visit their kidblogs to see how these young writers have approached one topic in a variety of ways, explaining their decisions and new learnings below each poem.  Some are even challenging each other to try various approaches.  Students are commenting, teachers are commenting, parents are commenting - it's delightful!  Too, don't forget to read Jessica and Nathaniel's growing collection of one-topic poems at FamilySchool.  

This will be my last post about write-about-one-topic-week until Jamie Palmer and her students visit us formally for a Poetry Peek in the near future.

Did you try this challenge?  If so, please leave a comment to let us all know.

(Please click on POST A COMMENT below to share a thought.)

#304 Wonders About Little Kitty Socks

Kitty Socks

by Amy LV

Students - one of the good things about having a theme writing week is that your mind chews on your theme all of the time.  I've found myself thinking about socks on many occasions this week, considering different types of socks, who wears what kind, expressions with socks, anything socklike.  Today's poem idea came as I snuggled our fuzziest cat, Mini Monster, who does not have socks at all!

This is poem #6 of sock week, a week of writing a new poem about the same topic each day.  You can read more about this challenge, inspired by Jamie Palmer's fifth grade students here.  You can read and comment on these students' poems-about-one-subject on their kidblogs.  You can read several same-subject poems by homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica at FamilySchool.  Trust me: it will be a treat for you to visit these student poem spots.

Teachers - a challenge such as this one mirrors what poets do when they write a collection around one topic.  Choose an idea and examine it from all angles, just as you would a beautiful shell, or an emerald, or your own child.  There are so many possibilities, and each of us has doorways into writing that no other person can find.

This month brought us the 2011 Comment Challenge, hosted by Pam Coughlan and Lee Wind.  The goal of this challenge was to leave 100 comments at children's literature blogs between January 6 and January 26.  Lee Wind designed the logo, including all 131 mastheads of the blogs that participated.  You can find The Poem Farm's logo in the bottom right corner.

Yesterday I won three books at the culmination of the 2011 Comment Challenge. Lucky me...I found great new blogs and soon I'll have new books to read.  Thank you Pam and Lee!

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Poetry Friday, Books, Socks, & #303

So Many Lives

Photo by Amy LV

This is poem #4 in my series of poems about books and reading and words.  My weekly ritual of writing about the same topic on a special day has been nourishing and a good stretch too.

Today's second poem is #5 in sock week, a challenge inspired by fifth grade teacher Jamie Palmer's class's project in Webster, NY. For each day of this week, several of Jamie's students are writing a new poem every day and posting them on their kidblogs.  Each has chosen one subject and continues to explore that subject on the seven days of this challenge.  With topics ranging from balloons to dogs to the ocean and lacrosse, they are creating all kinds of individual poetry collections.

I, too, am in on this project along with homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica from New Hampshire.  Nathaniel is writing about hermit crabs, and Jessica is writing about fireworks.  Poetry Friday is a perfect day to hop over to Family School and compliment them on their growing collection of poems.

 Draft of "Secret"

by Amy LV

Students - I wrote this poem because my daughters often wear mismatched socks.  I enjoy seeing their checked and striped feet sticking out from the ends of their pants, and it makes me happy to know that they feel free from having to look like everyone else.  Yesterday as I wrote, I imagined a girl who felt trapped by having to look popular and perfect, expensive and cool.  I imagined that this girl might rebel in a small way by wearing crazy combinations of socks.  For even when we feel trapped, we can find ways to preserve ourselves.

Did you notice that these two poems have quite a similar rhythm?

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Elaine's Wild Rose Reader.  If you linger there, you will be treated to all sorts of poems, book recommendations, and poem-thoughts from Elaine.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Poem #4 of Sock Week Challenge - #302

Hmmm....

Photo by Amy LV

This is poem #4 in this week's write-about-one-topic-in-many-ways-challenge.  At this time, a second class of students will be joining us as well as some middle school enrichment students from Caledonia Mumford and homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica.  Do check out Nathaniel and Jessica's poems now if you can.  Too, I have been enjoying the fifth grade poems from Jamie Palmer's class through their wonderful kidblogs and hope to share some of them with you soon.

Students - Yesterday, I enjoyed exploring this weird sock question - Do socks have a right or left?  They might, but I have never figured this out.  

I wrote the first draft of this poem in the first person, "When I am asleep..."  Rereading and revising, I decided to write it in the second person, or "you" voice.  This brings the reader in more directly and feels face-to-face.  You might try this in your poem for today.  Speak right to your reader...using the word "you."

Another thing I learned: I am not the only person who has ever wondered about this question.  These answers made me giggle.

Please let us know if you might join in writing poems about one topic for the next three days!  All are welcome to play.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Do Your Socks Get Lost? Or Not? #301

Here, Sockie!

by Amy LV

Well, you THOUGHT they were lost.  But maybe not.  This is poem #3 in the write-about-a topic-in-many-ways-challenge, posed by fifth grade teacher Jamie Palmer to her students at Klem South Elementary in Webster, NY.  I have very much enjoyed reading their kidblogs, and hope that you will soon have the opportunity to read them too.

Students - this poem brings up the question, "Are things really as they seem?"  I had a good time imagining that socks aren't really lost but rather, just playing a (one sided) game with us each morning.  What about your topic?  Is there another way to look at it?  Go ahead.  Hold it up to the light and twist it around in a sunbeam.  I'm sure you'll find another way to see it.

This is a mask poem, or a poem written in the voice of something else.  I love writing poems that allow me to pretend I'm a raisin or an airplane or a sock...it's like dress up time!

So far we have an enrichment class in Caledonia Mumford, NY and homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica joining us in the challenge.  You can read Nathaniel and Jessica's poems here.

It's never too late to be a part of this journey.  Just leave a comment, and let us know.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Poem #300! Sock Week Day #2 - for Mark

Hope's Handknit Socks

(Knitted by Hope)

Photo by Amy LV

This is day #2 of a one week challenge to write seven different poems about the same topic.  You can read more about this challenge, the class who inspired it, and how to play in yesterday's post.

Students - today's sock poem traces socks back to their original source - the sun.  I have dedicated it to my husband Mark because as a science teacher, he often teaches us how all living things can trace our history straight back to our beautiful star.

It's interesting to think about the history of things.  If you're in on this week's challenge, you might wish to consider this.  Ask yourself, "What can I imagine about my subject's history?  How might I trace it through time?"

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)