Time - Think about Two Perspectives

Sage in the 4-H Barn (2010?)

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I don't know where today's poem came from.  I was writing in my notebook, and I think that the holidays got me thinking about visiting relatives which made me think about how quickly children seem to grow up.  This made  me think that if children are getting older, I am getting older too...but I never really feel like this is true.

Then I got to thinking about when our own children first talked about babies they once know seeming so big or how our pets have gotten older without us even noticing where the time has gone.

In a way, this is a comparing and contrasting poem.  In the first stanza, we see what the grownups say and feel.  In the second, we get the narrator child's point of view.  It is interesting to explore an idea from a couple of different perspectives.  We learn about others and about ourselves too.  You might want to give this a try!

Below, enjoy a little kindness video of our cat Mini Monster giving grown-up Sage a little face bath last weekend.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find a very cool peek into Julie Patterson's notebooks. Leave a comment...and you just may win a book!

Diane is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Random Noodling.  Please stop by if you'd like to visit many different blogs, all celebrating poetry.  We meet weekly, and everyone is invited!

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.

New Puppies and Third Grade Poets

Madi and Dixie
Photo by Amy Holland

Jack and Hawk

Photo by Heidi Ludwig Zvolensky

Libby and Brewer

Photo by Heather Tielens

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

Students -  My nieces and nephews all have gotten new dogs within the past year, and so today I am celebrating all of them!  Libby and Teo have Brewer, Jack has Hawk, and Sam, Davis, and Madi have Dixie!  Woof!

Did you ever find something just when you needed it?  Well, that's what happened to me with today's poem. This poem is one that I found in my files, and I knew that it was the match for this Poetry Friday.  We're celebrating new lambs and kitties here, so it's a spring full of animal-love.

You will notice today's verse has two short stanzas.  The first one paints a moment, and the second is simply an exclamation, the real words that a person might say upon greeting a loved pet. There is one pair of rhyming words in the first stanza (fur/her) but the rest of the poem is just heart.  Write about love, and everything is good.

Today I welcome third grade teacher Peggy Wiedemann and some of her poets from Arcade Elementary in the Pioneer Central School District in Arcade, NY.  This class has been writing poems, and they were generous enough to allow me to share them here.  I invite you to notice their use of...

Description

by Alyssa

Conversational Structure

by Tyler D.

Repetition

by Jack

Line Breaks

by Tyler B.

List Structure

by Mary

Much gratitude to Peggy Wiedemann and her students for visiting The Poem Farm. Be assured that the rest of the class is full of poetry too!  It was a pleasure to read all of their poems and to share a few here today.  Lucky us.

For Metaphor Monday this week, Catherine Johnson shared my poem April Waking along with some beautiful photographs and metaphors to go with fiddleheads.  On Wednesday, she followed up with my husband Mark's Mother's Day fiddlehead frittata recipe.  But that is not all.  Unbeknownst to me, Catherine invited fellow poets to write and share fiddlehead poems at their own blogs.  You can read these festive and fun verses by following these links: Cathy Ballou Mealey, Freeda Baker Nichols, and Penny Klostermann.  Thank you to Catherine, Cathy, Freeda, and Penny for the wonderful surprise!

Jama is hosting today's delicious Poetry Friday roundup over at Jama's Alphabet Soup.  If you're hungry for all kinds of sweet and spicy poetry dishes....head on over to her beautifully set blog and enjoy.

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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Oh! A Poem from a Puppy!

Morning with Sage and Bonfire

Photo by Amy LV

We have a new puppy at our house!  Sage is a Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix, and we adopted her from a friend in the sheep barn at the Wyoming County Fair this week.  Watching Sage explore the world, I am again reminded of each of our children as toddlers, and every puppy and kitten I have ever known.  The world is new!  Who are you?

Students - this morning as I tried to sleep past 6:00am, Sage was wide awake and ready to play.  She was ready to bite on rocking chair rockers, to teethe on my hand, and to bounce about the living room.  Rather than try to settle her down, I brought her outside and watched her romp and wiggle through dewy grass, intrigued by sticks and kitties, unripe Concord grapes and flowers.  Watching Sage play, I wrote this poem from her point of view.  Sometimes writing is easier when you are right close and watching what you are writing about.  Why all of those exclamation marks?  Well, that's how I think Sage would talk if puppies spoke English!

Dori is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at Dori Reads with her own collection of books and words from many friends...

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