Look Outside!
by Amy LV
Students - This poem about my husband Mark. He is a hawk-spyer. When we drive in the car, he always sees hawks and counts hawks. I have written about this before because I think that hawk-spying is a neat habit...and because of Mark, I am now a bit of a hawk-spyer myself.
At times, it helps me to have a starter line when beginning a poem. Today's starter line was simply a statement about a person - My father spies hawks.
This gave me the idea that I could write many poems starting in a similar way - My someone does something. I might think about quirky things that my loved ones do, or my favorite actions of friends. I might think about things I've seen strangers do....or I might imagine the habits of people or animals I invent.
Here are some possibilities of similar poem starters I might try:
My mother reads books.
My friend tells good jokes.
My grandma plays poker.
My brother hugs cats.
My grandpa writes letters.
My goldfish looks lonely.
For each of these, I simply filled in the blanks as below:
My _______________ _______________ _______________.
You might wish to try this too. Think of the people and animals in your own life. Think about strangers you have seen. Make someone up! Try writing some starter sentences as I did. You may find that one of them makes you want to keep writing. (I am feeling like writing about a cat-hugging brother and a lonely goldfish right now!)
A large part of a writer's job is to find ways to get started. If you try out this way-to-get-started, and if it works for you....please let me know!
And if you would like to know more about red-tailed hawks so that YOU can become a hawk-spyer....visit the The Cornell Lab of Ornithology where you can learn so much about all kinds of birds.
At Sharing Our Notebooks this month, I happily welcome third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Please read their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a lovely new notebook. Comment by month's end, please.
It has been such a joyful week of visiting schools! This week I visited Pavilion Elementary, Byron-Bergen Elementary, Elba Elementary, and Pembroke Elementary, all in Western New York. Thank you very much to the wonderful people in these schools for your warmth and hospitality. If you are a teacher or librarian, please know that I am now scheduling school visits and poetry residencies for 2018 - 2019, and you can learn more here.
Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond Literacy Link. Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Carol this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books. Please join us!
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