Welcome to Day 30, the final day of 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 feel free to do so in the comments.
My April Poems Thus Far
And now for Day 30, the final day of Wallow in Wonder!
Building a Home
by Amy LV
Students - Well, I end this month in a circular way, with the same form I began it.
Today's poem is a sonnet, the fourth of this National Poetry Month. April 1 (
So Suddenly), April 9 (
Sundogs), and April 16 (
Writing) also featured
English - or Shakespearean - sonnets. The difference here is that while my other sonnets only rhymed some lines, in this one you can find that each line has a match.
Something interesting about the English sonnet form is that you will notice how the first many lines (in this case twelve) all focus on one thing - what the speaker can make out of paper - but then at line 13, there is a turn, or a change. For the final couplet, the speaker turns away from his or her own skill to marvel at the master of paper...wasps. I admit to enjoying thinking, tapping, and writing in imabic pentameter, the meter of this form.
Count the syllables in each line. What do you notice? You might wish to try writing one line this way. It is good practice to tune our ears by writing in different meters.
Thank you to all of you who have stopped by to visit The Poem Farm throughout National Poetry Month. It has been great fun for me to take on this Wallow in Wonder challenge, and I very much enjoyed the stretch and surprise I experienced from each Wonder poem. I enjoyed reading the Wonders, writing from them, reading these poems aloud, and making the watercolor paintings which I have kept together in this one book.
Wonder Watercolor Book
Photo by Amy LV
As this celebratory month closes, please remember that I have three giveaways, all closing at midnight. Here they are:
Giveaway #1 - It has been a delight this week to host teacher Emily Callahan and her students from Kansas City here at
The Poem Farm. Visit and comment on their post to learn about Popcorn and Poetry and to enter a giveaway for a Ralph Fletcher book.
Giveaway #2 - Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada have been gracing
Sharing Our Notebooks with their generosity and wisdom all month. This is a fantastic post full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie. Please check it out, and leave a comment over there to be entered into a giveaway for a Lynda Barry book.
Giveaway #3 - I am hosting a goodreads giveaway for 5 signed copies of EVERY DAY BIRDS, to be sent to 5 separate winners.
Happy Day 30 of National Poetry Month 2016. It has been a pleasure wallowing, wandering, wondering, and whiling away the days with you...
xo,
Amy
Please share a comment below if you wish.
