Day 30 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 30, the last day, 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 For My Friend.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Here are Margaret Simon's students from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana.  They got it again!

And here, below, is today's poem, the final poem of Sing That Poem 2015.  If you have been playing all month, it is the last song left.  If not, just 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. 

Storytime

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem comes from an image I have been carrying in my head and heart for some time.  Two years ago, I received a letter from Joanna, one of my friend Vida's library students.  In her letter, Joanna told me that she read my book to the birds in her yard.

It was the most beautiful compliment and most magical picture I could imagine - reading to birds!  

I did not realize it until right now, but I was saving this beautiful image for this beautiful tune.  For some reason, I seemed to save a tricky tune for the very end of this month, but now I know it was right and hope to have done both image and tune a bit of justice.  I am grateful, for Joanna, for Vida, for birds and words and poetry and images we can't forget, for books, and for you.

Thank you for holding my hand through this Poetry Month.  It has been fun singing with friends old and new.  And now...onto May!

On Sunday evening at 8pm EST, I will help faciliate a TwitterChat with Teach and Celebrate Writers all about...poetry!  Please join us for the poetrylove.  And if you are a teacher who would like to learn more about Twitter so that you can participate, check out The Teacher's Guide to Twitter at EduDemic.

Tomorrow is Poetry Friday!  In my post, please look for the complete page for Sing That Poem 2015, where I will include all poems and songs for easy following for those who have missed anything and for future days and years.  

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 29 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 29 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 Pocket Poem Song.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

A great big welcome to the  fourth grade students in Bernadette Kearns' class at Beaumont Elementary School in Devon, Pennsylvania.  They got it!  Thank you so much for singing to us all.

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.

Puzzle Present Box Top

Puzzle by Teacher Sheila Cocilova and Students

Photo by Amy LV

Poem Puzzle

Puzzle by Teacher Sheila Cocilova and Students

Photo by Amy LV

Friendship Puzzle Complete

Puzzle by Mrs. Cocilova & Students

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I had the good fortune to visit three schools - Jefferson Avenue Elementary, Brooks Hill Elementary, and Dudley Elementary - in the Fairport Central School District in Fairport, NY  In each school, I met with the whole second grade class as they are all in the middle of a big poetry writing unit. I felt so welcomed and very inspired by these young writers and their teachers.

Teacher and writer Sheila Cocilova and her second grade students sent me home from Fairport with a puzzle present.  Not a singing puzzle, but a real jigzaw puzzle that they made, and you can see a few pictures of it above.  Below you can read the words that travel around the perimeter.

Poetry is like a puzzle

each word like a single puzzle piece

uniquely fitting together with others

to create a beautiful finished product.

Looking at my new puzzle, reading the names of these students and thinking about all of the students and teachers I visited with yesterday...I felt happy to have been in Fairport, and sad to not be there today. This made me remember times that I have moved from one house to another and times when children I know have told me moving stories.

I often say that one word I love in the English language is bittersweet.  It means that something can be both happy and sad at the same time.  That's how I feel about moving and about visiting schools.  It is sweet to meet new friends...and sad to say goodbye.

It has been said that powerful writing grows when we can hold onto two feelings at once, two feelings like bitter and sweet.  If you can remember a time when you felt both happy and sad...this might give you a powerful start to a new piece of writing.

Remember - tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket Day!  Don't forget to find a poem for your own pocket, and I hope that you enjoy yesterday's Pocket Poem Song too.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 22 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 22 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 Cool as You Are.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Welcome again to Margaret Simon's students - Emily and Kielan -  from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana.  Well done, you crazy singing pair!

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.  If you have been playing along all month, I imagine this is getting much easier, isn't it?  I welcome all classes to send their own audio clips to me through SoundCloud (easy free app), and I will be tickled to post them here on The Poem Farm.

Earth Day Goodness

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Happy Earth Day!  Today, no matter the weather, I hope that you will spend some time outside enjoying the magic and mystery of nature - in the city, in the suburbs, in the country.  Look at a pigeon, listen to the peepers, sketch those gorgeous clouds.  We are very lucky to live on this gorgeous, glorious planet.

For today's poemsong, I decided to really lean on the repetition of lines.  I wanted this to have a very lullaby-easy-to-sing feeling, to celebrate all of the ways we can honor Earth both today and every day.  As I wrote it, I imagined that this could be a fun little play...or that others might write successive verses.  It is a simple tune, with a simple pattern and simple words.  You can sing it below.  Those words in capital letters have the strong beat, so be sure to sing those with a bit more emphasis.

If any classes do write a new verse, I welcome you to share it with me...and I will share it here!

In honor of Earth Day, I will give away three copies of my first book FOREST HAS A SONG (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013) today.  One copy will go to a commenter here on today's post, one will go to a person who retweets my announcement on Twitter, and one will go to a commenter on the announcement on my Poem Farm Facebook page.  If you already have the book, I will be happy to sign and mail it to someone else should you win.

Happy Earth Day!  

xo, a.

Learn More About My First Book Here

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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.

Day 20 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 20 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 Spice Song.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

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.

Love Lasts

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is for all of us who have lost people.  Some of us have lost loved ones to death, some to moving, some for a time to prison, some to an argument...there are many ways to lose a loved one and that feeling of wanting to be near again is one that people of all ages can understand.

The other week at a school assembly, a young boy said to me, "My mother told me that if someone you love dies or goes away, you can keep the person inside of you with your love."  He is right.  

Poems grow from feelings.  And poems can heal feelings too.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 18 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 18 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 Red Kite.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Lindsey Holt's students from the LaDue Fifth Grade Center in St. Louis, Missouri have joined us again today with the puzzle solved. Enjoy their lovely version below! Thank you, singers. 

Below is the song for The Ocean, a beautiful poemsong written and sung by Joy Keller's fourth grade students from Brooks Hill Elementary in Fairport, NY, to the same tune as Red Kite.  You can read the text of The Ocean here and listen to it here. Much gratitude to these students for sharing their poemsong and their voices with us.

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.

Train Goes By

Photo by Amy LV

Passing Tiny Houses

Photo by Amy LV

People at Work

Photo by Amy LV

Parade in Train Town

Photo by Amy LV

Wee Fair at Night

Photo by Amy LV

Students - The other week, when our family visited Pittsburgh, PA, we went to the Carnegie Science Center which has a marvelous train set.  We were mesmerized, and I took a few photographs of it.  Something about miniatures always makes me wish that I could just shrink down and live in that dollhouse, ride that train, play with that toy dog.  It is a small wish, but a wish nontheless.

We all have small recurring wishes, and they can be a good source of writing ideas. Pay attention to your mind as you go through your days.  What small wishes pop up?  Save one of them...until writing time.

Today's poem structure is a simply quatrains with the second and fourth lines rhyming.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 17 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 17 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 Memories.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Margaret Simon's students from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana, have done it again!  You can listen to their strong voices singing about that old barn.  Thank you, singers!

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.

Freedom

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem does not have much of a story behind it other than it began with some notebook writing.  I knew which tune I would write to because I knew that we were lucky enough to have guests with the same tune here today. But which topic should I choose?

I wrote about a few ideas in my notebook, and some were too silly for today's rhythm and song.  I adore this tune, and I wanted to write something worthy of it.  I hope I did.

Today we have a special Poetry Peek from Joy Keller's fourth grade poets Brooks Hill Elementary in the Fairport Central School District in Fairport, NY.  These students have been researching oceans, and they used their research to write a class song...to the same tune as my song for today.  

Taking information and restructuring it into the rhythms and lines of a poemsong is a complex task, and these writers did a beautiful job here. This might be something that other classes wish to try.  It's a glorious way to culminate a unit in science or social studies.  And when you read this poem (and tomorrow, listen to these students' singing voices), you will feel that you are in the sea. 

Thank you so much for sharing your song with us today, students.  It's a treat!  Welcome to teacher Joy Keller and her fourth graders.

We began by brainstorming a list of topics that had to do with the ocean (the water, fish, ocean mammals, etc.), and then the kids grouped themselves based on which topic they wanted to write about. Each group wrote a stanza. We talked about syllables and emphasis, but most of them just felt when they got it right by repeatedly singing it! We finished with a discussion about the order in which to put the stanzas and--voila!--we had our poem.

I think the trickiest part was that everyone kept singing the tune of "You are My Sunshine" instead of today's secret tune so that we messed ourselves up. I asked my musician husband why this was happening, and he gave me the very technical answer of "They're kinda alike at the beginning." :)

The Ocean

by Mrs. Keller’s Fourth Graders

The ocean’s turquoise, with bubbles floating,

There’s emerald seaweed, with ruby coral.

With pearls in clams and some diamond seashells,

Barnacles cling to opal rocks.

From the sunlight zone down to the twilight zone down

To the midnight zone down to the abyss,

From the abyss down into the trenches,

Those are the levels of the sea.

There are the mammals that live in oceans,

They have to come up for a breath of fresh air.

The whales have blowholes that spurt out water

Dolphins and seals will splash and play.

Fish breathe through their gills, and swim in schools,

And they have scales, and they have fins.

Sharks have sharp teeth, and the sailfish swim fast.

Tripod fish even walk around.

Deep in the ocean, strange fish are glowing.

Most fish down there have bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence is like a bright light bulb—

That’s what helps fish to catch their prey.

Invertebrates live down in the ocean.

They don’t have backbones, but some have hard shells

Like jellyfish and lobsters and crabs and

Octopi squirting out black ink.

Don’t throw your garbage into the ocean

You’ll hurt the fish and you’ll cloud the water.

The dirty bottles and destructive poisons

Can really ruin our gorgeous seas.

Robyn is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Life on the Deckle Edge. Have fun feasting on the poems all day, all week long!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 16 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 16 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 You and Me.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

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.

Time

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about something that always strikes me.  Old barns. Whenever I drive here near home or far away in other rural areas, I fall in love with barn after barn.  There are so many stories in old barns, and I wish that I could bewitch each old barn I see...bewitch it into talking for just five minutes...so that I could learn the stories from its past.

Yesterday, I had a long drive home from Vermont, after two delightful days teaching in the Georgia Elementary and Middle School.  On my way, I passed many old barns, and the one you see above simply stole my heart.

Today's poem is a simple verse, full of simple solid noun-words: barn, moon, cow, cats, children.  I wanted my poem to feel sturdy and safe, just like a steady barn.  I wrote it while driving, in my head, once again stopping at gas stations to jot on the paper below.  Because I was driving, most of the revision was invisible...in my old singing head!

You can think about your writing even when you are not writing; just let the ideas and sounds play together in your head.  You can think about writing at any time at all: when you are riding your bike, sitting on a bus seat, looking out of your living room window at the rain.

The wondrous poet Eve Merriam once said, "I've sometimes spent weeks looking for precisely the right word.  It's like having a tiny marble in your pocket, you can just feel it.  Sometimes you find a word and say, 'No, I don't think this is it...' Then you discard it, and take another and another until you get it right."

We can all be like Eve, thinking about our writing during all times of day, carrying words in our pocket, patiently waiting and searching for just the right ones.

Poem Draft (Most Revision Done in Head While Driving)

Photo by Amy LV

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 15 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 15 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 Librarian's Song.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

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.

If you are a classroom of students who figures this out, and if you would like to share your voices singing today's poem, please just send me a link to your SoundCloud (easy free app) recording, and I will post it here tomorrow.

Joe's Pole and Tackle Box

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This is a shorter song...and I am imagining that you will not have a very difficult time figuring out the tune.  I wrote this one in my head while driving eight hours to Vermont, and it was fun to sing, tap my steering wheel, and drive.  Every once in a while, I would pull over into a parking lot and write down a draft.  I am especially happy with "Dig fat worms" and all of line four and the "sh" and "ch" sounds in the final line.

Today we are halfway through the songs.  So far, this has been an interesting challenge for me.  I took it on to try out some new meters and to practice listening carefully to the stresses in words, and I can feel my meter muscles stretching.  I hope that your listening-to-syllables-and-stresses-muscles are stretching too.  Thank you for playing along this far, and thank you for your comments and notes and audio clips!

Teachers and Other Adults - If you are new here...please know that I also keep a Facebook page for The Poem Farm.  This page includes poems for grownups, links to all things poetry for children and adults, articles, quotes, neat poetry products...just poem-y things I love. You can find that page here, and I welcome you.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 14 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 14 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 Painter.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

This sound file has been removed as it hopes to appear

in my forthcoming book, WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.  

I am sorry, and I will try to write a new one with the same meter for this spot.

xo, a.

Guess what?  Mrs. Holt's reading-loving students from Ladue Fifth Grade Center in St. Louis, MO figured it out, and they were kind enough to share their voices with us here today.  Right now, these students are studying poetry, writing their own poems, and enjoying many mentor texts to understand form and topic choice.  As to how they solved yesterday's tune-puzzle, Mrs. Holt writes, "We don't have any extraordinary tips for figuring out the song, but our strategy was to try out different rhythms from your list until we thought it made sense."  You can hear their voices below.

This sound file has been removed as it hopes to appear

in my forthcoming book, WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.  

I am sorry, and I will try to write a new one with the same meter for this spot.

xo, a.

Thank you so much to these students for singing with me today.  I welcome any classes to do the same; simply send me your SoundCloud (easy free app) link in an e-mail, and I will include your voices here too.

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.

National Library Week Web Badge

from the American Library Association

Students - Happy National Library Week!  This is a special week to celebrate the wonder of free libraries, fabulous librarians, all of the good people who work in libraries and all of the resources we find there.  Today's poem is a poem to honoring libraries and librarians.  

There are times when it just feels right to write a poem for a special person or a special day.  You might think about those you love or about holidays that mean a lot to you or well, you might make up your own celebration, as the character does in I'M IN LOVE WITH CELEBRATIONS by Byrd Baylor.  It is a joy to celebrate others and things we care about through poetry.

Read More at IndieBound

You will notice that today's poem has a repeating stanza, or chorus.  This has been something new for me this month.  Usually in poetry, I do not include a repeating stanza.  But sometimes, in these poemsongs, I do.

Below, you will see a new book of poems about celebrations.  It was just born this National Poetry Month!  Happy birthday, book!  Congratulations again to Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, who brought together many many poets and put together this beautiful volume in both English and Spanish for all of us.

Read More at Pomelo Books

Photo by Amy LV

Now, go find a librarian to hug.  Say, "Happy Library Week!"  This is important.

Please share a comment below if you wish.