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Poetry Friday: Seal Lullaby (by Rudyard Kipling)
Yesterday, I was catching up on a little blog reading from National Poetry Month, and Kathi Appelt in her interview at The Miss Rumphius Effect mentioned her father reading Rudyard Kipling poems to her as a child. I’ve shared this poem once before, but I love it–so here it is again. Seal Lullaby Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the
Three Days With Fourth Graders: The Poems
Last week, I shared some of the highlights and the areas I needed to work on in my poetry residency with fourth graders. Today I want to share just a few of their poems. Most of these were first drafts, written in three minutes or less–we put the timer to good use! I loved how
Words Matter: Let Someone Know
I got the loveliest email last month. It was from Autumn Lubin, a woman I’ve never met, who recognized my name in an article about a writing fellowship. She works with foreclosure intervention counselors who work with families facing foreclosure, and here’s part of what she wrote: I start each of my classes by reading your poem “Smaller.” One of my
Three Days With Fourth Graders: The Good
Back in April, my first trip was a three-day poetry residency with fourth graders. Four classes, an hour per day with each class. Most of my school visits are large-group presentations, so I hadn’t worked with classroom-sized groups on multi-day projects in ages. I had a great time with the kids, but afterward, I wondered
Always a Runner-Up, Never a Bride
I’m back from a two-day mini-vacation with my husband (yay!) and I’ve got some good news to share! I was named an Honorable Mention for the Loft McKnight Fellowship, a much-coveted annual award here in Minnesota. The winner, Debra Frasier, gets $25,000 (hence the coveting!). The Honorable Mentions (my crit group partner Connie Van Hoven, Lynne
Poetry Friday: I Sailed a Poem to the Grocery Store (original poem)
It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect. In fact, I haven’t been doing daily poems, either. I had to put that ritual and several others on hiatus this winter in order to meet deadlines. It’s been about two months now without some of my daily
Poetry Friday: A Round of Rondeau Redouble
So, every once in a while, I get to write poems with the Poetry Princesses, which is an intimidating thrill. First, we did the crown sonnet. Next up was the villanelle. And then, with barely time for a deep sigh of relief after we posted those in December, we somehow ended up embroiled in a
More Ways to Get Young Kids Involved in Poetry Readings
Yesterday, I shared some of the ways I try to engage young kids, especially pre-readers, in poetry reading during school visits. I don’t want to just stand there and recite my poems. I want the kids to own the poems, too. But there’s always limited time, so I can’t repeat poems three and four times
Making Your Poems or Book Interactive for School Visits and Readings
Last fall, I wondered how to make the poems in Stampede more interactive for readings with young kids. For either pre-readers who can’t read the entire poem up on a screen or for settings where there’s no screen available. I got some great ideas from you guys (thanks!) and did some brainstorming on my own. I’ve been
Kids Write the Darnedest Things
At my school visit last week, one teacher brought me a set of thank you letters from her kids before I left the school that afternoon. Letters from the kids are one of the very best things about school visits. Here are just a few highlights of notes from second-grade students: …My favorite part was
How I Spend My Writing Days
Wildly busy and varied, that is! In an effort to share with beginning writers and also interested readers just what one full-time writer’s life is like, I kept a diary of my work days for one week in December. Today, that diary is up at David L. Harrison’s blog. And last week, there was an
Stampede Is a Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award!
Exciting news over the weekend. I got home from a game night Saturday night to find a congratulations email from Joyce Sidman–for Stampede’s choice as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards! The other three finalists in this category are Joyce herself, Alison McGhee, and Marion Dane Bauer. Wow. I’m in unbelievable company! I clicked
Quotation Motivation: Deadlines
I’m under a lot of deadline stress lately, so I thought I’d post a quotation that actually looked at the positive side of stress. Here it is: That’s right. There isn’t one. I couldn’t find a single quotation extolling the virtues of stress. Dang. But I did find this about deadlines: A deadline is
Thanks for Nothing, Jon Scieszka!
The new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature will be announced tomorrow, and today, bloggers are taking time to thank Jon Scieszka, the outgoing ambassador. (Outgoing in both meanings of the word.) Here are just three of his books I absolutely love: I could go on and on, but one of my goals for 2010
How Did I Do on My 2009 Theme? Fail!
Each year, besides setting all kinds of concrete goals/schedules/to-do lists, I choose some kind of theme to focus on and work toward throughout the year. How did I do on my 2009 theme? Well, it took me a few minutes to remember what it was. That should tell you the answer right there. Turns out
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Are You Looking For?
Go to my Poetry page for:
- National Poetry Month projects through the years
- Small Reads Roundups (poems grouped by topic)
- Introductions to several favorite poetry forms