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Back from Boston’s Back Bay
Randy and I just got home from a short trip to Boston, and we had a great time. Highlights included a whale watching cruise (where we saw two mother humpback whales and their calves, plus a couple of minke whales), touring the USS Constitution, and eating amazing amounts of food (Randy–seafood, me–salads, pastas, and sandwiches). We
Quotation Motivation: Set Our Own Conditions
To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy … is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) I’m struggling to be happy lately. I do think happiness is largely
Lesson Plan for Emotion Poems
On Friday, I shared just a few of the cool poems that 4th-8th graders came up with in my Young Authors Conference workshops. A few people asked about the process, so I thought I’d share the outline of what we did. Each session was only 50 minutes, which gave us 45 minutes tops for the whole
Poetry Friday: Poems of Hope and Fear by Young Authors
I had a great time working with 4th-8th graders at Young Authors Conferences in May, and I wanted to share (with their permission) just a few of their poems. We imagined certain scenes/settings, and then the writers brainstormed all the things Hope and Fear could do in those situations. They used randomly chosen verb lists to
Poetry Friday: Jane Kenyon Went to My Pool?
I started reading Jane Kenyon: Collected Poems recently, and was shocked when part of one of the poems described a landmark of my childhood, The Langford Hotel, in Winter Park, Florida. My family had a membership to the pool, and my dad put on pool/diving shows there, sometimes including my sisters (I took diving
Quotation Motivation: Lost at Sea
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”–Andre Gide This is one of my favorite quotations, because I need to remind myself of this frequently with regard to my writing. In my life, I’m up for adventure and change and challenge. But in my writing, I find
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
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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