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Writing Poetry with Third Graders
I had the best time at Pinewood Elementary last month. I got to spend two days there, which means that, in addition to two large-group presentations, I did writing workshops with each third-grade class. Love! The staff was amazing and enthusiastic, and the students were incredible. We had the best time. I’m going to share
Jellyfish Dance [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So, last week, I shared a lai, which the Poetry Princesses tackled for December. I liked it and wanted to try another, so here’s a #poemsketch with another lai. I had one with a font I liked a little better, but it was a
Traffic Cones [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. Here’s a pic from a recent road trip. This image makes me think of several things:
December #Poemsketch
I can’t believe it’s almost the end of the year! Here’s a #poemsketch for you today:>) I love December and winter, and I enjoy the fresh start feeling of a new year (though fall always feels like the beginning of my year, personally). But when it’s frigid and icy, December seems a little…violent to me,
Lai-ing About with Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) This month, we Poetry Princesses wrote lais (a 9‑line, aabaabaab poem) on the theme of hope, light, or peace. I had done the little drawing below before thinking about this month’s poem. Then I started thinking about how the sight of chimney smoke
Bike Rack [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. If you didn’t see my note earlier, sorry about last week! Major blog/Wordpress fail, and I lost several posts. Boo. And I was traveling without my laptop and
Silo Storm #Poemsketch
Apologies for those who visited last Thursday. I had several posts for Thanksgiving Thursday and Poetry Friday and one all about NCTE–and they have completely disappeared. :>( OK, moving on… There’s something about a farm silhouetted against the sky that always feels so nostalgic. As I’ve driven around Minnesota doing school visits, I’ve been treated
After #Poemsketch
I have decided I really prefer the idea of typed text rather than hand-lettered. The watercolors are already very fluid and, uh, imperfect, and when I try to hand-letter, the whole thing just feels sloppy to me. Also, I’ve tried a few of these watercolor background with black silhouette simple drawings on them, and they
Seamstresses #Poemsketch
I’m home from NCTE, which was lovely and overwhelming, as always! A little quiet time and a little nature (though it’s chilly here in Minnesota right now, so I’m mostly enjoying nature through the window!) always helps stitch my frazzled self back together!
Without [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Today, I’m sharing a poem I wrote years ago, because on Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ blog, my Lerner editor, Carol Hinz, challenged us to write poems about things not typically considered beautiful. As someone who thinks about life and death a lot, I have learned to
Tree Puzzle [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. The leaves are all gone now from our beautiful maple, so I’m enjoying it through photos retroactively:>) This image makes me think of several things:
Bald Head #Poemsketch
I was thinking about writing a poem for Carol Hinz’ Ditty of the Month challenge–write about something not typically considered beautiful. (More info on this in my Poetry Friday post this coming Friday if you aren’t familiar with this.) I was thinking about bald heads, and how many people (especially women) still feel ugly when
Listening Pod [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. I want to say thank you to this community! On my school visits to Pinewood Elementary in Monticello, MN, last week, I got to lead poetry workshops with
The Circle of Inspiration
One of the very best things about being an author is when your own work inspires readers to create! On Instagram over the weekend, a mom and her daughter (I think this is the relationship) shared this image: Parla wrote that she and Brighton were inspired by an Author Access event I did with the
First Snow — Triolets with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was triolets using two of five words chosen by Liz (orange, fall, chill, light, change). I love triolets. They lend themselves to reflection because of the repetition, but I wanted to try to keep things at
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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