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Revenge of the White Dragon [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I realize this poem is not seasonally appropriate, but this week I’ve been reading about 2015’s disastrous Mt. Everest avalanche, and it made me think of this acrostic I wrote years ago. Revenge of the White Dragon (An Acrostic) A dragon wakes, his winter sleep
Umbrella, Inside [15 Words or Less Poems]
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 glad you’re here. Randy and I were killing time during a showing recently. We sat outside at a Freddy’s, and as I drank my Diet Coke and lost at Scrabble, I also
Thankful for… Imperfection
I have a black thumb. My plants die as fast as I can pot them. Here’s one on my deck right now. But when I look out my kitchen window as I sit writing at the table, I mostly just see the happy flash of red. Whatever has died behind it–well, I don’t focus on
Thankful for… Laughter
I was talking to my parents on the phone, and even while discussing another doctor’s appointment (they have so many every week), my dad and I found things to laugh about. When they were calling him from the waiting room, he couldn’t find the door people were disappearing into, which was tucked around the corner.
Thankful for… Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
I’ve had a lot going on in life lately, and my online community has been so supportive, which I greatly appreciate! But I feel whiny, and I want to concentrate for a bit on something each day that makes me smile. I want to make sure I appreciate all that I have. Today, I’m appreciating
Harpy Is Just a Word with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
This is terrible. Two months in a row, I am setting this post up just days before, and I haven’t yet written my poem. With our house on the market, a daughter in the ER three times in one week, a week of Young Authors Conferences, and two book deadlines, I’ve dropped the ball. Many
Bird [15 Words or Less Poems]
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 glad you’re here. I was picking up the yard before a showing last week, and I saw a flash of yellow on the ground. I thought it was a tennis ball from
My Biopoem Lesson Plan
As I mentioned yesterday, I led biopoem sessions at a Young Authors Conference all last week. The students wrote and shared amazing poems: a silly poem about brussel sprouts, a thoughtful poem about creativity, a heartbreaking poem about gender identity and fitting in, a scary poem about rats, a celebratory poem about soccer, and SO
Introduction to Biopoems at the Young Authors Conference
Last week, I got to teach at Success Beyond the Classroom’s Young Authors Conference all week at Bethel University here in the Twin Cities. Each year, this is a great chance to write with 12–15 groups of 3rd-8th graders. I always do poetry, and this year, we did biopoems. I was introduced to biopoems at
Testing Shame, a Poem About High-Stakes Testing
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Hi poets and teachers–Over these last weeks of school, I’m sharing several poems from my new collection, The Heart of a Teacher. Today’s short poem is a sad one (but others are funny or sarcastic or celebratory–they aren’t all negative:>) I have to admit, I
Jailed [15 Words or Less Poems]
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 glad you’re here. Here’s a picture taken from our family room. My husband recently converted the room from a theater room with a projector and big screen back into a family room,
More Poems About Balance
Monday, I shared a poem about balance, and I thought I’d share the other two today. Can you tell I’m addicted to Canva lately? My graphic design skills are not great, but I love working with images and poems together. I will get better!
When They Write, a Poem About Student Writing
Here’s another poem from my new collection, The Heart of a Teacher. This one was inspired by the sound of students writing. I love when I’m visiting a school, and I set them off on a quick-writing exercise. When I say, “Go!” and the pencils start moving over the page, it sounds like a wonderful
Seesaw Highs and Lows, a Poem About Balance
I received an email from first-grade teacher Erin Baker. She was preparing to teach a unit on balance to first graders and wondered if I had any relevant poems or could recommend any that related to the topic. I told her, “I have actually toyed with the idea of soliciting needed poem ideas from teachers
An Answer to, “Teachers have it easy–three months off!”
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Hi poets and teachers–I’m sharing another poem from my new collection, The Heart of a Teacher, today. (And an educator just gave it a 5‑star review on Amazon–so excited:>) About this time of year, lots of teachers I know start hearing all over again how
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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