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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
Boxed In [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 out my window. This image makes me think of:
Acceleration Exasperation
I promised to share a few poems from my new collection, The Heart of a Teacher, over these last weeks of school. Here’s one inspired by, well, you can probably guess. Right now, the Kindle version only is listed on Amazon, but in a few days the paperback version will show up there, too. Meanwhile,
Writing Things To Do If… Poems with 1st Graders at Hugo Elementary
Last month, I got to visit Hugo Elementary School in White Bear Lake, MN, at the invitation of Media Specialist Connie Stirling, whom I had run into at the Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference. I was so excited to visit the school and spend an entire day writing poems with 1st graders! This meant the day
Open Wide [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 I took in my “Fishing Room” on a school visit in southern Minnesota, which I blogged about earlier this week. The room was full of quaint
The Heart of a Teacher Is Here!
Hi, teachers! Last year, I started tagging all my poem documents. You know, giving them labels in order to find all my poems that are, say, about science, or are haiku, or whatever. I realized then that I had a fair number of poems about teachers and teaching, and I thought, Hey, maybe I can
Water Can Be… a Black-Eyed Susan Picture Book Nominee!
I’m thrilled that Water Can Be… is a nominee for Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Award for the 2016–2017 school year. And it’s rubbing spines with so many books I love! You can see the list here (not just picture books–all the books). Thanks, Maryland! The only place I’ve visited (twice!) in Maryland is Hemingway’s, a restaurant
A Library and School Visit to Southern Minnesota
Back during Poetry Month, I had a lovely overnight visit to southern Minnesota for an evening event at the Lanesboro Public Library and then a school visit at LeRoy Elementary the next morning. (Here’s an article in the local paper. Thanks, Charlie Warner!) It’s agricultural country down there and Amish country, brown and barren and
Back to Life with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Oh, ah…hello. This is a little embarrassing. You see, each Saturday (I work Tuesday-Saturday, generally), I get my blog posts set up for the week, and then I just dash in throughout the week if I feel like it to add up-to-the-minute notes. So, it’s Saturday, April 30, as I write this. And I don’t
Branches [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 I took while my husband and I were walking our beagle down by the lake. These barren branches leaning over the water caught my eye, but
Post-Putrid Poetry: Thank You!
Well, that was a rip-roaring Poetry Month! Thank you so much for reading Louis’ story. The comments meant a lot to me as I shared some work totally unlike my more usual stuff. I also enjoyed the emails you sent, sharing students’ poems that were just “too gross to share publicly.” I admit that there
Putrid Poetry: Day 29: Poetry Heals: A Get Well Poem for Miss Sweetmallow
The kids all looked bored. Then it was my turn. “I’ve been writing interesting poems in Miss Sweetmallow’s class. She said we could write about whatever we wanted, and that made poetry a lot more fun.” Bran and Marty cheered. “But then she challenged me to write a nice poem. I wasn’t planning to do
Play(ne)ground [15 Words or Less Poems]
Hello, and welcome! Poetry Month is almost over, but we celebrate poetry year-round here:>) I’m happy you’re here for 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)! Here’s my final pic taken in March on the way home from South Bend, IN to Minneapolis, MN. Next week,
Putrid Poetry: Day 28: Family Recipe
“This next one,” said Goldie, “is about my family. We had a family reunion last summer, and it was so much fun. So I tried to capture that here, and I wrote it like it was a recipe.” Family Recipe Take a three-legged dash for a dusting of fun Run through the sprinklers then roast
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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