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Putrid Poetry: Day 3: My Grand Canyon Feet
Louis J. Pasternak Poetry Assignment #3: Metaphors My Grand Canyon Feet Under a magnifying glass, my feet form a desert– sandy, dry, cracked deep slices carved out: canyons that held rivers a zillion years ago in the Great Foot Desert. Only sweat trickles through canyons Mysterious mosses sometimes grow there if I forget flip-flops for
Putrid Poetry: Day 2: Lovebug Popcorn
Louis J. Pasternak Poetry Assignment #2: Similes Lovebug Popcorn Kamikaze lovebugs crowd highways, smash into our windshield, explode like splotchy white popcorn Miss S – Did you see my simile? Lovebugs look like popcorn! How cool is that? Louis, I am always devastated when I drive through swarms of lovebugs in May…such a tragic loss
Grasshopper Reality TV with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Month! Last month, we Poetry 7 shared our sedokas. This month, we’re back to ekphrastic art. I decided not to worry about being totally uncouth when it comes to art this time. Plus, I got to choose the art (that does help:>) I took two pictures at the University of St. Thomas when
Putrid Poetry: Day 1: It Begins
It Begins Miss Sweetmallow said we had to write poetry. I hate poetry. I like folding my eyelids back so you can see the wet parts underneath. I like playing basketball until I’m dripping in sweat and then shaking my whole body so everybody gets a shower. I even like to risk getting poisoned every
Eggshell [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Most of my pics seem to come from airports or planes lately! All this next month I’ll be using pics taken on the way home from South Bend, IN to Minneapolis, MN.
Rabbits Recycle, from Putrid Poetic Ponderings [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Here’s a poem from The Putrid Poetic Ponderings of Louis J. Pasternak, AKA Dr. Skullstench, which I’ll be sharing in serial form right here throughout National Poetry Month. If you know of teachers who might be looking for a humorous, accessible poetry read-aloud for Poetry
Tangled [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Most of my pics seem to come from airports or planes lately! This one is in O’Hare. This image makes me think of:
The Penn-Harris-Madison Young Authors Conference
Monday, I shared the group poems written by the K‑5 students at the Penn-Harris-Madison Young Authors Conference last weekend in Mishiwaka, IN. Today, I want to just share a few details/thoughts on the event. My entire family except me was born in Indiana, and I found out right before I left Minnesota that my maternal
Poetryaction for Summer Birds [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I got to meet Margarita Engle at NCTE last fall when we were signing books next to each other. What a lovely person! Have you read her Summer Birds, with glorious illustrations by Julie Paschkis? I confess I’m not a huge bug person. Leaving behind
Landing [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Well, I’m kind of annoyed that there’s a person in my picture! The lens didn’t click fast enough, I guess. Oh well. When I visited Wealthy Elementary School last month in Michigan,
Read-Aloud Revival & the Author-Illustrator Relationship
I was the guest author for an online Author Access Event yesterday with Sarah Mackenzie. I had an awesome time talking with Sarah and fielding questions from homeschooling families who were taking part in the livestream event. That video series is part of a paid members-only portion of the site, but I wanted to share
A Sap and Sun Sedoka with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Last month, we Poetry 7 shared our ekphrastic poems inspired by Picasso sculptures. I was not too happy with either the sculpture OR my poem. I’ll try to be less curmudgeonly this month:>) This month, we wrote sedoka, and mine was kind of a
Snowplowasaurus [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? I was walking the track at my gym a few weeks ago, and looking out the window, I could see a big tractor-thingy (bulldozer?) removing snow off the roof of the library
A Poetryaction for If You Plant a Seed [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’ve blogged about NCTE last fall, and one of the many enjoyable sessions was the Children’s Literature Breakfast, featuring Kadir Nelson. I was quoting Kadir in a talk about mentor texts that I gave last weekend (more about that next week), so I thought I’d
Leaf Necklace [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? OK, hopefully I’ve finally got it right this week! This is a picture of a gift given to me by Kim Doele, a 3rd-grade teacher at Wealthy Elementary. She was hugely instrumental
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