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Silk [15 words or less poems]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I’m thankful for this enthusiastic, brave, wonderful group who gathers to share poems and feedback every week. Whether you’re a regular or just an occasional visitor, thank you. I’m glad you’re here! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a picture I took in the woods on

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poetryaction for Trains Go

Starting your holiday shopping? If you’re looking for a nonfiction book, click here to see the signed, personalized books? (including a few rhyming ones, alphabet ones, and color-based ones) I sell through Amazon. Great gifts for teachers/classrooms:>) Thanks! Now, on to today’s poetryaction! I got this book as a surprise birthday present from a lovely

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poetryaction for What There Is Before There Is Anything There

NCTE was an amazing, overwhelming, exhausting time! Met, saw, heard so many fabulous poets, educators, writers, and editors. I’ll share some pics and highlights next week:>)     I like scary stories and dark and quirky picture books. I had fun thinking about what happens to my own fears…where they might go next.   —————————————————————————————————————————–

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poetryaction for When the Wolves Returned

I love how When the Wolves Returned shows how the entire ecosystem of Yellowstone is interdependent. Great text! (Images…not so much, in my opinion.)   —————————————————————————————————————————– Poetryaction: After reading a picture book, sometimes I jot down a quick poem based on something in the book. It could be inspired by the entire book, the setting,

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Misbehaving Magic Wand, by Laura Purdie Salas

Happy Poetry Friday! This is the final poem of 2 weeks of sharing poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. You know, some days I’m having bad technology days. Like lately, when my car keys, website, and anything else with the slightest whiff of high-tech to it has decided

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Bow-Wow Pirate [15 words or less poems]

  Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s Captain Jack on Halloween–he didn’t keep the hat on very long:>) But since he is Captain Jack Sparrow, it seems only fitting to celebrate his piratiness at least once a year! This image makes me think of: 1) Johnny Depp as

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Out of Time, by Laura Purdie Salas

Hi, teachers! This week, I’m sharing Cinderella poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. Here’s one from the lady herself.   A Note from the Poet: I love acrostics. They’re one of my favorite poetic forms. Usually, acrostic poems don’t rhyme, but I have fun playing with meter and

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Cinderella poem, by Laura Purdie Salas

Hi, teachers! This week, I’m going to share a few more poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. The book includes 7 fairy tales, each with an introductory poem and 3 poems from characters selling junk they don’t want/need anymore. Last week, I focused on Jack and the Beanstalk;

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Special Saturday Edition: I’m at Will Write for Cookies

Good morning, everybody! I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but it’s a special weekend edition, because I’m being featured over at the lovely Vivian Kirkfield’s Picture Books Help Kids Soar blog as part of her Will Write for Cookies series. Hey, if you change that to cupcakes, I’ll write, sing, dance, do just about anything!

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The World’s Last Magic Bean, by Laura Purdie Salas

Happy Poetry Friday! Today’s poem wraps up a week of poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. This one comes from Jack himself. As with every good horror story, this fairy tale ends with the seed (literally, in this case) of the next terrible event. I hope you’ve enjoyed

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Enclosure [15 words or less poems]

  Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! It’s another pic from the Walker Art Center’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden. This image makes me think of: 1) a gigantic spiderweb 2) a gerbil in a gerbil ball 3) an alligator caught in a fishing net And here’s my?first draft. Wrapped mutant

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Solid Gold Sounds, by Laura Purdie Salas

Today’s poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale, comes from the Ogre’s wife. They have a very traditional marriage, and she’s the one who has to do all the grocery shopping:>)   Note from the Poet:   When poets work on meter, we use symbols like this: -/–/–/–/ Each

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Jack and the Beanstalk poem, by Laura Purdie Salas

Hi, teachers! This week, I’m sharing poems from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale. The book includes 7 fairy tales, each with an introductory poem and three poems from characters selling junk they don’t want/need anymore. I’m going to share the Jack and the Beanstalk set this week.   Note

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poetryaction to Winter Bees

Happy Poetry Friday! Don’t miss Joyce Sidman’s wonderful new collection! For ?more poetry fun, visit the Poetry Friday Roundup at Diane’s Random Noodling!

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