Hi, teachers! This is a gathering of blog posts and website pages that contain poems (by me and by other people) you might like to use in your classroom.
June 27, 2016 In addition to my books for kids, I have written some poetry books just for teachers. Happy poeming!
The Heart of a Teacher is filled with poems for teachers and about teaching. Read more.
30 Painless Classroom Poems is a series of 6 books, each with 30 ... April 8, 2016 If you are a teacher or if you know a teacher who would like a pat on the back for such amazing work, check out The Heart of a Teacher: On Staff Meetings, Lice, Field Trips, and What Really Matters. The 64 poems range from ... March 18, 2016 About the Story
“The Putrid Poetic Ponderings of Louis J. Pasternak, AKA Dr. Skullstench” is a funny read-aloud perfect for your poetry lovers–and your poetry haters. Fourth grader Louis is, shall we say, slightly unhappy about the poetry project at school, and he vows to write ... December 1, 2015 I love mixing words and images and putting poems or favorite thoughts with pictures. I’ve been sharing more poems like this on my site this past year, and people have started asking, “Hey, is this available as a print? Or a journal or a postcard?” ... October 27, 2015 Sometimes editors or educators ask me what kind of poetry I write. The answer is all kinds! So I put together this sampler with 10 of my poems just to give some idea of the variety of my work. Some of these have appeared in ... September 7, 2015 Teachers and writers, 15 Words or Less Poems are a weekly chance to write a quick poem to a photo prompt. It’s super simple–no pressure! And you can use the posts however you like, whenever you like! If you’d like to participate online or you ... September 6, 2015 Hi, teachers! This is a gathering of blog posts and website pages that contain poems (by me and by other people) you might like to use in your classroom.
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September 3, 2015 Hi, Educators,
Once of my favorite things about being a writer is connecting teachers, reading specialists, media specialists, and other educators with poetry!
Here are some resources your might enjoy:
30 Painless Classroom Poems – These are my poetry collections published specifically for teachers, with lots of great ... September 3, 2015 Usually I write about writing poetry in my Poetic Pursuits columns, but this time, I want to share some thoughts about how teachers can read poetry to young kids in a way that makes those kids eager to listen to and love poetry.
I offer this ... September 2, 2015 What Is 30 Painless Classroom Poems?
30 Painless Classroom Poems is a series of books that makes it easy for you, the elementary school teacher, media specialist, or reading specialist, to share poetry. Each book contains:
a collection of 30 poems by award-winning poet Laura Purdie Salas ...My Poetry Books for Teachers
The Heart of a Teacher
The Putrid Poetic Ponderings of Louis J. Pasternak, AKA Dr. Skullstench
Notecards & Prints
Laura’s Poetry Sampler
15 Words or Less Poems Guidelines
Poems for Teachers
Poetry for Teachers
Reading and Discussing Poetry in the Primary Classroom
30 Painless Classroom Poems
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September 14, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This past couple of weeks have been humdingers. Oi. But I’m in this week with a poetryaction to Maria Gianferrari’s Being a Dog: A Tail of Mindfulness. So fun! (You can see all my poetryactions here.)
And ... August 31, 2023 (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, everyone–I’m (theoretically) in Central Florida visiting family this long weekend–if Idalia doesn’t stop my trip. Anyway, I won’t be around to visit everyone’s blogs, but I wanted to post this poetryaction and say Happy Poetry Friday!
Have you read ... August 24, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, we Poetry Princesses played with the exquisite corpse form. Through a series of direct messages, we created a “poem” of original lines alternated with some of Linda Mitchell’s wonderful clunkers. The idea ... August 17, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) This is another fairly long post–sorry! Feel free to skip down to just the image poem if you only want a quick poetry hit. But if you want to know a bit more about the ... August 10, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
It’s such a treat to see Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard’s new collection, Welcome to the Wonder House. Rebecca was one of the first children’s poets that lit a fire in me for writing poetry. ... August 3, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, everyone! Thanks for your nice comments on last week’s poem, the dreaded monotetra :>D Several of you mentioned your favorite line was the one about twilight singing in plum. I have to tell you this ... July 27, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Also, you can skip the writing process and go right to my draft on the full-cover graphic near the bottom :>)
Quick note: I’m looking for an online critique group of picture book authors ... July 20, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I have so many things to share, but I don’t want to overwhelm you, so I’m gonna do a quick bullet point list!
My Texas trip was good, and I loved sharing the work of some PF ... July 13, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m just back from Texas, where I got to share with educators about poetry and also about mentor texts for informational writing. It was an awesome conference and a short, intense, very hot trip! My blog ... June 29, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write in response to a quotation. The initial one someone suggested was an excerpt from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, p. 359, in the chapter ... June 22, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
More hard family news came our way this week, and life kind of feels like a slog right now. Thank you for all your virtual hugs and good thoughts coming my way! On the plus side, ... June 15, 2023 It’s Poetry Friday, and I may be moving slowly, but I’m here. (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m putting this post together on Tuesday, and I’m still dragging from Covid. I’m thankful for my relatively mild case, though I feel like I’m trying to ... June 8, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve been busy with lots of family dramas lately, and I’ve felt overwhelmed with life and business/promotion stuff, and I haven’t been writing too much. This week, I finally forced myself to spend 30 minutes per ... June 1, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Thank you all for your lovely words about my ghazals last week. Although I’m not a big fan of the form in general, your nice messages made me feel less ugh about them :>D
Last weekend, Randy ... May 25, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was the ghazal. To be honest, I’m not a fan.
My first attempt came out whiny. I know people are tired of hearing about how much I hate hot ... May 11, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I read Milo Imagines the World last week. It’s all about the assumptions we make about other people, and also about re-imagining the world for ourselves. This made me daydream about what would be an idyllic ... May 4, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Friends, if you submit your poems for grown-ups to online or print journals, would you share your favorite markets or your favorite place to find poetry markets in the Comments? My adult daughter is interested in ... April 30, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
This ... April 29, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
There’s ... April 28, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
The ... April 27, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, friends, I’ve totally dropped the ball. We’ve been dealing with a lot of things at my home this month, both wonderful and not wonderful. And I not only missed my live writing call with my ... April 26, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
I ... April 25, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
It’s ... April 24, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
There ... April 23, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
Heading ... April 22, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
My ... April 21, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
My ... April 20, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This coming Tuesday, April 25, I’ve helped organize a virtual launch party for 8 book creators! Since my in-person launch party was hampered by a blizzard, I’m hoping this one will get a larger crowd! Mark ... April 19, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
Before ... April 18, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
My ... April 17, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
Well, ... April 16, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
When ... April 15, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
This ... April 14, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
There’s ... April 13, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Three things before I get to today’s poem:
1) Mark your calendars for the virtual event on April 25! Meet 8 creators, 9 books, and have a chance to win a free book (8 chances to win!)! ... April 12, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
My ... April 11, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
And…here’s ... April 10, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
April ... April 9, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
First ... April 8, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
First ... April 7, 2023 Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
Ooh. ... April 6, 2023 Two quick things before today’s poem!
1) Mark your calendars for the virtual event on April 25. Meet 8 creators, 9 books, and have a chance to win a free book! Click the graphic for more info:
2) At Picture Book Builders, the awesome Jill Esbaum has ... April 5, 2023
Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
One ... April 4, 2023
Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
I ... April 3, 2023
Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
All ... April 2, 2023
Happy almost National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
[Heads-up: If you’re visiting regularly, please know that the bold, blue text is what I’m writing fresh each day. The black text is the same each day:>) ... April 1, 2023
Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
Whee! ... March 30, 2023 It’s Poetry Friday, but I’m doing a separate Poetry Friday post so as not to overwhelm you with too many things!
Happy almost National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
[Heads-up: If you’re visiting regularly, please know ... March 30, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
By the way, my first post for National Poetry Month is also live now. I decided to make two separate posts because this would be unbearably long and confusing otherwise! But I invite you ... March 23, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Hi, everyone! It’s been a rough week with family medical issues, and I escaped into writing a poem this morning.
I’ve shared some definito ... March 16, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m so happy to be hosting today! I’m out all day today teaching at a Young Authors Conference, but I’m looking forward to visiting all of your posts over the weekend.
First up, I want ... March 9, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, friends–I missed you last week. I’ve been dealing with a crazy busy schedule of books coming out, plus a family member with a health scare that’s had me pretty anxious. It was nice to get ... February 23, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Before my poem draft, I’m sharing a video about my membership Facebook Group (subscriptions handled through Patreon). If you’re writing poems or picture books for kids, you might find it interesting.
https://youtu.be/PKoaK7-NCv0
Okay, the Poetry Sisters ... February 16, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, everybody! Thanks for all your well wishes–my back is feeling better! It’s been a super busy February so far with author visits, my 35th wedding anniversary <3, freelance deadlines, and endless promotion for my 3 ... February 9, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week, I’m sharing another Poetryaction. There’s a lovely new book by Nancy Bo Flood out called Walking Grandma Home. Click here to read my post about it from Wednesday. And here’s my poem. Although I ... February 2, 2023 From Laura:
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Lydia Lukidis is one of those kidlit bloggers who is always so generous about celebrating other authors’ books (including mine). Plus she’s an all-around lovely person. And when I read her new book from Capstone, ... January 26, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve been dealing with some back pain–what the heck? I’ve never had back pain and don’t have any idea what I’ve done. But anyway, I was soaking in a steaming hot bathtub last week and totally ... January 19, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Poetry Friday is famous!!! Okay, maybe not actually famous, but it’s got a big role in Tanita Davis’ (y’all know she’s one of my Poetry Sisters) JUST-PUBLISHED middle-grade novel, Figure It Out, Henri Weldon.
From the publisher: ... January 12, 2023 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Whee! My blog MIGHT be receiving comments. If you’re willing, would you try commenting? It could be very brief! Thanks :>) I’ve really missed comments the past couple of weeks. [Note: If you get an error ... January 5, 2023 Trigger warning: This post contains content about suicide.
Please, if you or someone you love is struggling, reach out for help. Suicide is preventable. People care about you, and there is help. One place to try is the Jed Foundation.
It’s Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday ... December 29, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I hope you had a beautiful Christmas/Hanukkah/winter celebration! I’ll share a few pics from mine next week :>)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was the box. I don’t remember who suggested this, but ... December 8, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, poetry friends, and welcome! During November, lots of writers were doing NaNoWriMo. I don’t write novels nor want to, so I sometimes come up with some other challenge for November. This year, in my Facebook ... November 24, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone, and I hope you had a delicious and cozy Thanksgiving, if you’re in the U.S. (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, the Poetry 7 and I wrote recipe poems. I’ve written a few before and enjoy them, but ... November 17, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Okay, friends, here’s another definito to go with Finding Family (coming in March from Lerner). I’m having a blast with these!
Also, I’m wondering if anyone else has had a sneak peek at Billy Collins’ ... November 10, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve shared a couple of definitos recently, and I had so much fun I decided to write some to go with the challenging vocabulary in my forthcoming books. I’ve written several for Finding Family, ... November 3, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Many folks in the Poetry Friday community have been sharing their poems from What Is a Friend?, edited by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell. This book benefits IBBY, with the editors and poets all donating ... October 27, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Before I share today’s poem, I’m inviting you to check out my Halloween riddle-ku that I shared on Wednesday. I also shared an invitation for people who have a young student or family ... October 20, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Before I share poems, I invite you to check out John Schu’s cover reveal for one of my Spring 2023 picture books. Click here to see Alexandria Neonakis’ gorgeous cover for FINDING FAMILY: THE DUCKLING ... October 6, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I shared a definito poem of the word “folly.” While I was working on that, I decided to do a second one, too. I have several books coming out in the spring, ... September 29, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
[ETA: Our older daughter had unexpected gallbladder removal yesterday, so I’ll be a bit behind in replying to your comments. (She’s doing okay but is in a lot of pain.) Looking forward to getting ... September 22, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You guys, Scotland was amazing. It was just magical to be able to travel with my husband and my sister and her husband, and then to have Maddie join us for the last weekend in Edinburgh ... September 15, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
We’re home! We spent two fabulous weeks in Scotland, and I’m so grateful for the trip! I will share some photos eventually. Meanwhile, I’m happy to be back to Poetry Friday. Here’s a poem I just ... September 1, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m off the grid, filling the creative well right now (and SO excited about it!). But I did want to point y’all toward 2 Small Reads Roundups that might be useful for you if ... August 25, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was the bop poem, and I didn’t like it. It’s a longer (to me) form, and I liked a few of the examples I read, but it’s ... August 4, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Before I share my little poem this week, here are a few things:
Joy Moore shares an example of the purposeful use of mixed meter in We Belong at her blog yesterday! Thanks, Joy!
And Kathy Temean shares ... July 28, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I really feel it’s impossible that it’s the end of July! I’ve done 8 library storytimes, had a sister visit for 10 days from Florida (whee!), gone to Duluth, MN, for a bit of ... June 23, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a byr a thoddaid, a Welsh form. Last Thursday, my husband and I went on a road trip to see Tears for Fears in Chicago! Awesome ... June 9, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’ve missed you guys the past few weeks! I’m dropping in this week to share my poem from Tabatha Yeatts’ fabulous Imperfect II – poems about perspective: an anthology for middle schoolers. I have now ... May 1, 2022 Haha–seriously, I misread the calendar and prepared a post for the 31st (nonexistent) day of April. Oh well. Poetic license?
We made it! A sticky note poem every day in April! Thanks for stopping by periodically to read and comment :>) Here’s one more secret poem ... April 30, 2022 Here’s another poem, like Thursday’s, that merges Patricia Franz’s idea of learning secrets by listening with a topic from In the Middle of the Night. Art is by Angela Matteson :>) For this one, I thought of what I might have in my pocket and ... April 28, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write inspired by poet Taylor Mali. I enjoy hearing Taylor Mali’s work–and attended a virtual workshop with him a couple of months ago! But I like ... April 28, 2022 You guys, I’ve been heartsick this week over the stories of a horrific crime in our region. A crime against a 10-year-old girl. And it’s reminding me again of my need to escape into books, stories, and poems. Reading them, writing them, celebrating them. I’m ... April 27, 2022 For Classroom Connections Wednesday, I’ve got a sticky note poem inspired by one of my books, Water Can Be… (boatloads of activities on my book page). I used the same phrase construction, called a kenning, that I use a lot in the book.
Thanks for reading, ... April 26, 2022 Sticking with yesterday’s radish connection, today’s sticky note poem is just a silly little wordplay. The linguistics part of my brain can’t stand that the consonants aren’t doubled before all those -ishes. Saddish, etc. But the poetry part of my brain insisted that these made ... April 25, 2022 Today’s sticky note poem is an acrostic about my favorite souvenir, which is a bowl bought in Iceland.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what ... April 24, 2022 Today’s sticky note poem:
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems I’ve written so far
To see ... April 23, 2022 Today’s sticky note poem:
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems I’ve written so far
To see ... April 21, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday!
Sometimes my little daily poems this month are about emotional things. Other times, they’re just quick jottings. Here’s today’s, followed by links to this week’s sticky note poems.
Day 16: “Island Day” (a found haiku)
Day 17: “rain + night” (a riddle-ku)
Day 18: “open curtains ... April 21, 2022 Here’s another poem that evolved from the oppositifying of a bit of a Taylor Mali poem. I shared the Mali passage, etc. here. Now, I don’t want to sound all high and mighty, because I love dolphins. Honestly, if I had a chance to swim ... April 20, 2022 Y’all might know that I love thunderstorms and rain. Today for National Poetry Month, I’m sharing one more rain sticky note poem (I shared two earlier this week here and here) AND a cover reveal! I have a picture book coming out in spring of ... April 19, 2022 Here’s today’s sticky note poem.
This one started out with my reading some Taylor Mali poems for an upcoming poem. This one broke my heart, and I decided to oppositify the first few lines. I’m telling you, just trying to pick an opposite word for every ... April 18, 2022 And another equation poem from the storm.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems I’ve written ... April 17, 2022 We had a lovely little thunderstorm last week at bedtime, and three poems came out of it. Here’s the first:
I texted myself the thought that entered my head…I guess that’s draft 1?
And wrote in my morning pages the next morning:
Thanks for reading, and happy National ... April 16, 2022 I’ve been having fun so far this month trying different poem springboards. Oppositify, the word association grid, N+7…Today’s sticky note poem came from a thought while I was fixing my lunch one day. I grouped three random things that I had out on the kitchen ... April 14, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday!
Here’s another sticky note poem inspired by an N+7 exercise. It came out of the same riddle-ku that Wednesday’s poem, “Mama Says” did. Below it, you’ll find some steps of my writing process on this one.
Matt Forrest Esenwine has the roundup today. He’s ... April 14, 2022 One more N+7 draft, the last one for now. But I really liked the poems that came out of this exercise. I didn’t love DOING the exercise–so tedious looking up nouns (especially when you don’t have a printed dictionary, ahem). But I liked the way ... April 12, 2022 It’s another N+7 draft for you today. The one I’m sharing here and also the one on Thursday both came out of the same stanza that I shared yesterday.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! ... April 11, 2022 Today’s sticky note poem is the result of another exercise, called N+7 (read about it here). Again, I use it as a starting place. Not to write a poem but to give me a springboard into a poem. Below the image, you’ll see a stanza ... April 10, 2022 Here’s another draft that grew out of an oppositify exercise. See a couple more here. I thought about pairing with art of a skyscraper being imploded or brought down with a wrecking ball…but somehow this image is what I wanted with it.
Thanks for reading, and ... April 9, 2022 I love rocks, and they show up a lot in my poetry!
Here’s my drafting process.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing ... April 7, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday!
Like yesterday’s poem (which I liked much better), this one resulted from that oppositify exercise of that same Robert Wallace poem.
Janice at Salt City Verse has the roundup today! Yay, Janice!
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up ... April 7, 2022 Tried an exercise with some poet friends where you take a poem and replace every noun with its opposite. And then you see if anything in that new nonsense poem sparks an idea for you. Here’s the draft I ended up with, followed by the ... April 5, 2022 Had fun watching a few bird videos last week!
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems ... April 5, 2022 Had fun watching a few bird videos last week!
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems ... April 4, 2022 I always feel like I’m in the opening credits of Star Wars when I drive in the dark during a snowstorm!
Here’s the drafting of it, written at breakfast.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here ... April 3, 2022 Here’s today’s sticky-note poem!
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems I’ve written so far
To see ... April 2, 2022 The news can’t help but seep into my writing.
Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if you ended up here by chance, fantastic! Here are a few links you might find helpful.
Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
ALL the sticky-note poems ... March 31, 2022 Hi there, readers, writers, poets, educators, and parents! Welcome to National Poetry Month 2022! This year, I’m keeping it simple. Every day, I’m writing and sharing one poem of some kind on a sticky note–so you know they’ll be short. Not that short is necessarily ... March 24, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last Sunday, we Poetry Sisters met on Zoom for live writing. Our challenge this month was an ekphrastic dodoitsu. Yup. A dodoitsu (new to me) is a Japanese poetic form with a bit of ... March 17, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
First up, if you’re an educator, please check out my template for writing a “We Belong” poem, which I shared a few days ago. :>)
Now…the week before last, my husband and I took a staycation–unplugging from ... February 24, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) It was so great to host last weekend, and thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement for my forthcoming picture book and virtual launch party! In case you missed it–or as a reminder–Please ... February 17, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone, to the Roundup! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) It’s been so nice to see some new people joining in and blogging these past couple of months. We are a welcoming community, and I hope you feel that and ... February 4, 2022
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m sharing my forthcoming rhyming picture book today and inviting you to my launch party!
A picture book always has an editor’s careful fingerprints all over it. But We Belong, my new book coming out March 1, ... January 27, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Our Poetry Princess challenge this month was an overheard poem–a poem inspired by or somehow using words we overheard.
I am a bad eavesdropper–not only am I not usually close enough to other people to ... January 13, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I didn’t think I’d make Poetry Friday this week, but then…
I wrote “giraffe eyelashes” in my gratitude list one night after an episode of The Secret Life of the Zoo (I adore that show!). The next ... January 6, 2022 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So much to tell you this week, but our home is in disarray (covid has struck again, and yes, we are fully vaccinated and boosted). So I’ll keep this brief and not overwhelming :>)
1. Friends–I’m doing ... December 30, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a song around bells in some way. I wasn’t able to meet up with my poetry sisters last Sunday, but I did put together a draft ... December 2, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
My father-in-law passed away last month, and he had a good passing. He was surrounded by family and love in the days before he died in his sleep. I’m sad for the loss of him but ... November 25, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I hope you’ve had a beautiful Thanksgiving! Today, the day after Thanksgiving, we’re helping our older daughter move into her new apartment. I’m so happy for her, but honestly, if I never see another ... November 12, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Oops, I’m checking in late here! But I want to give y’all a link to my Small Reads for Fall roundup page! This was the main part of my November e-newsletter for educators, Small Reads. Check ... October 28, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A quick invitation before my poem today! Click on the graphic for details and free registration.
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a Wordplay poem, my choice–whee! Now, lots of poems have wordplay ... October 21, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m late getting this together, but I have three big things to share!
1) Thank you! A huge thank you to all of you who sent both donations and good wishes to my friends Steve and ... October 7, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Wasn’t planning to post this week, but then my small group met yesterday, and I wrote this poem, inspired by a YouTube video.
For your weekly poetry rabbit hole, fall into the Poetry Friday Roundup with fantastic ... September 23, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m so happy to be hosting this week. I’m feeling sad about a breakup in the family, and this is a good distraction–along with being super busy with deadlines, storytimes, and promoting my ... September 2, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I missed the Poetry Princess August posting because I was visiting family in Florida for the first time in almost two years! But I love the form they played with: What _ Knows.
I ... August 12, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, friends. This week, I’m sharing an old poem, because it recently found a new little audience. I wrote this spoof in 2009, inspired by Tricia Stohr-Hunt. (More details back here.)
Now this poem is included in ... July 29, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You guys, this has been a rough writing week. Last weekend, I wrote live with my Poetry Sisters, and it was great. Although our challenge, a villanelle around some kind of dichotomy, was tough, ... July 22, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I thought my life was in sufficient order that I could be a contributing member of Poetry Friday again, but I seem to be lacking! At the end of June, my Poetry Sisters posted tangled ... July 8, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
My sister Patty is visiting this week, and I am SO excited! I haven’t seen her in almost two years! But I really am trying to get back into my PF routine, so I got this ... June 24, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You guys, I have so missed you! I hope you’re all well, and I’m excited to start catching up on all I’ve missed over the past month or two. We’re still getting settled in, but I’m ... May 27, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
It’s still moving chaos in the Salas household! Today (Thursday), we closed on both our old place and our new place. Now we’re in a hotel nearby this coming week as we get some ... May 20, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! And, more importantly, happy retirement to Mary Lee Hahn, longtime unofficial leader of our Poetry Friday community. (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I was so tickled to get Irene Latham’s note about honoring Mary Lee today. Here’s how I feel about ... May 13, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) PF friends, I can’t remember if I’ve already told you, but we’re moving at the end of this month (still in the Twin Cities), and our home and schedules are buried in boxes and question ... May 6, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, all during April I shared an equation poem daily. (You can see them all here.) Now I’m exhausted :>) Luckily, I have some student poems to share. Back in March, I did several virtual Family ... April 29, 2021 It’s my last National Poetry Month post–thank goodness! As much as I love it, I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I’m just barely stumbling over the finish line. April has been incredibly stressful with home hunting and now packing, but I’m so glad ... April 29, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 28, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 27, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 26, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 25, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 24, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 23, 2021 Oh my gosh, it’s Poetry Friday. The month is starting to get away from me. We’re prepping for a move–more on that later. Meanwhile, make sure to visit Catherine Flynn for a wonderful draft of a poem of hope in defiance of hate and the ... April 22, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 21, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 20, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 19, 2021 Before today’s equation poem, I want to say a big thank you to all of you who showed up for the poetry session of the Kaigler Festival on Friday! It was delightful to see so many friendly names in the chat. And if you want ... April 18, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 17, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 15, 2021 NOTE: This Friday (Apr. 16) morning, Irene Latham and Vikram Madan and I will be presenting about poetry at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival! Virtual event all week–tix free. More info at https://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/index.php
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
For National ... April 15, 2021 This Friday morning (tomorrow!), Irene Latham and Vikram Madan and I will be presenting about poetry at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival! Virtual event all week–tix free. More info at https://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/index.php
For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe ... April 14, 2021 This Friday morning, Irene Latham and Vikram Madan and I will be presenting about poetry at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival! Virtual event all week–tix free. More info at https://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/index.php
For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with ... April 13, 2021 NEW: This Friday morning, Irene Latham and Vikram Madan and I will be presenting about poetry at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival! Virtual event all week–tix free. More info at https://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/index.php
For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe ... April 12, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 11, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 10, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 8, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Before I share my daily equation poem, I want to share some by special guests! These poems and illustrations are by 2nd and 3rd graders at Katzie Elementary in Surrey, British Columbia. I’m sharing them with ... April 8, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 7, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 6, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 5, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 4, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 3, 2021 Happy Poetry Month!
For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are ... April 2, 2021 For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here are several options ... April 1, 2021 Happy National Poetry Month!
For National Poetry Month 2021, I’m posting an equation poem each day. Maybe with an image, maybe without. I needed something very accessible and doable this year! Maybe you feel the same way? I’d love for you to join me, and here ... March 25, 2021 I’m off the grid right now, so I’m not going to be visiting blogs this weekend, but I wish you a happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was dizzying dizains. We’ve done dizains once before, apparently, ... February 25, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was from me: Roll a set of metaphor dice and write a poem inspired by your metaphor. If you don’t have metaphor dice, try an online metaphor ... February 18, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Quick announcement: Monday is the second Write Alone Together free event I’m hosting. Want to write individually, but in community? Check out the details here. The first one, earlier this week, was just lovely!
Now, on to ... February 5, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I realized this morning I hadn’t done a Poetry Friday post for this week. With not setting it up last weekend as usual, and then WRAD and many deadlines during the week, I totally forgot ... January 28, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Two things first:
Teachers, before I move on to my Poetry Friday post, I need your help! I’m revising a picture book and need to find names for several kid characters whose families come from ... January 21, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
If you follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook (I’m @LauraPSalas on all of them), you might see my #OutsideEveryDay photos. I try to get outside most days and take a close-up photo of something that ... January 14, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m trying to deepen my poetry practice in 2021, and one thing I’m doing is a book study of Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook. In last week’s practice, I chose a poem to imitate. One way ... January 7, 2021 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
We had a white Christmas, and that filled my heart with joy. I don’t love winter without snow. I do love winter with snow. It’s pretty much that simple.
Here’s a draft of a poem. I feel ... December 31, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) And Happy New Year!
Thursday morning, my Word for the Day from Gratefulness.org was by Ray Bradbury:
“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the ... December 24, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) And Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!
This week, I’m sharing two different things. First up is a pair of wistful haiku, which was our Poetry Princesses prompt this month. (I’m updating this post on ... December 17, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday, friends! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I haven’t been writing much new poetry recently. My days are filled with copyediting and passage writing, and I’m grateful for the work. I also have some internal plans for poetry “continuing education” in the ... December 4, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
How is it possibly December? Yowza. Last week, Irene Latham shared a lovely gift guide post, pairing gift ideas with her books. Love that…and stealing the idea. Here are some of my books from the past ... November 26, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
And Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. friends! This post almost didn’t happen, so this will be quick! Our Poetry Princess challenge was hindsight, examined by revising or responding to an earlier poem. I ... November 12, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m sharing a poem I wrote shortly before the election four years ago. (It was a Poetry Princess prompt then.)
For the first time in four years, I feel hopeful about our country. While personal things have ... November 9, 2020 I was so honored to be part of the SCBWI/Smithsonian Nonfiction Conference! I was on a panel Saturday about The Personal Journey to Nonfiction. (It started right after Biden’s win was announced, and I was positively shaking with excitement and relief!)
The panel was based on ... November 5, 2020
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I love winter, even though I don’t do any winter sports. It’s just a time of beauty and renewal for me. But this year, for the first time in so many years, I’m not looking forward ... October 29, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I shared a Halloween poem (just in case you’re looking for spoooooky! :>)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was “Oct 30: A naani poem, theme is foresight again (or autumn, or ... October 22, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Howdy, everyone–thanks for your warm thoughts last week. My sister was briefly out of the hospital but is back in 🙁 The yo-yoing back and forth is wearing her down. Anyway, your kind thoughts here and ... October 15, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You guys, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. My dad was in the hospital for several nights–he’s home and doing…sort of okay. Now my sister (the same one who had serious medical issues earlier this ... October 1, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
First off–a big thanks for the Poetry Friday folks who attended the Moving Words library event I participated in last weekend. It was WONDERFUL to see familiar names in the attendees list and see your comments ... September 24, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
[Reminder about a free local library program (via Zoom) THIS Saturday. It will be Michael Hall, Joyce Sidman, and me–each talking a bit about how a book of ours came to be–then Q&A. Please ... September 17, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You guys, I’m totally slammed from now through the end of October, so my posts will be uber-short. And I’ll still comment on other folks’ posts over the weekend, but I won’t get to everyone’s every ... September 10, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
School has started up in some form or another in most parts of the country, and I’m thinking that, even digitally, many kids (and teachers) are feeling lost in a maze of new rules, new technologies, ... September 3, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m listening to The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo right now. Wow. I don’t know why I haven’t read it before, other than I don’t read a lot of ya, and I had some strange idea ... August 27, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was hindsight again — pick one of your old poems to revise and/or write a new poem in conversation with it… (any form).
I am writing this on ... August 20, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Thanks for all your empathy and sharing last week when I shared a poem about sad books. You guys are the best. This week, I’m sharing another poem written for BookSpeak, but this one is actually ... August 13, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I wished you a happy day, but the truth is, I’ve been feeling a bit down. I tend to be relentlessly optimistic and generally feel grateful and content. And here’s the thing. Although my career, like ... August 6, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Today, I’m sharing a poem I wrote during a March Madness poetry competition several years ago. When I initially signed up to host, this would have been a Poetry Princesses Friday, but then ... July 30, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
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Hey, this part isn’t poetry, but it’s the LAST DAY for these two things, so I’m sharing here.
First, there’s a Goodreads Giveaway. Win one of 20 copies–last day to enter is today.
Second, it’s the ... July 29, 2020 There’s something about a dandelion. I know many folks hate them, and I admit a yard over-run by them can be…intimidating. But a single beautiful dandelion seedhead…. I seem to have a number of dandelion poems. Here are two from two 2019 picture books, Snowman-Cold=Puddle ... July 24, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
First up, I’m over at Lydia Lukidis’ Blissfully Bookish with a post about my newest picture book, Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten–and there’s a giveaway (ends today)! Please stop by if you have a chance!
Sometime in ... July 16, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Hi, Poetry Friday friends. First, thanks for all the lovely wishes for Annabelle’s wedding :>) Even a rainy day and social distancing couldn’t tamp down the joy!
I missed PF last week, and I missed you guys. ... July 2, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, we won’t be going to see any fireworks this year, but the ones Mercè López created for Lion of the Sky are more glorious, anyway!
Now if we could just create a world where the only ... June 25, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was: a theme of susurrus, or an image of thick woods, whatever form we wish! Maybe some of you wrote along with us? I look forward to ... June 18, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Wasn’t the celebration of Nikki Grimes and her works last Friday fabulous? I had a lovely time meandering through the posts all last weekend.
I’m busy this Poetry Friday with our older daughter’s wedding activities. She’s ... June 17, 2020 World Refugee Day is coming up on June 20. This is a subject that holds power for me, and looking at the photos of refugees, meeting asylum seekers in a refugee camp overseas, and talking to people who work to help with refugees have all ... June 4, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m sharing another poem readaloud from one of my 30 Painless Classroom Poems books.
Now, today, I’m sharing another poem from Fairy Tale Garage Sale, which has the concept that all the characters in fairy tales are ... May 28, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Also, Poetry Friends who have seen our Poetry Princesses/Poetry Sisters/Poetry 7 posts for many years — After more than a decade of writing together and several years of monthly assignments, we wondered if ... May 21, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, it’s been quite a week. Last weekend, we went to Madison, WI, to attend a drive-up bridal shower and visit in a safe way with our older daughter, whom we haven’t seen in person in ... May 14, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I shared a poem from my book A Need to Feed. Some of you asked when it was coming out, and the answer is that it’s been out for years. It’s part of a ... May 7, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A few cool things before my poem:
I’m excited to share the awesome news that Snowman-Cold=Puddle is on the ILA Teachers’ Choice Reading List!
Also, I recently created a bunch of #readaloud videos of some of my books ... April 30, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
It’s May! Hooray! I want to share two things with you. First up, I’d like to invite you to the online launch party for Secrets of the Loon. It’s Monday, May 4 at 3 pm Central ... April 30, 2020 Wow. Does anyone else who wrote and posted poems daily feel as exhausted as I do? I hope I’m not the only one. Congratulations, poets! We made it! (Though we might not look as sleek and graceful as this guy.)
April 29, 2020 Well, it’s a strange time to launch a book, isn’t it? I’ll be honest. Book publication days are typically mostly normal work days for me, anyway. Because a book launch party doesn’t usually happen on the publication day itself, the day itself is kind of ... April 28, 2020 Whee! It’s the book birthday for Secrets of the Loon (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2020)! So for today’s poem, I’m sharing the opening quatrain of this rhyming picture book. I’m thrilled to welcome this book into the world. Loons are fascinating, and I think this ... April 27, 2020 Hi, poetry friends! It’s the final stretch of Poetry Month! I actually took this walk and wrote this poem Saturday morning, but I had other poems to share the past couple of days. I’m writing LOTS of poetry this month–how about you? (And teachers, I ... April 26, 2020 Not all my poems are based on real life. My warbler poem last Friday? I just needed a specific bird, that’s all. But this one is definitely real life. Our older daughter’s tropical-themed bridal shower happened on Zoom yesterday. And you know what? It was ... April 25, 2020 April is drawing to a close. Are you exhausted? I am! But I’m also grateful for the intense whirlwind of creating poems daily (besides just the book project I’m working on). Now that Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject is over, I’m looking around, seeing which other ... April 23, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a skinny poem with the theme or spring or looking ahead. I love skinnys…sometimes. They’re one of those forms that for me either work right away…or ... April 23, 2020 Today’s poem comes from a prompt at Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ Today’s Little Ditty. This is from the first week of April, and I’m just finally getting around to it…better late than never? I’m also finally reading Michelle’s The Best of Today’s Little Ditty 2017-2018 anthology, ... April 22, 2020 It’s the final #waterpoemproject poem. Thank you, Laura Shovan and all the contributing prompt writers!
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I ... April 21, 2020 The theme of today’s #waterpoemproject is gift poems, and before I share mine, I want to share a gift I got recently. Snowman-Cold=Puddle is a nominee for the Minnesota Youth Reading Awards (Star of the North picture book category). This is Minnesota’s version of the ... April 20, 2020 Today’s #waterpoemproject prompt resulted in a sad poem. I prefer to celebrate water and focus on the positive, but in thinking about “dirty water,” I couldn’t help thinking of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Here’s my diamante:
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals ... April 19, 2020 Here’s today’s #waterpoemproject poem–a definito prompt from Heidi Mordhorst via Laura Shovan’s lovely project. I love definitos–this is my second one, and I’d love to write some more.
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just ... April 18, 2020 Here are today’s #WaterPoemProject poems. Each morning, I’m waking up and dragging myself into a poem. But then I get into my draft and the world drops away for 30 minutes. A lovely way to start today. Also, don’t miss the lovely article on poetry’s ... April 17, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday!
Today’s prompt for the #WaterPoemProject was awesome but challenging. How do you show the universality of water but still stay specific? Here’s my attempt:
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to ... April 16, 2020 I’ve been participating in Laura Shovan’s fabulous #WaterPoemProject, and it’s the best decision I made for National Poetry Month. With only a few exceptions over the past several weeks, it’s been the first writing I’ve done each day. I check out the prompt, spend about ... April 15, 2020 I haven’t heard spring peepers yet, though some of my local Minnesota friends have. Not sure if it’s because I’m in the city and not near any ponds or marshes, or because we have had snow several days the past week! Ha! Anyway, I’m going ... April 14, 2020 Today’s #waterpoemproject poem explores a painful memory from 2017…
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping toCopy of Day X: (#NationalPoetryMonth2020) share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m ... April 13, 2020 Today’s #waterpoemproject prompt involved thinking of some favorite words, then somehow connecting them to water. “Bamboozle” is a word I love the sound of, and it means to trick someone. It also has “bamboo” in it. So I thought about how bamboo in the rainforests ... April 12, 2020 Happy Easter! Today got away from me, and I confess this is a poem I wrote years ago, but it sort of fits today’s #waterpoemproject, so I’m sharing it here:
Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry ... April 11, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 9, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
These are hard days for writers, aren’t they? Especially ones who aren’t big names. And who have books from last year not selling too well along with books publishing this year and facing extra challenges. (I ... April 9, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 8, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 7, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 6, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 5, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 4, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 2, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m so pleased to have a Things to Do poem on the last page of the Spring 2020 edition of Children & Libraries, the ALSC journal. Here’s the first half of it. You can read the ... April 2, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... April 1, 2020 Like most everybody else, I’m experiencing lots of upheavals lately! I have no huge National Poetry Month plans–just hoping to share an imagepoem here each day (or as often as I can). I’m participating in Laura Shovan’s awesome #WaterPoemProject the best I can, so most ... March 31, 2020 Today’s poem is a form I’m unfamiliar with–a solage. I think I cheated, because only the first two lines are really supposed to rhyme? But here’s today’s imagepoem for Laura Shovan’s #WaterPoemProject.
March 30, 2020 I love rain. There are few times I wish fervently for it not to rain, but I know those times are much more frequent for young athletes and their families. Today’s prompt was to write about water in two stanzas with opposite viewpoints. Here’s today’s ... March 29, 2020 I recently shared a favorite rock with some friends and also some schools I visited. It’s from Scotland, from a trip Randy and I took there in 2008. Today’s poem is inspired by a memory from that very same trip. Randy and I went canyoning, ... March 28, 2020 I love water. It’s such a source of peace and calm and also motion and excitement. It’s just magic. Here’s today’s imagepoem for Laura Shovan’s #WaterPoemProject.
I’m not thinking too hard about making these “good” poems or following all the directions exactly. But starting off most ... March 26, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, in this world of chaos right now, poetry is one of the things keeping me calm and grounded. This month’s Poetry Princess challenge theme was “classic,” any form, any topic.
I didn’t really know ... March 26, 2020 Here’s today’s imagepoem for Laura Shovan’s #WaterPoemProject. Our challenge was a Fibonacci poem inspired by or about a fogbow. Fogbow is a kind of rainbow, which made me think of Ireland, which made me think about our amazing trip there several years ago. Hope to ... March 25, 2020 Laura Shovan has organized an awesome daily poetry prompt (around the theme of water) for students and grown-ups. I don’t know if I’ll be able to play every single day, but I’m going to do it as often as I can! Here’s today’s:
March 12, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Before I share my poem, I have a favor to ask of any of you teachers. I will be presenting very soon about writing poetry with students. My audience will be pre-service teachers in a course ... March 4, 2020
I had three awesome school visits in February, and each one was a pleasure. But I’m going to share a few pictures from the last one, which was at Rogers Elementary School in Rogers, Minnesota.
Holly Dragisich, the media specialist and school librarian, organized my three-day ... February 27, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Before moving on to my poem this week, I have a question for you. Do you know of one or a few kids ages 4-6 who would like to be in the book trailer ... February 20, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I wasn’t planning to post this week as I’ve been on school visits, and also because of my commenting debacle last week. Fingers crossed for this week!
But the awesome poetry workshop kids at Hassan Elementary reminded ... February 16, 2020 [NOTE: COMMENTS ARE FIXED NOW–THANK YOU FOR NOTIFYING ME!}
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Each winter, I get to play games on 6 Friday nights with a spectacular group of creative people (some in the kidlit world, others in entirely different worlds). ... February 6, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I mentioned that I was going to try writing poems in 20 different places this year for #20for20. I don’t know if I shared my list of places here yet, but one of them ... January 30, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
We’re changing things up for 2020 and posting on the last Friday of the month. Or, you know, we kinda failed to get our act together for the First Friday, and…well, never mind. We’re ... January 28, 2020 I wanted to share a few more things I’m grateful for, because the harder or more stressful things are, the more it helps to focus on that.
My husband Randy has been going through some painful medical procedures lately, with a scary fever and 3-night hospital ... January 23, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This is Week 3 (Week 1 here and Week 2 here) of my sharing a few bits from my three books on the 2020 NCTE Poetry Notables list! So honored about this!
And more big news to ... January 16, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This is Week 2 (Week 1 here) of my sharing a few bits from my three books on the 2020 NCTE Poetry Notables list! So honored about this!
Before I share tidbits, I have to show you ... January 9, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I am gob-smacked to share that I have THREE books on the 2020 NCTE Poetry Notables list!
I am so happy! The committee is made up of teacher educators, poets, and poetry lovers, and I know they ... January 2, 2020 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I do not feel ready for 2020–in so many ways. But time doesn’t pause just because we need time to catch up (wouldn’t it be cool if it did?!), so here’s my poem from my poetry ... December 26, 2019 Hello, and welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems day (for now, anyway!) (guidelines here). I’m glad you’re here now, and I’m glad you’ve been here. I’ve been posting these photos and inviting you to write poems to them for many years now! ... December 19, 2019 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 am also so grateful for all your support as I announced the hiatus of 15 Words or ... December 12, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
If you stopped by for just the poem, here it is:>) I shared this (just the text) MORE THAN 10 YEARS AGO on my blog. Wow. Double-click on the image to see it larger and/or download ... December 12, 2019 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 wanted to let you know that 15 Words or Less will be going on hiatus for a ... December 5, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
At NCTE, Laura Shovan organized a lovely dinner for kidlit poetry people. It was a huge gathering featuring lots of seafood (or, you know, creme brulee if you’re a seafood hater like me)! Here’s a photo ... December 5, 2019 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 am rather butterfinger-y sometimes.
This image makes me think of several things:
omelettes, natch
house fire
sunrise
And here’s my first draft. ... November 28, 2019 Happy Thanksgiving! 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.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate this U.S. holiday. I firmly believe it’s always time to be ... November 21, 2019 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.
Hello from NCTE! I’m in Baltimore right now spreading book and poetry love and connecting with wonderful writer ... November 14, 2019 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.
Well, friends, I’m back home briefly! Next week, I’ll be at NCTE, and the week after is Thanksgiving. ... November 7, 2019 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’m out of town once again this week. Lord. Next week, I will be back to usual. I ... October 31, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was Tanita’s choice: A villanelle on a wintry topic, including a pair of words (or homonyms thereof) from the following eleven: bleak, draft, gutter, chill, chime, glitter, ... October 31, 2019 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’m back from my magnificent week on the Great Lakes! What an adventure–you will start seeing photos here ... October 24, 2019 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.
You guys, I am away from my office doing some exciting research. Check out my Twitter, Facebook, or ... October 17, 2019 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.
This image makes me think of several things:
Raspberry Beret, by Prince
picking berries in the Smoky Mountains on vacation ... October 10, 2019 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.
This pink underwing moth (I think?) lay dead on our front porch a couple of weeks ago :>(
This ... October 7, 2019 Happy Monday!
In case you missed it, illustrator Claudine Gévry and I shared bits of our process for Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle over at the blog of the fabulous Liz Dulemba on Friday. (Teachers, do you use her awesome coloring pages?) I hope you’ll stop by to ... October 3, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Sara’s daughter, Rebecca, who’s been joining us recently (yay!), posed our challenge this month: a pastoral. She wrote: Some inspiration from The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms: “The pastoral ... October 3, 2019 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 love that even in a townhome very near a city’s downtown, I can look out my window ... October 1, 2019 Just a light behind the scenes story today. My latest book, Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle, is dedicated to my five great nephews and nieces in the Atlanta area. My husband, Randy, recently visited family down there, and he hand-delivered copies to each child. Then, because he ... September 26, 2019 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 love board games, and there’s a dice game we play with family (can’t remember the name of ... September 19, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week, I’m delighted to share Marilyn Singer’s new poetry collection, Wild in the Streets: 20 Poems of City Animals! (ill. by Gordy Wright, published by Quarto Publishing)
I’ve been a fan of Marilyn’s poetry for such ... September 19, 2019 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.
At the amusement park in August, I took this pic of a bubbler in a pond. This image ... September 16, 2019
It’s International Dot Day–a great day to think about how you and your students might make your mark on the world! Read more here. Here are the two dots I’ve made in years past.
And it’s the day I’m announcing the 5 winners of signed copies ... September 12, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, my final picture book of 2019 published (I blogged about it here), and it’s a rhyming nonfiction book. I thought I’d share the opening two quatrains as my poem this week and ... September 5, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was, apparently, my choice. Last week, Sara emailed the group to say, “Are we still doing Laura’s challenge? September – Laura – A poem comparing something with ... September 5, 2019 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.
Summer’s over, folks! What a whirlwind mine was, and you’ll probably learn more about it from the photos ... August 29, 2019 NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the WordPress or other platform gods will figure out how to solve the ... August 22, 2019 NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the WordPress or other platform gods will figure out how to solve the ... August 15, 2019 NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the WordPress or other platform gods will figure out how to solve the ... August 15, 2019 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.
We live near our state capitol building, and the other day as we were driving somewhere, I saw ... August 9, 2019 It’s a sad Poetry Friday today. (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the ... August 8, 2019 NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the Wordpress or other platform gods will figure out how to solve the ... August 1, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Well, it’s the first Friday of the month, so of course I’m sharing a poem written in concert with my Poetry Sisters. This month, we wrote ekphrastic poems inspired by several pictures Sarah took in ... August 1, 2019 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.
Hello, poets of all kinds! It’s a rare unfiltered photo this week! But…still a mall one.
This image makes ... July 25, 2019 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.
On my way to a drum corps show a couple of weeks ago, we passed by this interesting ... July 18, 2019 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.
Randy and I often walk to a small park nearby and play Scrabble. The other night, I looked ... July 11, 2019 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.
Last week was my dad’s birthday, the anniversary of my mom’s death, a medical emergency for my dad, ... July 4, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a triolet on the theme of heat. I’ve been buckled under a number of deadlines and didn’t think I was going to make it. But on ... July 4, 2019 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, especially on a holiday like today! Happy 4th of July!
This image makes me think of several things:
canyoning in ... June 27, 2019 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.
This image makes me think of several things:
those displays of shoes/boots to represent people (soldiers often, but not ... June 20, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Hello! I’m on my way to Washington, DC, for the annual ALA conference! I hope to maybe see a few of you there? I’m attending to take part in the Poetry Blast, an annual poetry celebration ... June 20, 2019 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 love public art. When I walk through a building or a square and there are interesting and ... June 13, 2019 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.
It’s another mall photo. Seriously, you know I’m not getting out enough when several weeks of pictures in ... June 12, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
The week of Memorial Day, I taught at Success Beyond the Classroom’s Young Authors ... June 6, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a skinny. I was excited because I saw some of these at Margaret Simon’s blog a while back and wanted to try them.
A Skinny has 11 ... June 6, 2019 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 have missed you guys a lot on all these various weeks I haven’t been home to comment!
Can ... May 30, 2019 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.
Prince’s death was a HUGE deal here in Minneapolis, and while walking around the mall before my WW ... May 23, 2019 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.
Thank you all for your poems and kind words last week. Though I was teaching (more about my ... May 16, 2019 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 am on the third and final day of a poetry residency with 4th- and 5th-graders today, so ... May 9, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend the Texas Library Association conference in Austin to take part in Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong’s awesome Poetry Round Up. What a great event!
I’m sharing the ... May 9, 2019 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 another piece from the art crawl at the mall:>) This image makes me think of several things:
coasters ... May 2, 2019 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.
When I went to my WW meeting a couple of weeks ago, there was an art display throughout ... April 25, 2019 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 Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC is so haunting. This image makes me think of several ... April 18, 2019 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.
My regulars, I’ve missed you the past two weeks! I was on a weeklong school visit one week, ... April 11, 2019
lie down in whiteness
kick and SWISH and wave your arms
give me winter wings
–Laura Purdie Salas, from Lion of the Sky
I’m so excited about this book, my third and final poetry collection of the spring! ... April 11, 2019 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 actually don’t know where I took this photo, but it was in January, and it made me ... April 8, 2019 On Saturday, I celebrated my three spring releases with a launch at Red Balloon Bookshop! It was so great to share SNOWMAN-COLD=PUDDLE (Charlesbridge), IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (Wordsong), and LION OF THE SKY (Millbrook) with readers! Click for more images, but here’s my ... April 4, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
We were scrambling for our form this month, and Tricia suggested anagram poems. She was inspired by Linda Baie’s lovely idea and poem here. As a theme, we picked weather or umbrellas or natural ... April 4, 2019 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’ve been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC several times, and I’m moved by it every time. ... March 28, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I want to share one more poem from In the Middle of the Night, plus ask y’all a favor. Here’s the poem, one of the few unrhyming ones in the collection. I just love acrostics, and ... March 28, 2019 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 space module in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
This image makes me think ... March 21, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I am at the Denver Children’s Festival of Stories today and tomorrow, so I might not get to read your comments until Monday.
I got the BEST surprise in my Facebook Inbox last week. A Twin Cities ... March 21, 2019 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.
While in DC, Randy and I admired these gorgeous bas relief (maybe?) sculptures for the various branches of ... March 14, 2019
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
My newest poetry collection, In the Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House! (click the title to see my post last week introducing the book) is here! Thank you to all of the fabulous ... March 14, 2019 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.
You know I can’t resist a beautiful cookie, and while in DC I got this sparkling, lovely, iced ... March 7, 2019 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 love the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! I only had a couple of hours in it on ... February 28, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I dropped the ball on this one. This month, we Poetry Princesses wrote a mask poem. This one was MY choice! And yet, I didn’t get to it until this week. It’s funny ... February 28, 2019 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 adore real trees, but I am drawn to sculptures of trees, too, like this metal one on ... February 21, 2019 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.
This moose topiary/sculpture charmed me at the Botanical Garden in DC.
This image makes me think of several things:
Necco ... February 14, 2019 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. Even though I’m not! I’m at a family wedding in Atlanta and won’t be able to reply today! ... February 7, 2019 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 an itty-bitty birdie I spied while walking around the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
This image makes me ... January 31, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, Tanita came up with our challenge: a poem in the style of Marilyn Nelson’s “Minor Miracle,” about a small, miraculous thing you have seen or known. I’ll wait here while you read ... January 31, 2019 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 another photo from my wanderings of the Smithsonian Gardens. This image makes me think of several things:
a ... January 24, 2019 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.
In Washington, I spent a lot of time wandering the Smithsonian Gardens. This image makes me think of ... January 17, 2019 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.
This is a sculpture from a museum in Washington DC. I believe (but am not certain) it was ... January 10, 2019 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 photo taken from our plane as we sat on a snowy runway in late November.
This image ... January 3, 2019 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Fantasy: As 2018 wound down, the Poetry Princesses thoughtfully pondered how to begin the new year…
Reality: Thankfully, Tricia emailed us all last week and said, basically, Ack! Let’s write a poem to one the ... January 3, 2019 Happy New Year!
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 love a good storm, but I did not get to experience this one. It’s just ... December 27, 2018 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.
Thanks for making time to join our community during what is a very busy holiday week for many!
One ... December 20, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m back with my fourth and final poem from The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis’ newest anthology with National Geographic. (You can find the other three here, here, and here.) In this poem, ... December 20, 2018 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.
One brisk morning at NCTE in Houston, I was walking to the convention center when I saw that this big ... December 13, 2018 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 are some pinwheels that “grow” in a lovely garden near the Houston Convention Center.
This image makes me ... December 6, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, we needed a last minute change to our plans, and someone (I think Liz? It’s usually Liz who keeps us blessedly on track) suggested a list poem that had to use two ... December 6, 2018 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.
This past few weeks have been full of highs and lows. I would prefer more highs and fewer ... November 29, 2018 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 hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. Ours was lovely, and fun, and busy. We celebrated ... November 22, 2018 Happy Thanksgiving, 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.
Our younger daughter lives overseas doing volunteer work. She lives on practically nothing and works to make ... November 15, 2018 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.
Randy and I went on a wonderful tour of the Minnesota State Capitol building (a couple of blocks ... November 8, 2018 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.
There’s a state office building near our place that has number sculptures out front. Many are on their side ... November 6, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m back with a third poem from The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis’ newest anthology with National Geographic. I originally wrote this poem for one of my books for teachers, Wacky, Wild, and ... November 1, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write a poem with an anaphora–a repeated, open-ended phrase.
Recently, Randy and I attended a concert by Lucia Micarelli, a wonderful violinist. (We saw her years ... November 1, 2018 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’m not a car person, but I saw this cutie parked in our neighborhood recently.
This image makes me ... October 25, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
As promised, here’s another poem from The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis’ newest anthology with National Geographic. I was looking back to see a bit of my writing process. I knew right away ... October 25, 2018 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 tried to visit last week, or did visit in the brief window that the post was ... October 11, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m thrilled to be hosting today, as it’s almost my birthday, and I’m awaiting the arrival of The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis’ newest anthology with National Geographic. It features poems about or ... October 11, 2018 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.
This is a close-up of a dragonfly on one of the herons in La Crosse, WI.
This image makes ... October 4, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was my choice! And I chose short poems (6 lines or fewer) about animals that had to include three words (or forms thereof): spike, roof, and shadow.
I ... October 4, 2018 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 took this pic over the summer when Randy and I were getting new glasses. The optometrist was ... September 27, 2018 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.
Okay, I try not to be too repetitive with images, but everyone had such fun with the chalk ... September 20, 2018 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 Randy in front of a dome near our old home. It’s used to create a wind tunnel ... September 13, 2018 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.
We went to the Maple Grove Chalk Art Festival again this summer, and we were amazed as usual. ... September 6, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, Sara chose a cento as our Poetry Princess challenge. Not just a cento, but a cento collage, in which we would each choose one word from a set of lines Sara provided ... September 6, 2018 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. Happy first week of school for all your northern teachers!
While visiting my older daughter in La Crosse, WI, ... August 30, 2018 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.
Okay, one last (this one a rare unfiltered one) photo from Cyprus. On our first full day there, ... August 23, 2018 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 another pic from our trip to Cyprus. Larnaca has a couple of salt lakes. They’re near the ... August 16, 2018 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.
Another pic from our trip to Cyprus. This is from some kind of sculpture or monument, and I ... August 9, 2018 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.
This is another pic from our Cyprus trip. Here’s a fountain by the ocean in Larnaca, in the ... August 2, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You know, we Poetry Princesses organized our monthly challenges for this year at the end of 2017. And a sestina in July sounded just peachy. Really.
Then…real life. My husband and I moved on Monday, ... August 2, 2018 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 another photo from our trip to Cyprus. This lovely gent lives at the same camel park as ... July 26, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell have done it again, creating another poetry anthology perfect for educators to use to grow readers who are excited about poetry. Great Morning! (Pomelo Books, 2018; hear a sample read here) ... July 26, 2018 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.
Before today’s challenge, I want to share some lovely news from Elaine Magliaro (author of the glorious picture ... July 19, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Here’s my final poem I wrote for the Madness Poetry competition created by Ed DeCaria–this is the one that kicked me from the tourney in the Final Four, where it was beaten by a fabulous Cinderella ... July 19, 2018 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.
While in Cyprus, we went to a camel park–and rode camels! I loved this handsome fellow.
This image makes ... July 12, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week has been a rough week. I went to a celebration of life for the husband of a friend, and I’ve had a lot of stress both personally (moving in a couple of weeks!) and ... July 12, 2018 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 really have a thing for airport art. Here’s a close-up of a piece of a mosaic:
This image ... July 5, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
You know what happens when you collaborate? You stretch. You grow. You learn. Even if it’s not always a comfortable process, it’s well worth it! This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was an Aphra ... July 5, 2018 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 in the United States, we celebrated our independence and freedom yesterday. (Hope you had a fun holiday!) ... June 28, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This might be an odd choice for the end of June(!), but I’m continuing along with sharing the poems I wrote for the Madness Poetry competition created by Ed DeCaria. This was for Round 3, and ... June 28, 2018 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 love boats and water and bridges. I took this pic while we were on our Thames Rocket ... June 21, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m taking a break from sharing my Madness Poetry poems to ask you to go back and look at 1 or 2 student poems I shared earlier this week. I shared photos of 12 or so ... June 21, 2018 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.
In the flat we stayed in in London (Canary Wharf area) for a few days, we could feed ... June 14, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Here’s the second of the poems I wrote for the Madness Poetry competition created by Ed DeCaria. My assigned word was “doling.” The background image is of two people I love on a rock by the ... June 14, 2018 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 picture of the London Eye Ferris Wheel. I took it from my seat on a Thames ... June 7, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I thought that this month, I’d share the poems I wrote for the Madness Poetry competition created by Ed DeCaria. Here was my first-round poem, written with the assigned word “coordinates.” I wanted to play a ... June 7, 2018 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.
We arrived in London very late at night, took the tube, and then walked to our flat in ... May 31, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was limericks around the theme of birds and bees. Take that them any way you like;>) This was Tanita’s pick, and I was so glad she picked something ... May 31, 2018 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.
This lovely lady was along the Blackwater Basin near the flat we stayed in in Canary Wharf in ... May 24, 2018 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.
One thing we did while visiting our daughter in Cyprus was to to a few different beaches. The ... May 17, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, my Poetry Month efforts fell a little short this year. I am feeling kind of glum about that, but trying to just celebrate the effort, the process (more about my writing fail here). In that ... May 17, 2018 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 feel so lucky to have visited a couple of non-English-speaking countries. It really opens my perspective. ... May 10, 2018 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. Thank you for being such an active and kind community while I was out of town–out of the ... May 3, 2018 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’m still off the grid, so once again, I will not be able to comment. I’m hoping ... April 28, 2018
April 27, 2018
April 26, 2018 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’m largely off the grid this week and next, so I won’t be able to comment on ... April 25, 2018
April 23, 2018 Girls’ day out with my daughter, Annabelle. Last day I’ll see her before her move to La Crosse…
April 20, 2018 Score!
April 19, 2018 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.
My older daughter Annabelle is moving to Wisconsin. I am going to miss her funny, loud, energetic, ... April 18, 2018 Just wishful thinking 🙂
April 17, 2018 Just got home from picking up a lovely pile of poetry books from my neighborhood library! I love the buzzing hum of activity that’s always there.
April 16, 2018 True story from Sunday:)
April 15, 2018 Just thinking about the moments when something terrible has happened but we don’t know it yet…
April 14, 2018 A little blizzarding, anyone? I remember a pillow fight when I was a kid, and the pillow ripped and the whole room just filled with white feathers. That’s what it looks like out our windows right now!
April 13, 2018 Not that this describes me, or anything…
Too funny. I was so scatter-brained that I didn’t publish this on April 13 but left it in draft form. Oops.
April 12, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Without Lee Bennett Hopkins and his books, I don’t think I’d be writing poetry for children today. When I first got the tiniest of inklings that I might like to dip a toe into the waters ... April 12, 2018 I was driving to the gym this morning when a beautiful white bunny zipped across the road in front of me. So glad the roads weren’t icy today!
April 12, 2018 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.
Sometimes I think I have more accidental images on my phone than I do intentional ones!
This ... April 11, 2018
April 10, 2018
April 9, 2018 I love winter. Winter driving? Not so much.
April 8, 2018 It’s hard watching people you love age…
April 7, 2018 This one is from me and all my writer and artist friends who put our hearts into our books…and for all of you who gives books to others (teachers and librarians, I’m looking at you!).
April 6, 2018 I’m trying to be more tolerant, because I know I complain about the heat all summer long:>) But this is my rebellion against all the whining about snow! Our Minneapolis paper had this big story about how sick people were of snow, but (online at ... April 5, 2018
Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I seem to be on a real tree kick lately! This month, our theme, chosen by Tricia, was to borrow a line from Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art and use it in a ... April 5, 2018 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 photo from last summer:
I like roller coasters, but not things like this. So I ... April 4, 2018
April 3, 2018
April 2, 2018
April 1, 2018 Happy National Poetry Month, and Happy Easter if you celebrate Easter! I’m keeping things simple this year, because life is complicated (with moves, travel, work–mostly good stuff, just…complicated). In years past, I’ve done daily poems with unified visual elements, because I do love that. This ... March 29, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Did you see the poetry and other writing done by second graders here at Blog Tour Stop #7? If not, I hope you’ll hop over to comment. It was wonderful to hear kids sharing their families!
... March 29, 2018 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 hope you’re not offended that I’m still using snow-related photo prompts, but you know March and ... March 22, 2018 Madness Poetry is down to just four matchups! My matchup with J.J. Close, who does very clever wordplay, goes live at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time here. I hope you’ll visit and vote for your favorite on all four pairs of poems. Thanks to those of ... March 15, 2018 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 Voldetort the turtle, whom we were caring for for a month or so until we could give ... March 8, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week, I’m sharing another calendar poem. My life at home has gone kinda crazy these past few weeks, and I’m not sharing these every week, so this one is from a couple of weeks ago.
My ... March 8, 2018 Howdy, folks! I’m taking part in Ed Decaria’s Madness Poetry this year, and today is the last day for voting in Round 1. I’m pitted against Lissa Clouser, and we both had to write poems using the word “coordinates.” Lissa’s poem is lovely, and we ... March 1, 2018 Hello, and welcome!
It’s March 1, the book birthday for my new picture book, Meet My Family! It’s all about families, animals, and diversity. Of course, that’s super exciting for me, but I know NOTHING gets in the way of 15 Words or Less :>) ... February 22, 2018 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.
Last week’s photo, if you’re curious, was a filtered close-up shot of some bath salts my daughter ... February 21, 2018 Here’s my calendar poem this week–thank you to Jan Goodwin Annino for “jar,” Martha O’Quinn for “parasol,” and Leslie Leibhardt Goodman in Illinois for “airy.” (Would you like to suggest a word for me? Just go here!) I was thinking about all the ways books ... February 15, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
[My Classroom Connections posts will share a way to connect one of my books or poems to a classroom topic–often something timely that you might be covering in the next month or so. Please share this ... February 15, 2018 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’m not going to tell you what this one is. It’s whatever you make of it!
This ... February 8, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m sharing another calendar poem this week. (Read what these are and suggest a word here.) This week’s calendar poem was written before last week’s–which I really struggled with! This one came a little more easily ... February 8, 2018 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. Would you like to suggest a word for one of my poems? I’ve had fun with “winter,” “cymbal,” ... February 1, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was my choice, so it’s extra frustrating that I found it SO challenging. I chose tanka (non-rhyming form with a 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count) as our form, because ... February 1, 2018 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.
Thank you for your poems last week! In case you’re wondering, that was a filtered picture of ... January 25, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
[My Classroom Connections posts will share a way to connect one of my books or poems to a classroom topic–often something timely that you might be covering in the next month or so. Please share this ... January 25, 2018 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.
This image (which I’m not going to identify right now) makes me think of several things:
an avalanche
Santa’s ... January 18, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I wanted to give myself a new poetry challenge for 2018, and here’s what I decided to do. I had bought a Sierra Club desk calendar on clearance. Something about the empty spaces in their orderly ... January 18, 2018 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 got so many beautiful holiday cards this year, and one of my favorites was from Poetry ... January 11, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I hadn’t planned to post today, but this past couple of weeks, death has been touching the lives of Randy and me a lot in various forms. The death of our beloved dog, the death of ... January 11, 2018 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.
Last week’s image was a close-up of the pompoms I use whenever we watch Dolphins games:>) This ... January 4, 2018 Happy Poetry Friday, and Happy New Year! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
2017 ended on a low note for me, so I’m happy to be sharing poems with the Poetry Princesses today. We’ve decided to continue on our monthly journey of writing ... January 4, 2018 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.
Thank you, everyone who sent such nice thoughts of the death of our dog, Jackie. It’s been ... December 28, 2017 We just got home from the vet, where we had to have Captain Jack Sparrow put to sleep. It’s been a hard, hard day. Here are a few poems I wrote with Jack in mind, plus a video I made a couple of months ago. ... December 28, 2017 Hello, and welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems of the year! This is a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.
Walking to the mailbox with Jack is always an adventure. Trying ... December 21, 2017 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.
So, the picture I posted last week was a filtered image (as usual) of some frosted glass ... December 14, 2017 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 took this pic in an airport a couple of weeks ago. Want to take a guess? ... December 7, 2017 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 ... December 7, 2017 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:
an airport ... December 4, 2017 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 ... November 30, 2017 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 ... November 30, 2017 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 ... November 28, 2017 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 ... November 21, 2017 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 ... November 20, 2017 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!
November 16, 2017 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 ... November 16, 2017 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:>)
... November 13, 2017 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, ... November 9, 2017 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 ... November 2, 2017 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 ... November 2, 2017 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.
This guy, which we bought at the first Renaissance Festival we ever went to, shortly after moving up here ... October 31, 2017 You can never have too many autumn leaves.
October 30, 2017 Happy Halloween, almost! Enjoy the jack-o-lanterns!
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October 26, 2017 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 love trains, and I’ve never been on a “real” train ride–just a couple of scenic rides ... October 24, 2017 Hello! I just realized it’s getting a bit late to share my poem about fall’s arrival, so I’d better hop to it! At the beginning of the month, I shared my hymn about fall from a dog’s point of view. A hymn about fall had ... October 23, 2017 I was playing with my watercolors, trying to learn how to do a wash, and I made this orangey one. Then I dropped a few drops of green to see what would happen. The little splotches reminded me of palm trees, so I added trunks.
... October 19, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Today is the National Day on Writing, and what better day to share Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s new book for teachers, Poems Are Teachers? This amazing book features 50+ poems by different poets (some of whom are ... October 19, 2017 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 usually filter my photos because I like the way that makes them a little surreal and ... October 17, 2017 It’s that time of year, when I’m taking down the deck planters and packing away summery stuff.
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October 16, 2017 Geese in a vee overhead is one of my favorite fall sights/sounds. But last week, a single goose flew overhead, honking mournfully. I know it’s just anthropomorphism, but it really sounded lost and sad to me.
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October 12, 2017 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.
One of the visitors to the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival recently was this great horned owl.
This ... October 11, 2017 Yesterday, walking into my critique group meeting, I read a newspaper article about a young paramedic who was killed in a local road crash. She had the same last name as a librarian casual friend, so I did a Google search, hoping to discover the ... October 10, 2017 Here’s a #poemsketch from last week, inspired by a small turtle I saw while on a walk with my daughter. That combined with world news of devastation (both natural and manmade) to make this poem. I like doing the dripping lines and writing on them. ... October 9, 2017 Something about power towers always fascinates me, and rows of them automagically turn into double-Dutch jumpers. So I took a classic jump rope rhyme as the basis for today’s #poemsketch.
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October 5, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write a hymn using a hymn meter around the theme of fall. This was Tanita’s choice. She’s the beautiful singer in our group! I will ... October 5, 2017 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.
While I was at the Anderson Center at Tower View for the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival a ... October 4, 2017 Irma inspired all sorts of light-related poemsketches. I think this is the final one.
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October 3, 2017 Playing Qwixx and other games by candlelight after Irma knocked out the power is a favorite hurricane memory. Just being in the storm with family instead of in our own place made it more adventure–less drudge/danger. Not literally, but in the way it felt.
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October 2, 2017 Once at my sister’s house in Orlando, I found electric lights extra fascinating because we were 99% certain we would lose power during Irma. Here’s a #poemsketch.
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September 28, 2017 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.
One of the things that surprises me every fall is how maple trees don’t turn color all ... September 27, 2017 We had three amazing days at the beach, but we left a day early to head inland. My sister was supposed to spend that last night at the condo with us, but instead we headed to my Dad’s up the coast for a quick visit ... September 25, 2017 Walking in the sand, we watched snowy egrets plucking up their impossibly skinny legs to stalk through the incoming tide. My poemsketches are generally done very quickly. Written in less than 5 minutes and drawn/painted in the same. If I screw up the drawing, oh ... September 24, 2017 Continuing our Florida adventures…I loved seeing bird footprints in the packed sand after the tide rolled out.
September 21, 2017 I passed this shovel half-buried in the sand on the beach two days in a row. It called to me for today’s #poemsketch. I have such lovely memories of collecting shells at the beach as a kid.
And it’s Poetry Friday! Visit Amy at ... September 20, 2017 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. Today is International Peace Day, so check out the #peaceday hashtag and also the Peace Padlet. It’s also, ... September 19, 2017 Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share some poem sketches written earlier this month, on our trip to Florida. The day my husband and I flew down, we went to see my dad. When I went into the bathroom, I was struck by the ... September 18, 2017 Today’s #poemsketch is from my day at the State Fair a couple of weeks ago. Very fitting as it is now feeling fallish here in Minnesota, as if summer is disappearing into the distance, waving a deep-fried goodbye!
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September 14, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Today is International Dot Day, inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ The Dot! You know, we got home from our Florida trip (which was quite a bit more “exciting” than anticipated, due to Irma) on Tuesday evening. ... September 14, 2017 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 was in Florida for the past week, and before Irma hit, Randy and I spent several ... September 12, 2017 There’s nothing I like better than a gorgeous sunrise or sunset. I love that it’s a possibility every single day. You just never know when one will spring up!
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September 11, 2017 Here’s a #poemsketch from the State Fair. It was so awesome watching kids practically step right into If You Were the Moon!
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September 7, 2017 Here’s the “clumsy bug” from Wednesday’s #poemsketch that I showed the woman at the State Fair. I wrote it when I got home from a stressful walk one day last week. The Carolina locusts were everywhere! Flying into me. And I had on capri yoga ... September 7, 2017 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.
Maddie took this photo in Dublin, at the Trinity College Library. Though it’s not immediately obvious due ... September 6, 2017 Today’s #poemsketch was inspired by a fun conversation I had with a woman at Read + Ride Day. We talked about Jaime Kim’s lovely art and showed each other pics on our phones of our own art attempts. Hers was a lovely, featherlight bird!
... August 31, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was an ekphrastic poem to Sara’s choice of image. Here’s a picture she took while at a Highlights Foundation retreat (so jealous…someday!).
On the way home from a ... August 31, 2017 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 was at the Minnesota Zoo Friday night for an awesome Five for Fighting concert. He was ... August 29, 2017 Today’s poemsketch was inspired by a homeless man and his dog. I used my Jack as a model. Poor Jack. He’s already a bit unique looking, but my clumsy doodle-painting did not help his case!
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August 28, 2017 Today’s poemsketch was inspired by a line in something I read a few days ago–probably a middle-grade novel or novel in verse. Anyway, there was a line in there about a hug being the smallest mathematical circle, or something like that, and that stuck with ... August 24, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve decided that, for a while, at least, I’m going to share my daily practice poems here when I don’t have another post scheduled. I write a practice poem almost every day. Just a quick thing. ... August 24, 2017 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.
After last week’s beautiful but emotional poems, I was trying to pick something lighthearted for this week. ... August 21, 2017 I found this old diamante of mine Saturday morning and shared it on social media, but here it is again. Happy eclipse-viewing to those of you lucky enough to be in (or be traveling to) the path of the full eclipse today!
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August 17, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A couple of weeks ago, the Poetry Princesses shared poems written to the title “Statues in the Park.” I shared my poem and writing process (via time lapse video) in that post. Today, I thought I’d ... August 17, 2017 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.
In Duluth a couple weeks ago, we went to the Lake Superior Marine Museum like we always ... August 10, 2017 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.
A nearby park has what the map describes as a maze–which I think is overstating it a ... August 3, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
The Process
FEEL FREE TO SKIP DIRECTLY TO IMAGE POEM BELOW IF YOU LIKE!
This month, our Poetry Princess challenge (my choice) was a poem of any kind, mood, or topic to go with ... August 3, 2017 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.
At Duluth Harbor last week, we got to watch a TON of sailboats come through the canal ... July 27, 2017 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.
This is the City Hall clock tower in downtown Minneapolis. I took this pic from the roof ... July 20, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A couple of years ago, an anthologist invited me to submit poems for a how-to anthology. None of my poems were accepted, but this one, which I wrote just to submit to the anthology, has been ... July 20, 2017 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.
While walking Jack one evening, my husband and I saw this fearless kitty marching along a balcony ... July 13, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
My wheels have been spinning since Tabatha proposed a mac and cheese Poetry Friday. Why? Because macaroni and cheese is my favorite food. In my childhood, bbq chicken and macaroni and cheese was my birthday dinner ... July 13, 2017
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.
That’s the globe that used to be on ... July 6, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, it has been a chaotic, joyful, and sad summer so far. So when this month’s Poetry Princess challenge was a poem in the style of Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty,” I just ... July 6, 2017 Hello, poets, writers, noodlers–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.
Thank you for keeping this community going while I’ve been on a semi-hiatus. Can’t believe ... June 29, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This weekend, my daughter and I were supposed to be on a poetry retreat, working on a collaborative project. 48 hours. 1 hotel room. It would have been intense, but we had to cancel. Health issues ... June 29, 2017 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.
At that chalk festival, there were a few large-scale works on boards, so I made Randy stand ... June 22, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I went to Plainview Library in Plainview, Minnesota, for a poetry event. My sister Patty (up from Florida) and daughter Maddie (home briefly from Scotland) came with me on this mini-road trip.
It was ... June 22, 2017 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 took this pic at the Maple Grove Chalk Art Festival two weekends ago. We went on ... June 15, 2017 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.
While my sister Patty was up this past week, we indulged in way too many sweet treats. Like ... June 8, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
The Journal of Children’s Literature has one of my poems in it in the spring 2017 edition. I initially wrote this poem to open a chapter on children’s literature genres in Terrell Young’s book, Children’s Literature, ... June 8, 2017 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.
Saw this on the road the other day. This image makes me think of several things:
What if ... June 5, 2017 I had a lovely email a while back from a teacher who had my book, Heart of a Teacher, and wanted to know if she could use the poem “I Think You Should Try It Too) at a teacher appreciation event at another school in ... June 1, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write a golden shovel poem. Tricia chose this prompt, and she also chose Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty” as the poem we would all choose ... June 1, 2017 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 Paris Catacombs are…overwhelming. So many bones. So many emotions: sadness, horror, reverence, acceptance, melancholy. We had ... May 25, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Earlier this month, I got to write poems with the Literacy L.I.F.T. Club: Linking Imagination Fun & Text at Evergreen Park World Cultures Community School in Brooklyn Center, MN. My daughter Annabelle came along as an ... May 25, 2017 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.
At the Reykjavik, Iceland airport, this eye-catching statue dominates. I thought it was a berry, as I ... May 18, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A couple of weekends ago, I spoke at the Minnesota Kindergarten Association annual conference. For an hour, I shared with 2-300 teachers why poetry matters, what the process is behind my poetry/science books, and other poetry ... May 18, 2017 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.
Before we get to today’s picture, congratulations to Lauren McBride, longtime 15 Words or Less contributor, on ... May 11, 2017 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.
Last week, I shared a picture of Mont Saint Michel. In the little village nearby, several shops/restaurants ... May 4, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
It’s the first Friday of the month, so it’s Poetry Princesses Friday! This month was my choice, and I chose the Things to Do form with a seasonal angle. (See page 4 here ... May 4, 2017 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.
Although the day trip itself was dreadful, one of the most beautiful things we saw in France ... May 2, 2017 I’m honored that Water Can Be… is a nominee for the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award in the picture book category with many other books and writers I love! A Maryland school librarian contacted me to ask if I could make a little video to the ... April 30, 2017 Here are today’s #wonderbreak poems. I have two left, so I’m sharing them both.
Thanks, everybody, for following along this month. I struggled some days to find something small and concrete to focus on, and I really meant to not do quite so many nature ... April 30, 2017
Whee! It’s Day 30 of Irene Latham’s wonderful Progressive Poem (read more about this April tradition here).
I will admit to being a bit nervous about being the last line. But last year, I got to be the first line, so…I figured turnabout was fair play. ... April 29, 2017 Perhaps you were as saddened as I was by the recent death of writer Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Today has been named More for Amy Krouse Rosenthal day in an effort spearheaded by Kirby Larson, another lovely, generous writer, who is encouraging people to share love, ... April 27, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This Poetry Month, I’m sharing a brief poem daily celebrating little sources of wonder and joy in my life. Here’s today’s #wonderbreak :
I always think it’s funny how avid gardeners ... April 27, 2017 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. But because it’s National Poetry Month, I have a #wonderbreak poem to share, too! And it’s Poem in ... April 26, 2017 Whoo! It’s getting tough as the month winds down. I have a worm picture I’m trying to write a poem to, but I’m just not there yet. So here’s today’s #wonderbreak. [Want to learn more or join in by sharing your own poems about joyful ... April 25, 2017 Whoops! Sorry for the later-than-usual post. Home from visiting family in Florida, and my schedule is all off!
Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
When I took this picture, there ... April 24, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Hmm. That is kind of hard to read, which I didn’t realize until I saw it bigger. Sorry about that. I’m back home ... April 23, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I love Mexican food. Especially tacos. That is all.
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April 22, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Happy Earth Day!
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April 20, 2017
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This Poetry Month, I’m sharing a brief poem daily celebrating little sources of wonder and joy in my life. Here’s today’s #wonderbreak :
Now that we’re past the halfway mark, the ... April 20, 2017 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. However, because it’s National Poetry Month, I have a couple of other things to share, too:>)
I’m Reading ... April 19, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
This was really meant to be a poem about the scar on my knee/leg and how I don’t mind it. It’s a reminder ... April 18, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Feeling grateful for being able to sit outside my home and feel peace.
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April 17, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
It would have been my Mom and Dad’s anniversary a few days ago. Mostly, I think of Mom with a smile on her ... April 16, 2017 Happy Easter! Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I was getting my sales figures last week for Water Can Be…, so that I could make my donation to WaterAid, ... April 15, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I guess I might be kind of morbid, as I think about death quite frequently. But mostly the thought of death is a ... April 13, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
For Poetry Month, I’m sharing a brief poem daily celebrating little sources of wonder and joy in my life. Here’s today’s #wonderbreak :
There is a LOT of bad news in ... April 13, 2017 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.
Iceland got a huge snowfall just before we arrived, so we saw lots of things buried in ... April 13, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I am at one of my two main libraries pretty much every day, returning and checking out books. Not to mention being online ... April 12, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Little signs of life in Minnesota amid a largely brown/yellow landscape!
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April 11, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Saturday, it felt like early summer, with temps in the 70s and sun belting out its almost-summer song. Today it was damp and ... April 10, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I love railroad tracks, even though I’ve never been on trains, other than metro commuting trains or short scenic railroads. They always remind ... April 9, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
March in Minnesota does not look like a beautiful spring picture book. It is sometimes snowy, which is beautiful. But if warmish temps ... April 8, 2017
For today’s #wonderbreak , I’m sharing some love for the delicious clementine. I don’t really eat oranges, but when it’s clementine season, I am there! This tiny gem that fits in my hand makes me feel like I’m already ... April 7, 2017 I’m a bit of a pyromaniac. I don’t start fires, but I do love them, and having a fireplace is one of the things I’ve loved most about moving this past year! I was warming up by the fire while the winds howled outside yesterday, ... April 6, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to talk back to a Rilke poem. I love the idea of poems in response to other poems. But Rilke? Sheesh. Talking back seems so impertinent! ... April 6, 2017 I do love me a good Mini Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard. While savoring one, I started thinking about Dairy Queen and how it was the place to go after the girls’ soccer games, orchestra concerts, etc. Or, every once in a while, Annabelle and I ... April 6, 2017 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.
One thing–OK, THE thing I most wanted to see on our February trip was the Northern Lights. ... April 5, 2017
I write most things on my laptop or phone (using a bluetooth foldable keyboard). But I am always jotting notes to myself–and occasional poems–in longhand, with a pen. I have two favorite kinds. Today, I’m celebrating pens in my #wonderbreak. [Want to learn more or ... April 4, 2017 Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
Two days ago, I got a mug in the mail, a gift from Read Aloud Revival. The cardboard box it came in had the ... April 3, 2017
Today’s #wonderbreak celebrates the joy of petting a dog. Our beagle, Jack, is kind of barrel-chested. His ribs rise and fall excessively (it seems) when he is sleeping or very relaxed. I couldn’t get a pic that would ... April 2, 2017 Happy National Poetry Month!
Today’s #wonderbreak is about conkers, those big, round seeds that fall from horse chestnuts and conk you on the head.
Seeds always amaze me, how they have everything they need inside to make…whatever they ... April 1, 2017
Happy National Poetry Month!
Here’s today’s #wonderbreak.
I told you guys this month’s poems would celebrate little things I love. They might not always be literally this little, but I figured I’d start out with this small item.
I love ... March 30, 2017 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.
A favorite site in Iceland was the rift in Thingvellir National Park, where two tectonic plates meet. ... March 23, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Holy moley. Where has March gone? I know I have one more Poetry Friday post before National Poetry Month starts, but I thought I’d share my plans here a bit early in case anyone else has ... March 16, 2017 Hello, and welcome! I’m interrupting the normal broadcast to let you know that Tina Cho has an interview with me today, which you can read here. Thanks, Tina!
It’s all moon, all week long, since my launch party is tonight for If You Were the ... March 9, 2017 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.
For most of spring, I’m guessing, my pics will come from the wonderful trip Randy and I ... March 2, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This month, we returned to ekphrastic poems, and Tanita chose our image. I filtered it, but you can see the original here. I was looking at it on my phone, and I couldn’t ... March 2, 2017 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.
Back a couple of weeks ago, game night had a toy theme, and I came across this ... February 23, 2017 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.
Our maple tree has been bare for ages, except for one or two last, lonely leaves. This ... February 16, 2017 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.
My sister Patty has always been the artist in our family. She is crafty and artistic, though ... February 9, 2017 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.
Last night, as Randy and I were driving home from downtown, there was this cool contrail like ... February 2, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, last Saturday, I looked at our Poetry Princess challenge list for this year and discovered we were sharing villanelles this week. On the theme of brevity or shortness. Which was funny, because a ... February 2, 2017 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.
A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I went to an exhibit called Martin Luther and the ... January 26, 2017 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 often use filters, but this pic of the thin layer of ice on our street (which ... January 19, 2017 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.
This is Captain Jack’s pawprint on our front sidewalk. Something about our weather cycle of snow, melt, ... January 12, 2017 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 of Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, which I walked through several times a day at ... January 5, 2017 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
The Poetry Princesses are starting off 2017 with somonka, two combined Japanese tanka written in a love poem/response form. What better way to start off a new year than with some love?
Still, with ... January 5, 2017 Hello, and welcome to the first 15 Words or Less Poems of 2017! 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.
At NCTE in Atlanta, walking back and ... January 3, 2017 I’m so happy to be continuing to write monthly with my Poetry Sisters–Liz Garton Scanlon, Kelly Ramsdell, Andi Sibley, Tanita Davis, Sara Lewis Holmes, and Tricia Stohr-Hunt. And Mary Lee Hahn joined us in 2021, too! Our list of collaborations is getting kind of long, ... December 29, 2016 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 hope everyone’s holidays have been going great! Mine have, but today is Maddie’s last day at ... December 22, 2016 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.
More fun from the Atlanta airport. There was a series of sculptures by a Zimbabwean (I think) ... December 19, 2016 I love evergreens draped in snow, and I took this pic a few weeks ago. This filter on it made the bare trees even more beautiful, though. So stark and sharp and delicate. I thought about how this filter emphasized light and pale colors, and ... December 15, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I shared about the awesome Risking Writing session at NCTE. Today, I thought I’d share my final poem in a more legible way. But if you’d like to hear about the session and see ... December 15, 2016 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.
Going through the Atlanta airport for NCTE recently, I was enchanted by this ceiling in one terminal ... December 8, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I had something else scheduled for today, but this week, I noticed that several copies of my indie-published Heart of a Teacher sold in paperback (it’s also available in a Kindle edition). It dawned on me ... December 8, 2016 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.
Before we start, I want to share something. Longtime 15 Words or Less participant and fabulous teacher Margaret ... December 1, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Poem 2:
Ekphrastic Poem with the Poetry Princesses
This is Part 2 of my Poetry Friday post this week. If you didn’t see yesterday’s Part 1, I invite you to go check out ... December 1, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday–eerrr….Thursday. Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week is a Poetry Friday two-fer. Somehow, whenever there’s an outside thing I’m participating in for Poetry Friday, it’s always the first Friday of the month. So, that means I’m juggling two poems ... December 1, 2016 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. Teachers, if I met you at NCTE recently, I’m glad you’ve come to visit!
This is actually my ... November 24, 2016 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 shared 15 Words or Less poems with some educators at NCTE last weekend, and though probably none ... November 17, 2016 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.
When I was at the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival back in…September? October?–anyway, when I was there, I ... November 10, 2016 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 another pic from Duluth. It was a stormy early morning, and we were watching a 1000-footer ... November 3, 2016 It’s November, and the Poetry Friday Roundup is HERE! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was the terza rima, Tricia’ choice.
Initially, someone threw the election out as a possible theme. No way. I ... November 3, 2016 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.
While Randy and I were in Duluth for my birthday, we noticed this set of posts on the ... October 27, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I was lucky enough to attend a Billy Collins event a couple of weeks ago for my birthday. I love his work, and he’s an excellent reader–wry, understated, and funny. My husband compared his delivery to ... October 27, 2016 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.
A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I attended the Youth in Music marching band show at ... October 20, 2016 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. [Also, subscribers, did you get an email notification this morning that this post was up? I didn’t, and ... October 13, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
In a couple of weeks, an anthology called One Minute Till Bedtime (Little, Brown), edited by former Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt, comes out. It’s already gotten a starred review from Kirkus (woohoo!), and I can’t ... October 13, 2016 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 was walking Jack the other day and came across this one small mushroom in a huge ... October 6, 2016 Happy October, poetry friends. I love autumn, and I’m actually enjoying, kind of, the ongoing process of unpacking and settling in. And my writing has gotten back on track, too. I wrote all summer, but it was a frantic, meet-the-deadline-while-doing-a-million-other-things kind of writing. I’m still ... October 6, 2016 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.
There’s a cool metal horse sculpture at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN, where I was at ... September 29, 2016 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 was downtown in Minneapolis a few weeks ago having a food truck lunch with Randy, and the ... September 22, 2016 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 took this picture at a drum corps rehearsal over the summer, and it makes me think of ... September 21, 2016 It’s our daughter Maddie’s 21st birthday today, and I want to share a poem again that I wrote a couple of years ago, when she was first heading overseas to learn about missions work. A few weeks ago, we once again made the teary airport ... September 15, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Since yesterday’s 15 Words or Less post was about the Hello/Goodbye doormat, I thought I’d share my “Goodbye, Hello!” poem again, which I was proud to have appear in Highlights last year:
Goodbye, Hello!
Goodbye, blue sky ... September 15, 2016 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. Thank you for continuing to tune in over the summer and participate, even though I’ve been largely absent. ... September 1, 2016 Happy September, poetry friends. Last month, I had to sit out from the Poetry Princesses 1st-Friday-of-the-month posting. This month, although I’m not bringing much to the table, I did at least write a poem. I wrote it on the plane ride down to Florida, where ... September 1, 2016 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.
Writer and educator friends, can you tell what this is? I’m not going to tell you right now, but ... August 25, 2016 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.
Hello, writer and educator friends. As I’m clearing out loads of stuff, I keep coming across things full of ... August 18, 2016 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.
Hello, writer and educator friends. My life grows ever more intense (I really didn’t think that was possible), and ... August 11, 2016 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.
Hello, writer and educator friends. My life grows ever more intense (I really didn’t think that was possible), and ... August 4, 2016 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.
Thank you for your continued kindness and support regarding my mom’s passing. I wish my dad was online and ... July 21, 2016 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.
Thank you for your continued kindness and support regarding my mom’s passing. I wish my dad was online and ... July 14, 2016 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 thank you all for your kind Comments, emails, and messages regarding my mom’s passing. It is ... July 7, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m heading out to NCTE this morning in Boston! Hope I might get to see a few of you there!
I am always so pleased to have poetry in Cricket or any of the Carus literary publications. ... July 7, 2016 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 took this picture outside Dairy Queen after my event at Plainview Public Library recently. I always love heading ... June 30, 2016 OK, I’m not even gonna whine about procrastinating this month. July and August are filled with so many wonderful things…in the long run. In the short run, I’m overwhelmed. So it is what it is. This month, we Poetry Princesses wrote poems in the style ... June 30, 2016 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 took this pic while we were walking Jack. by the lake. The white edging on the trail is cottonwood ... June 23, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Earlier this week, I shared a note of thanks for my beagle, Jack. Today, I’m re-sharing a zeno poetryaction he inspired a couple of years ago.
Ah, Jackie…For more poetry fun, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup, ... June 23, 2016 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 went downtown (Minneapolis) a week or two to attend a concert by Cantus, a choral group. The ... June 16, 2016 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.
While Randy and I were walking Jack last week, we walked right by these mallards at the lake. Jack was ... June 9, 2016 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 ... June 9, 2016 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 ... June 2, 2016 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 ... June 2, 2016 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 ... May 26, 2016 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 ... May 26, 2016 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 ... May 25, 2016 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!
May 24, 2016 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 ... May 23, 2016 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 ... May 19, 2016 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 ... May 19, 2016 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:
soldiers standing at attention
what it would feel like to ... May 17, 2016 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 ... May 12, 2016 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 ... May 11, 2016
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 ... May 10, 2016
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 ... May 5, 2016 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 ... May 5, 2016 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 ... April 30, 2016 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 ... April 28, 2016 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 ... April 28, 2016 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 ... April 28, 2016 “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 ... April 27, 2016 Goldie writes poems so nice and sweet,like chocolate fudge, or some other treat.
Goldie smiled at me as she came on stage. She obviously didn’t know I hate chocolate fudge.
She stood right beside me, and she looked at me like, “Move it, Louis.”
Then she whispered, “Move ... April 26, 2016 I had tried to think of some way to improve this, but I couldn’t. So, I stepped up to the microphone (the best part of this MC job) and said:
You’ve seen the good. You’ve seen the best.Now listen and let your eyelids rest.
OK, not my ... April 25, 2016 It was Ridgeway Talent Share Day. Miss S still hadn’t been back to school, but there she was in the audience. She looked a little greenish, but she smiled when I caught her eye.The lights dimmed.It was time.Marty was first. I had written a little ... April 24, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #24: Free Verse
Class Is a Gas
My science teacher squirts perfume. “Every smell is particles. Smell that? You have tiny perfume particles in your nose and mouth.”
Sharp perfume stings our tongues.
Then Farty Marty ... April 23, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #23: The Narrative Poem
Value Foods’ Hot Dog-Eating Contest
Hot dogs Slog down Land in stomach Pound by pound
SlickSlidy Go down easy Now I’m feeling Kind of queasy
Going down They’re fine but then– Here they ... April 21, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #22: An Opposites Poem
Rules from Mom and Dad
Chew with your mouth closed Always say please Sit still in your chair It’s not nice to tease
Rules I Wish I Could Give Mom and Dad
Don’t kiss me in public ... April 21, 2016 Hello! We’re more than halfway through National Poetry Month, and I hope you’re having a splendid celebration! I’m happy you’re here — this is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)!
Here’s my next pic taken in ... April 21, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #21: A Poem Based on Research
Rabbits Recycle!
They sniff hay They chew it They poop it and then
They sniff at their poop and start over again
I made you queasy? Excellent! Here’s a rabbit poem for you! ... April 20, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #20: Poem Inspired by a Photograph
This Really Happened!
A Burmese python told the waiter, “I will try the alligator!” He opened wide to eat headfirst but got so full he felt he’d burst He ached and cramped, began ... April 19, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #19: The Persona Poem
One Fine Spine–For Now
I’m the spine of the book, the backbone, the side.
I stand like a soldier and act like a guide.
But as soon as you buy me, ... April 18, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #18: The Limerick
Lamar Didn’t Listen
There once was a pig named Lamar Whose mom said, “Don’t mosey too far.” But he wandered away on that sad, tragic day. Now his feet ... April 17, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #17: Concrete Poem
Bloody Memory
After math a velvet valentine as red as the blood from the famous 2nd-grade pencil sharpener accident waits on my desk like a bomb. My name is written on the front in ... April 16, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #16: Quatrains Cafeteria Duo Trio
1. Eddie’s Trick
See cool Eddie? He’s my hero He’s the only kid who knows How to make the cherry Kool-Aid Flow like rivers from his nose
2. So-Called Stew
The menu says stew but that ... April 14, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #15: Make-Up-a-Word Poem
My Mom, the Piandroid
When my mother plays piano the tendons in her hand jump up and down practically burst through her skin like the wires of the piano snuck out of their wooden coffin ... April 14, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #14: The Cinquain
Grandma’s Snakes
Old legs. Grandma’s dry skin has shiny blue veins that slither wriggle pulse bulge: Grandma’s pet snakes.
I never knew my family was so disgusting until I started writing poetry. Cool!
That IS ... April 14, 2016 Howdy! How is your National Poetry Month going? I’m happy you’re here and ready to celebrate with you! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)!
Here’s my next pic taken in March on the way ... April 13, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #13: The Diamante
Lemons Coming Out of My Pores
lemonade tangy, yellow clinking, drinking, chilling, summer, liquid, noon, basketball slipping, dripping, shaking clear, salty sweat
You said 2 opposite or related things work. Lemonade turns into sweat! It turns ... April 12, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #12: The Haiku
Don’t Look at Uncle Gary!
He wears a Speedo Like a plump water balloon Wears a rubber band
Nothing shocks you? I’ll find something…I know haiku has to be about nature, but we were at the ... April 11, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #11: The Acrostic
My Mom Doesn’t Always Embarrass Me
Mom, I would be an Orphan without you! Thank you for not Hugging me in public. Or private. Even when ... April 10, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #10: Hyperbole
Guaranteed to Make You Puke
If you ever need to make yourself sick the night before a test or a family portrait or dinner with Grandpa creep downstairs ... April 9, 2016 Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #9: The Ballad
The Ballad of My Shameful Mother
Last Thursday my mom could not come to my game. I felt floods of relief and a trickle of shame.
My mom always hollered and screamed at the ... April 7, 2016 Welcome, all! I’m happy to be hosting a Poetry Friday Roundup during April–what fun! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I continue my Poetry Month sharing of “The Putrid Poetic Ponderings of Louis J. Pasternak, AKA Dr. Skullstench” (see right sidebar for more info) ... April 7, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Here’s my next pic taken in March on the way home from South Bend, IN to Minneapolis, MN.
This image makes me think ... April 7, 2016 Dr. Pasternak: Stealth Poet Poetry Assignment #7: Rhyme
Head Cheese
It wiggles and shimmies and does a slight jig It’s gelatin pickled with pieces of pig
There’s a sliver of tongue and a big chunk of heart There’s a huge hunk of dark and mysterious pig ... April 6, 2016 Louis J. Pasternak Poetry Assignment #6: The List Poem
If You Accidentally Swallow Ocean Water …
you also swallow:
gloopy whale blubber broken starfish arms penguin poop dead fish sunken ships lobster shells
and all the pee of all the kids in the world, even kids in ... April 5, 2016 [Note from Laura: Hi, teachers and readers! If Louis were writing a gross poem about me today, it would be about head colds, congestion, crusty stuff, and maybe green stuff, too. :>( Yup, I’ve got a cold. And I’m glad Louis isn’t here to describe ... April 4, 2016 Louis J. Pasternak Poetry Assignment #4: Repetition
Pimple Popping
There’s a pimple on my cheek and I’m dying just to pop it I was picking at it yesterday ’til Marty hollered, “Stop it!”
It’s shiny and it’s white and I’m dying just to pop it Bran shows ... April 3, 2016 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 ... April 2, 2016 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 ... March 31, 2016 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 ... March 31, 2016 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. ... March 31, 2016 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 ... March 24, 2016 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. You can learn more here about the ... March 24, 2016 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:
Charlotte’s web ... March 10, 2016 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 ... March 10, 2016 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 ... March 3, 2016 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 ... March 3, 2016 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 ... February 25, 2016 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 ... February 25, 2016 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 ... February 18, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Sorry for the confusion last week–I had the settings to not allow comments (accidentally). We should be all good today, though! Thank you ... February 4, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday!
Last month, we Poetry 7 shared our crown sonnet about the Periodic Table–that was such a fun project to be part of! Now the good news is that we have renewed our vow to continue monthly poems through 2016. Yay! The bad news ... February 4, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Here’s a picture my friend Vida posted on Facebook and offered up for 15 Words or Less (thank you, Vida!). At first glance, ... February 2, 2016 I was honored to have a poem in Dragon Lode not too long ago.
Janet Wong wrote a great piece about diversity, and she included poems by both Margarita Engle and me. I keep some pretty great company, right?
Here’s my poem–in one of my favorite forms, ... February 1, 2016 Last Friday, I was part of a literacy event in Stewartville, MN, called Hot Reads for Cold Nights. Wow. There were 500 or so people there, and organizer Renita Irvin had so many things going on: book exchanges, food, storytellers, silent auctions, and a ton ... January 28, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Here’s a picture of a stuffed frog. It’s one of Jackie’s toys, and it’s pretty nasty. This image makes me think of:
Barney the ... January 27, 2016 Here’s one more poetryaction!
I am feeling more like a dreamer lately, wanting (but not having) more time for writing just for the heck of it—that’s a rare luxury for me. P. Zonka‘s daydreaming and its randomly beautiful results really touched me in this book. ... January 26, 2016 Here’s today’s poetryaction!
I’ve had this poetryaction for The Secret Life of Squirrels for a long time and am finally getting around to sharing it! I didn’t expect to like this book because, well, the cover looks a little cheesy to me. Then I read ... January 25, 2016 While I try to catch up this week, I’m going to share a few poetryactions. Hope you like them!
The flap copy of The Harvey Milk Story says, “In making history that day, Minnie Milk’s intelligent, energetic and courageous son showed the world that…” so ... January 21, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
This week, I’ve talked about writing about hard topics, worrying about manuscripts turned in, and reading things twice. Since I’m in technology chaos right now, I think I’m just going to share a poetryaction I’ve shared ... January 21, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Here’s a picture from my basement clean-out. I’m gathering lots of arts & craft supplies into a pile to give to my daughter ... January 14, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
In thinking about my word of the year–essential–I realized I had written a poem not too long ago that connected with that. This was part of Carol Varsalona’s Autumn Palette Gallery–a collection of lovely images and ... January 14, 2016 Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
Here’s one last picture from the Bell Museum of Natural History . This is a cross-section of a tree from a fig-tree display ... January 13, 2016
I’ve been working (for many years, off and on!) on a poetry project with a main character who feels rejected in many areas of her life. She tries so hard to not want things like friends and invitations to birthday parties, because she doesn’t have ... January 7, 2016 Happy Poetry Friday!
It’s that time again–we Poetry 7 are sharing poems! In November, we wrote ekphrastic poems, which I struggled mightily with.
Now, we’re beginning 2016 by sharing our crowning achievement of 2015: a crown sonnet–hehe. One of the topics I suggested to the group (last ... January 7, 2016 Whee! It’s 2016, and this is the first 15 Words or Less Poems Day of the year! I’m glad you guys are here. Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?
I took this picture at the Bell Museum ... December 31, 2015 Welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems Day of 2015!
Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here)
Here’s a picture I took at the Bell Museum of Natural History on Randy’s birthday last week.
This image ... December 25, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday, and Merry Christmas! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m sharing a favorite old Christmas song today. When I was growing up, this was one that my mom played on the piano, and that we sometimes did during our family Advent Sunday ... December 24, 2015 Hi, 15 Words-or-Less-ers! Merry Christmas Eve, if you’re celebrating!
Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here)
Here’s a picture I took at the theater where we saw So You Think You Can Dance Thanksgiving weekend. It’s hard to tell in ... December 23, 2015
Last week, school librarian Karen Bentall shared a wonderful photo of a BookSpeak display in the Oak Ridge Elementary School library in Arlington, VA. Wow! It’s beautiful! I asked if I could share this cool artwork here and if she could tell me a little ... December 22, 2015 If you know me, you know that my husband, Randy, is always bragging on me, supporting me, and celebrating my writing. Today is Randy’s birthday, and I’m spending the whole day celebrating with him! He gets so short-changed, having his birthday right before Christmas. And ... December 17, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve shared Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell’s awesome Poetry Friday Anthology for Science here before, and now there’s a new edition. Teachers requested a non-grade-level-edition for kids, and Janet and Sylvia delivered.
Introducing The Poetry of Science: ... December 17, 2015 Hi, 15 Words-or-Less-ers!
Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here)
Here’s a picture I took at the grocery store just before Thanksgiving.
These gourds were huge! Granted, that mini-pumpkin with the crow on it is pretty small, but it was between ... December 10, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, we’re going from fire to ice. Yesterday, I shared an image for 15 Words or Less that some of you wondered what it was. I thought it resembled frozen flames, and y’all saw fire, ice, ... December 10, 2015 Hi teachers and writers! I’m offering something new in January for people who want to write (published, pre-published, no desire to be published–you are all welcome!) but who aren’t getting the writing done that they want to. It’s a low-cost Closed Facebook Group that will ... December 9, 2015 Oh, my goodness. My writers’ group, the Wordsmiths, met yesterday for our holiday gathering. The laughing! The food! The good advice! Hope you are all enjoying some holiday gatherings with your teacher colleagues and/or writing friends, too!
Please, Mr. Panda is a quirky little book! To ... December 8, 2015 OK, I know a beach book and poem isn’t exactly seasonal, but…a five-minute imaginary trip to the beach might be just what you long for, now that we’re knee deep into December!
I used to be in a crit group with author Joanne Linden, and I ... December 7, 2015 Happy Hannukah to everyone celebrating!
This week, I’m going to be sharing poetryactions. Quick poems written in reaction to picture books. I hope you like them!
My house feels a little like The Nut House right now, mostly because of holiday stuff and book stuff. It’s all ... December 3, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
(Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’m reflecting on groups today.
First up, the Poetry Princesses, aka Poetry 7, aka Poetry Sisters. We are Liz Garton Scanlon, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Andi Sibley, Tanita S. Davis, Kelly Fineman, Sara L. Holmes, and me. And ... December 3, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Here’s the key lime pie I shared yesterday from a Lerner author dinner during NCTE. Looks a little odd, but oh my goodness, it was heaven.
This picture makes me think of:
My frequent ... November 26, 2015 This villanelle isn’t about the holiday of Thanksgiving, but it is about how thankful I am for the wild world around me, even when I don’t get to explore that wildness very often. So I’m posting it today and leaving it up for Poetry Friday, ... November 26, 2015 Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving! I figure we have plenty of images of turkeys and cornucopias and all that other good holiday stuff, so I just go with whatever catches my fancy:>) I’m thankful, as ever, for this 15 Words or Less community. You’re an important ... November 19, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I usually share photos I take, but I couldn’t pass by this one that my husband emailed to me.
This picture makes me think of:
Shadows (again!) — I love them
Tiny elves holding a concert ... November 17, 2015 I recently wrote a poem called “2 Kinds of Cats,” comparing a housecat and a tiger. I wrote this poem on assignment, for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and they wanted something that could be used in their magazine for 1st-graders. Here’s the first ... November 12, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
And happy Friday the 13th! No bad luck here today, unless you happen to be a starfish.
Last month, I shared my Sailing Stone poem from J. Patrick Lewis‘ anthology with National Geographic, the Book of Nature Poetry — which just won a ... November 12, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I love trees and their shadows!
This picture makes me think of:
X marks the spot (of what?)
Could you climb a shadow?
Do shadows wish their casters would MOVE more so they could play together?
And, here’s ... November 8, 2015 Happy blogiversary, Irene Latham, and thank you for inviting us to share in your theme of WILD this year!
I live in the suburbs and have lived in the suburbs my whole life. I know it’s easy to trash talk about the suburbs, but, frankly, I’m ... November 5, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
It’s that time again–we Poetry 7 are sharing poems! Last month, we Poetry 7 wrote etherees, which I loved! This month, we tackled ekphrastic poems–all inspired by the same image. Tanita Davis shared this one, which caught our eyes and our imagination right ... November 5, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I took this picture in Edinburgh Castle, I’m pretty sure. The swords and armor felt appropriate after all the cool costumes of Halloween!
This picture makes me think of:
I wonder if knights handed down ... October 29, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I took this picture on an overseas flight a couple of years ago. There’s something about seeing clouds from overhead that makes me feel a lot safer while flying–totally irrational, but I can’t ... October 22, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
If you’re not a regular reader here, welcome! I share poetryactions, or poems written in reaction to picture books (usually) on a fairly regular basis. And I’m sharing one today!
In Mary’s Garden, a lovely picture book ... October 22, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I took this picture in Ireland. I always picture sheep and cow barns as so warm and cozy, but the reality rarely supports that!
This picture makes me think of:
Waiting in line for my ... October 21, 2015
I had read Sandra Markle’s Toad Weather, and I was just in a mood to play with words, so I started jotting. Out came “toads” with “toes,” and “toads” with “roads,” and “herds” with “hurry.” I followed the syllable count of a cinquain here, but ... October 15, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
If you’re not a regular reader here, welcome! I share poetryactions, or poems written in reaction to picture books (usually) on a fairly regular basis. And I’m sharing one today!
One of my favorite things about Claire ... October 15, 2015 Hello, my fun 15 Words or Less community! Today, I’m driving home from a FABULOUS 4 days on the North Shore of Lake Superior. That’s one of my favorite places on earth, and Randy and I have been just hanging out, soaking up fall beauty, ... October 14, 2015
Deborah Freedman’s By Mouse & Frog made me think about the old adage of opposites attract, and how so often kids are indeed friends with their own opposites (haven’t you ever wondered, “What does my kid SEE in that kid?”). This gave me the idea ... October 13, 2015 The phrase “stitching earth to sky with invisible thread” is my favorite part of this absolutely beautiful Helen Frost book, Sweep Up the Sun (follow-up to Step Gently Out, shown below). I took that image, that metaphor of a bird’s flight holding together the earth ... October 12, 2015 Good morning! I’m going to share some poetryactions this week, because it’s been a while! Hope you like them!
Whale Trails, a fun and wonderfully structured book by Lesa Cline-Ransome made me think of the whale-watching trip Randy and I went on in 2010 when we ... October 8, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome to regulars and newbies alike–I’m glad you’re all here. I’m happy to be hosting Poetry Friday today, and I’m extra happy to be sharing a beautiful new anthology edited by J. Patrick Lewis. You probably remember the Book of Animal ... October 8, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Howdy, 15 Words or Less-ers! I took this picture a couple of years ago at a high school. I was walking down the hall, and these hands were overhead! They make me think ... October 1, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! I am at the ITEM conference today chatting with media specialists and instructional technology folks (and seeing some writer friends, too). Hopefully, we will not be squabbling like the moon and sun are in my poems today! Last month, we Poetry 7 ... October 1, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Good morning! I took this picture in Ireland, and though you can’t really tell, this shoe is hanging on a stone wall outside someone’s house. These flowers growing out of a hiking book ... September 24, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I saw an early version of Linda Booth Sweeney’s When the Wind Blows, and it was already a lovely, image-drenched story! It’s super exciting for me to seeit now in published form! Congratulations, Linda. ... September 24, 2015 OK, I think I have the Comment settings figured out so that it’s easier to Comment now. I just thought nobody was coming by!
And, today’s the last day of the 99-cent sale of the Kindle edition of Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading.
Wake up your ... September 22, 2015 Hi, you guys! Since the Kindle edition (you don’t have to have a Kindle to read it, though) of Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading, part of my 30 Painless Classroom Poems series, is on sale for 99 cents today through Thursday, Sep. 24, I’m ... September 21, 2015 Have you guys seen what ELA consultant Carol Varsalona does each season at Beyond LiteracyLink? She puts out a call for photopoems, gathers them all up, and then creates a gallery online of everyone’s photopoems! I know she puts a ton of time into each ... September 17, 2015 Hiya, everyone. If you are a subscriber to the blog, you should have received an email notification about this post. My awesome web designer worked with Wordpress Support yesterday and got everything straightened out. Thanks! And if you’re not a subscriber but you’d like to ... September 17, 2015
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Well, I think I’ve used this photo before, but I honestly can’t recall…and if I did, it was several years ago. So, I’m going to use it! This sculpture called Maman, by Louise ... September 3, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! Last month, we Poetry Sisters wrote classified haiku. This month…found poems! This past month has been chaos for me, as our younger daughter Maddie prepared to move to Scotland for 2-3 years doing social justice work. We’re so proud of her, but ... September 3, 2015
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Here’s one more pic from St. Louis on my ILA trip. This, of course, is the Arch! I had fun zipping to the top of it. Nice to see at least ... August 27, 2015
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Here’s a pic from St. Louis on my ILA trip. St. Louis doesn’t have a stock market, but this cool bull and bear battle each other outside a financial firm (sculpture ... August 20, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I love the whimsy of Oliver Jeffers’ books and the beauty and simplicity of his art. Sigh.
Lost and Found made we wish for a little more whimsy and excitement and surprise in my own life. Really, ... August 20, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Last week, I went with Maddie one day up to Duluth, a harbor town on Lake Superior, to take care of some stuff for her visa. She leaves for 2-3 years in only a ... August 19, 2015
Who could not love Bob Shea’s Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony? In The Totally Secret Secret, you will recognize real kid behavior and the negotiations of friendship. I can’t wait for the next one coming out in 2016. Anyway, I thought about the secrets ... August 17, 2015
Popcorn Astronauts is full of zany and delightful poems about food, and it put me in mind of one of my favorite desserts, bomboloni from Biaggi’s. My sister Patty and I always go get it when she comes up to visit from Florida. And we ... August 13, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Continuing my reliving of this past Father’s Day, we admired the big Eros sculpture outside of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I could swear I featured a photo of this sculpture years ago, with ... August 11, 2015
For Wherever You Go,?I wondered how I would describe my own perfect path. And I wanted to use rhyme, which this book by Pat Zietlow Miller (beautifully illustrated by Eliza Wheeler) does in such a lovely way. I think it would be fun to have ... August 10, 2015
In Yard Sale, a lovely book by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Lauren Castillo, those cheery balloons at the yard sale, contrasted with Callie’s sadness about her family’s move to a smaller home and having to sell most of their belongings, really stuck in my ... August 6, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
Last month, we Poetry Sisters wrote poems in the style of e.e. cummings. Whew! I’m glad that is finished. For July, we decided to do haiku in the vein of classified ads. Two ancient forms–ha!
We were a bit behind this month and didn’t ... August 6, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
On Father’s Day, we also went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the Leonardo daVinci codex exhibit. Amazing! Randy wanted to browse the Mark Mothersbaugh exhibit, too. Not so amazing–well, just not ... July 30, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
On Father’s Day, we went to the Smack Shack in Minneapolis (delicious), and I took this pic there and Waterlogued it. This image makes me think of:
1) summer backyard “bonfires”
2) a heat gun
3) MacBeth’s ... July 23, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
With all the excitement over a lion or other big cat roaming a Milwaukee neighborhood, I thought “My Cat,” by Valerie Worth, would be appropriate for today. It’s from the book Pug & Other Animal Poems ... July 23, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
When my sister Patty visited a few weeks ago, we went to an improv show (I love those!), and the mall had umbrellas all over.
This image makes me think of:
1) Mary Poppins
2) If it ... July 16, 2015 I’m on my way to St. Louis this morning for ILA 2015! Anybody else heading there? Would love to see you–leave a Comment here or Message me on Facebook or DM me on Twitter. Maybe we can meet up! Now… Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what ... July 16, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
The Gordon Lightfoot concert last month was at the beautiful State Theatre in Minneapolis. I always love looking at the architecture and embellishments inside. This (Waterlogued) picture is looking up at the ceiling.
This image ... July 9, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
In June, we Poetry 7, Poetry Sisters, Poetry Princesses (depending on what day you catch us) wrote “poems in the style of…”After much hemming and hawing and debating, we decided to each write a poem inspired by a specific e.e. cummings poem.
e.e. cummings ... July 9, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Randy and I went to see Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot perform a couple of weeks ago. The stage design was very simple, with these long skinny triangles of fabric stretched taut in the background. ... July 2, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I love the ocean and its mysterious creatures. I really enjoyed the text of Mary Cerullo’s Giant Squid, but one of Clyde F.E. Roper’s photos is what inspired this poetryaction.
Alas, I didn’t create a Bookalikes, but ... July 2, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Randy and our older daughter, Annabelle, visited family in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, and Randy sent me this sculpture of Marie Antoinette made entirely of cut paper except for the mannequin. Read ... June 25, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Usually, I post pictures I find beautiful or spooky or engaging. This one just makes me smile. When we were in Dublin, we were signed up for the Irish Dance Party at the Temple ... June 24, 2015 I loved See What a Seal Can Do (Candlewick). It has delightful language, beautiful art, and clear, simple facts. One of the words early in the book inspired this poetryaction full of wordplay.
Check out my Pinterest boards of poetryactions and bookalikes if you’d like to ... June 22, 2015 I don’t usually post or write poems in response to current events, political issues, etc. It’s just not me. But last week, I wanted to write a poem using a random word from a Twitter or Facebook friend. I had decided to write a poem ... June 18, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
OK, I perhaps went a little overboard with Sandra Markle’s Snow School, which I loved! This book was so full of wonderful, vivid action, so my first poetryaction is simply a list of verbs. It’s my ... June 18, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
When I was up in the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota in late April, doing a two-week poetry tour, I visited this 36-foot statue of an iron miner in Chisholm a couple of times. It ... June 17, 2015 In Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise (Sean Taylor), I love the contrast between the dark, majestic language and the silly, everyday tone when Hoot Owl’s hunting methods don’t work. It makes me picture a kid pretending to be a superhero or something and talking all ... June 11, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Dot in ... June 11, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Honestly, nature blows my mind just about every single day.
This image makes me think of:
1) an alien eyeball
2) each little pappus (new word for me) could be a broom or feather duster
3) being tickled
And ... June 10, 2015 Yes, I know it’s almost summer, and therefore not the right season for Bob Raczka’s Santa Clauses. Too bad! I didn’t hear about this wonderful book until halfway through December, and I wish I’d seen it earlier! So I’m sharing this poetryaction way out of ... June 9, 2015 This picture book all about textures made me really think about how things feel. Couple that with the fact that I’ve been doing a mindfulness meditation recently that invites me to really think about how things feel against my body (the stool rung against my ... June 4, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
In May, we wrote odes. Over the top odes, free verse odes, perhaps ridiculous odes. But it was fun! The approaches of my Poetry Sisters (aka Poetry 7, aka Poetry Princesses–and, yes, we’re at work on a crown sonnet again, so the Princess ... May 28, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I loved Patricia MacLachlan’s untraditional biography of Matisse, The Iridescence of Birds. It made me feel like I knew the heart of Matisse, like I knew what made him tick. I have written several long biographies, ... May 28, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I can’t actually remember where I took this picture, even though it was in the past month or so. Oi. But even though it came out blurry, I kind of like it that way.
This ... May 26, 2015 You guys know Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ Ditty of the Month Challenge, right? Where a poet issues a challenge based on a topic or form or writing process? (My challenge was water poems–last year.) This month, Michelle spotlighted fabulous poet Nikki Grimes, who issued a challenge ... May 21, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I spent most of the last week in Florida, visiting family. That’s always an emotional time, so I’m choosing a lighthearted Poetry Friday selection!
Jamie Swenson’s picture book is an explosion of fun sounds and wordplay. I ... May 21, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I went to a Rush concert last week in St. Paul. Wow. I’m only a casual Rush fan (I love their smart lyrics, and I love the challenge of playing drums to Rush songs ... May 19, 2015 I love it when picture books can show a harder side of the real world but in a way that’s still comforting. I wrote this poetryaction from CJ’s point of view.
And in one of those weird convergences, I was suddenly seeing Nanas everywhere (in real ... May 18, 2015 Hello! I’ve finally created an online roundup and a pdf printable roundup of my Poetry Tips for Teachers posts from National Poetry Month. Enjoy!
Online compilation of Laura’s Poetry Tips for Teachers (Reading Poetry Aloud in the Classroom)
PDF version of Laura’s Poetry Tips for Teachers (Reading ... May 14, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
If you’re a regular visitor to the blog (and if you are, thank you:>), you know I love Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s poetry. She was one of the first poets whose work I fell in love with ... May 14, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Hi, everyone! I took this picture a few weeks ago in Grand Marais, MN, a beautiful little town on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I got to walk along the lakeshore ... May 13, 2015 Kids are always told they’re too young or too small for just about everything they want to do. This picture book reassures kids that they are not small…and they are. It depends on how you look at things.
For this poetryaction, I borrowed a line from ... May 12, 2015 Sometimes I like to start a poetryaction by wondering what happened after the last page was turned. Has the main character changed? Are there hints in the book about what might happen in the future?
Check out my Pinterest boards of poetryactions and bookalikes if you’d ... May 11, 2015
Happy Monday! It’s been a while since I’ve shared some poetryactions and bookalikes, so I’m planning to share quite a few in the coming weeks!
I love how Catherine Thimmesh clearly explains how paleoartists study, make inferences, draw analogies?and how they also must come to terms ... May 7, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I hope you had an awesome Poetry Month. I did. It was super busy with lots of visits to schools and libraries. However, I’m way behind on blog reading, and I especially am a bit ... May 7, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Hi, y’all! It’s great to be back after a VERY busy and social Poetry Month! Here’s some commissioned art outside the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. I believe our tour guide said these are ... May 5, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long (even if it was last month) Poetry Tips for Teachers series. This is the last tip, and I thank you guys so much for stopping by to read throughout April and today! Later this month, once I recover ... April 30, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
I’ll have another tip Tuesday in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. For today, I already have two poems I need to share because of other folks’ schedules, so I didn’t want to overwhelm you with even more stuff!
For my first Poetry ... April 30, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #22: Fess up.
If you don’t feel comfortable with poetry (whether it’s the poetry itself or just the dramatic presentation of it), it’s okay to let students know that. In fact, they are often ... April 29, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #21: Focus on sounds.
If a poem features repeated sounds in it, emphasize those sounds as you read it so that kids will pick up on the repetition.
In the poem below, for example, which ... April 28, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #20: Mix it up!
I hear people advise teachers, “Just share poems you love!” I kind of disagree with that. I mean, of course, share the poems you love. But perhaps your poetry taste ... April 27, 2015 First of all, writer friends, I have a guest post up at Angie Karcher’s RhyPiBoMo series. I shared an excerpt from the book Lisa Bullard and I wrote together, Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way. Take a peek if you’re interested!
And teacher friends, welcome to ... April 23, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #18: Let the poet read.
If you’re self-conscious about reading poetry aloud, one way to ease into it is let the poets themselves read! I love the Poetry Speaks to Children anthology ... April 23, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #17: Give a line some space.
One approach to reading poems aloud is to do a slight pause at the end of each line, whether there is punctuation there or not. That’s the identifying ... April 22, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #16: Add sound effects.
Have kids make sound effects appropriate to the poem. Kids love being sound effects experts, and it give pre-readers, especially, a great way to be part of a poem reading ... April 21, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #15: Echo read.
Try echo reading. You read a line, and then the students echo it back to you. This is great for helping students’ fluency, and I’m always amazed at how quickly and ... April 20, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #14: Make it a riddle.
Turn a poem into a riddle. Kids love riddle poems, and they are super fun to both read and write. (I had a blast with riddleku in National Poetry ... April 16, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #13: Turn out the lights!
Turn out the lights to help students focus. When you remove visual input, students are often able to listen more carefully. Fewer distractions. Something unexpected and new. ... April 16, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #12: Use a Prop
Use a simple prop to help share a poem visually. When I share Elaine Magliaro’s “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil,” I hold up–a pencil. And I point ... April 15, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #11: Focus on transition words.
In narrative poems that tell a story, emphasize transition words, like “then,” or “first,” or “next” to help kids follow the chronology and make sense of the series of ... April 14, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #10: Emphasize important words.
Sometimes when you’re sharing a poem, you might be talking about a specific aspect of it, whether that’s the rhyme or a repeated word or something else. I might include ... April 13, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series.
Tip #9: Speed it up.
Speed up a poem! When you’re repeating a poem that’s about a fast topic, speed up your reading. Often, we’ll start out reading the poem slowly, so they get to ... April 9, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m so pleased to be hosting Poetry Friday today, and thank you for dropping in!
First, I’m going to continue my month-long series of Poetry Tips for Teachers.
Tip #8: Connect With the Poem
Help kids connect before reading the poem. Let’s take this poem from ... April 9, 2015 Tip #7: Walk and Stop
Walk around the room as you read, and then STOP moving at the most important, powerful part of the poem. Kids will naturally be following your progress, and when you suddenly stop, they will pay attention to what’s happening.
When reading the ... April 8, 2015 Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. [Addendum: I had a little issue with a disappearing blog post and rewriting it and–well, I’ll spare you the details. I apologize for having the same basic tip two days in a row, ... April 7, 2015 Tip #5: Make a face.
Keep an appropriate expression. Don’t grin during a sad poem or look serious during silly verse. If you were to smile while reading this poem, for instance, your students might be a little disturbed–or think you are!
April 6, 2015 Tip #4: Slow down.
Read slowly. Much more slowly than you would read prose. Poems are dense and compact and a lot to take in!
Here I am reading the poem–as slowly as I can:>)
April 2, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m hanging out with the wild Poetry 7 again! This month we wrote raccontinos–say what? I’d never even heard of them! (Make sure to go to Tricia’s post, where she explains the form a bit.) Anyway, I was in Scotland and Ireland this ... April 2, 2015 Tip #2: Define it!
Is there one particularly difficult word in the poem? If so, define it for kids before you read the poem. That way, not knowing the meaning of the word won’t stop them from comprehending and enjoying the poem.
Before reading the poem draft ... April 1, 2015 Tip #1: Twice Is Nice
When you introduce a poem, read it twice. Poems are dense with language and images, and they often hold way too much info to absorb in a single hearing. Generally, read the poem through one time without any direction to your ... April 1, 2015 Welcome to National Poetry Month and Poetry Tips for Teachers! I’ve met lots of teachers who feel nervous or uncertain about performing poetry for their students. And I’m the first to admit that I’m no professional performer! But I’ve gotten better and lots more comfortable ... March 31, 2015 Thank you to all of you who stopped by during March to celebrate my launch of? A Rock Can Be…, my third and final Can Be… book with Millbrook Press! I had fun looking for rocks to fit your donated words, especially when I was ... March 26, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I have bad wrists, so I use these Perfect Push-Up things during yoga and when I do push-ups. This image makes me think of:
1) my old spirograph (one of my fav toys)
2) being hypnotized
3) ... March 19, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this picture in Scotland when I went in 2008, and I will be going there again soon! This time, though, I’ll pretty much be only in Edinburgh, not out in the highlands ... March 12, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Sigh. I wanted to show you Jack’s trick of sitting nicely with a treat balanced on his nose. I say, “Leave it. Leave it. Leave it. OK!” And when I say OK, he whips ... March 5, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
This month, we Poetry Princesses tackled sestinas. Huh.
Here’s what I wrote in the Google Doc where we shared our drafts. As you can see, I did not feel all lightness and happiness about this month’s project!
I hate long poems. I generally don’t like ... March 5, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I’ve been having glasses issues lately, so I’ve been to the eyeglass store several times. Sigh. I might or might not have a pair I can live with now. This image makes me think ... February 26, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! Usually, when I recommend poetry books–whether it’s to educators, kids, or aspiring poets–I recommend focusing on very current books. But Barbara Juster Esbensen is one of my favorites (see other posts where I’ve shared her work here and here and here), and ... February 26, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
It’s yarn–pretty yarn close-up. This image makes me think of:
1) split ends
2) Santa Claus
3) bird nest
And here’s my?first draft. I thought about how I find random bits of fuzz and fabric on the ground ... February 19, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! I’m back with another why-ku–I’ve shared a few of these pairs over the past week, and it’s fun to look at them and remember just how much fun I had writing them! These are from my latest 30 Painless Classroom Poems book,?Why-ku: ... February 19, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I think this tree was near Niagara Falls…but I’m not sure! Just one of those random pics I’ve had squirreled away for a 15 Words or Less day! OK, what kind of tree is ... February 18, 2015
This wonderful nonfiction picture book by Miranda Paul just came out–don’t miss it! It really made me think about the power of a single person. This book is about a woman who makes a tremendous difference in an environmental way.? I took a single line ... February 17, 2015 Howdy! Today, I’m sharing (late, since I woke up and thought–Ack, did I do a post for this morning?) another pair of why-ku from Why-ku: Poems of Wonder About the World.
A Note from the Poet:
Sometimes you just have to let your weird brain take ... February 16, 2015 I have just finished creating the sixth (and final, for now, at least) book in my 30 Painless Classroom Poems series. Most of you probably already know my collaborator for this one, but if not, I’d like to introduce you to Mary Lee Hahn, who ... February 12, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! It’s been a busy week, and I’ve been under the weather. Sniffle, sneeze. Cough-cough-cough. But I’m pleased to share a pair of why-ku from my latest 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Why-ku: Poems of Wonder About the World. Mary Lee Hahn wrote ... February 12, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I just got a nifty little macro-lens for my iPhone. The other day, I was filling our onion powder spice jar, using a funnel. When I set the funnel down on the stove, tip ... February 11, 2015
This is one of the best biographies I’ve read in a while. I really loved it. And I connected to it personally because my dad worked at NASA for most of his career. I find star stuff fascinating. We watched shuttle launches in person, and ... February 9, 2015
Happy Monday! In making this list poem poetryaction, I realized there’s really nothing like listing things that cheer me up to put me in a good mood:>)
Check out my Pinterest boards of poetryactions and bookalikes if you’d like to see more:>)
February 5, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday!
Well, it’s my 27th wedding anniversary, and I feel like I should be posting something more romantic. But here I am, with a villanelle about rocks, because the first Poetry Friday of each month is my Poetry Seven post. But Randy is my ... February 4, 2015
I often don’t like picture books that teach overt lessons. But this one was lovely, and I wanted to work the main point, the lesson, into my poetryaction.
Check out my Pinterest boards of poetryactions and bookalikes if you’d like to see more:>)
February 3, 2015
I don’t celebrate silliness enough, and I don’t know why. When I do read something silly that is expertly done, I like it. But then it will be many months before I look for more. I tried to borrow Juliette MacIver’s wonderful silly style for ... February 2, 2015
Yuck! Kids know how fun it is to be grossed out! This book shows the foods different young animals like to eat, and they all seem pretty disgusting. Then it ends with a reversal about what those animals think about human food. This made me ... January 29, 2015
I was excited to share on Wednesday about Water Can Be… making it onto the Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended list. And one of the reasons it’s such an honor is because of the OTHER books loved by the award committee. Katherine Applegate’s Ivan: The ... January 29, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I love taking close-up pics with my phone. Just ordered a little macro lens–can’t wait to try it. Maybe I’ll be able to do non-blurry close-ups! This image makes me think of:
1) Easter
2) fairy ... January 26, 2015 Hi teachers! The last poem I’m going to share for now from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems, is the one inspired by my home state, Florida.
Note: Florida Bay is an 850-square-mile estuary at the southern tip ... January 22, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! Here’s another poem from my latest 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems.
Note: The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are usually visible only in the far North. They can be many colors and shapes. Various Indian tribes ... January 22, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I love bells. I really like the big, gongy kind, but pretty much any curved metal makes me happy. This image makes me think of:
1) a jewel
2) the Seven Dwarves (not sure why, but ... January 20, 2015 I’m moving across the country for this poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems. I didn’t know we had rain forests in the U.S. until I wrote a series of ecosystem books for Capstone several years ... January 15, 2015 Happy Poetry Friday! This week, I’m sharing a poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems.
Note: Cape Hatteras is the outermost point of land on the Outer Banks Islands. These flat, sandy islands lie about thirty miles ... January 15, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic while Randy was washing Captain Jack Sparrow, who was just a teensy bit ripe! Maddie usually bathes him, but she’s been away since early September, so… Jack wouldn’t hold still, ... January 8, 2015 Hi, Poetry Friday peeps!
Last week, I shared my triolet, “Rowing to the Future,” the first in a series of monthly poems I’m writing along with my Poetry 7. This week, I thought I’d share the other triolet I wrote.
Broken Yolk
Each dawn spills from a fractured ... January 8, 2015 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I often take fruit to potluck gatherings so that I’ll have something healthy to eat (between cupcakes). I love the patterns of pineapples, both the outside and the inside, when I spiral cut them. ... January 1, 2015 Happy first Poetry Friday of 2015!
I’m excited for a fresh new year. 2014 was not a bad year in most ways, but I just like the feeling of moving forward. Even though the past several years seem to be moving forward all too quickly.
But–in a ... December 30, 2014
The author uses a LOT of alliteration in this book–and I’m a fan of alliteration, but there were so many “s” sounds and words that I tried to avoid them in my poetryaction. Fail. All I really did was swap out “s” for “sh,” I ... December 29, 2014
I don’t usually remember specific plot points of books. Instead, I tend to remember flashes of small moments, images that, if a book is really powerful, come back to mind at seemingly random times. Caminar, which I just read, and Red Midnight, which I read ... December 25, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! Maybe you overindulged yesterday and can relate to this book. I personally have a brickle hangover. And Captain Jack got sick yesterday and guess who was on clean-up duty. Yup, me. Ugh. Anyway…
We’ve all been the kid or sat next to the ... December 25, 2014 Merry Christmas if you celebrate Christmas. And whether you do or don’t, I’m glad you’re here! Our day has turned a little topsy-turvy, and I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stop back in later or not, but I’ll try. I hope you have ... December 24, 2014
They’re back! I loved Zebra and Moose in Z Is for Moose, and now they’re back in another adventure!
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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, ... December 23, 2014
I love books that give me a new perspective, that help me see the bigger picture–and both Big Bug and Me and My Place in Space (an older favorite of mine) do that!
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Poetryaction: After reading a picture book, sometimes I jot down a quick poem ... December 22, 2014 Good morning, my wonderful kidlit community. I feel like we are a beautiful forest, stronger because we grow together. Thank you for being part of my kidlit world:>)
And now, for today’s Kidlit Combos:
I Am Cow, Hear Me Moo! is a wonderful rhyming picture book. So ... December 18, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I’ve been to DC for NCTE and to Florida to visit family in the past month, which makes me feel a little discombobulated. The art in these picture books makes me feel like I’m home and all is right with the world.
Here ... December 18, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Look at the beautiful bracelet Heidi Mordhorst gave me at NCTE. Aren’t totally unexpected gifts just the best. I don’t have the packaging with me as I write this, but it’s an Alex and ... December 17, 2014
The Baby Tree is a funny and clever picture book, but somehow when I wrote my poetryaction, my first draft (and, for these poetryactions, I usually only do one draft, or maybe a quick second one) came out kind of creepy. I felt like a ... December 16, 2014 Hi teachers! Here’s one more poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey. This is the last one I’m sharing–at least for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed them!
Note: Lionesses do most of the hunting for ... December 15, 2014 Hi teachers! Here’s another poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey.
Note: Chimpanzees like to poke anthills and termite mounds with a stick (from an arrowwood plant, not a hickory tree!). Ants run up the ... December 11, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I’m in Florida visiting family for a few days, and I’m a bit out of the loop–but I’m glad you’re here! Here’s another poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey.
Note: In ... December 11, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Saw this display while grocery shopping (OK, it was really just a donut run) earlier this week. This image makes me think of:
1) crabgrass–hahaha!
2) barbed wire
3) coat of armor
And here’s my?first draft. I did ... December 9, 2014 I’m going to share a few poems this week and next from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey. They may be a little too bloodthirsty for some of you, especially in this lovely holiday season. ... December 4, 2014
I shared Flight School before as a Bookalikes for Flat Rabbit, but I ended up doing a poetryaction for it, too:>) One of the things that can make a list poem interesting–more than a simple list, like a grocery list–is a twist. That briefly-flying penguin ... December 4, 2014 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!
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words ... December 3, 2014
I didn’t want to rhyme here, but I did want a bit of a swingy rhythm…
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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, a ... December 1, 2014
Two fun and funny books!
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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, a character, or even just a tiny detail in a picture or ... November 27, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving! I’m very thankful for my online community of teachers, writers, and friends who gather around the cozy campfire we build of words and books and poems.
My husband is having kidney stone surgery today, so ... November 27, 2014 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 ... November 26, 2014 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 ... November 25, 2014 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 ... November 24, 2014
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.)
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Poetryaction: After reading a picture book, sometimes I jot down a quick poem based on something in the book. It could be ... November 20, 2014 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 ... November 20, 2014
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 ... November 18, 2014 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 ... November 17, 2014 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 ... November 13, 2014 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 ... November 13, 2014
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 ... November 12, 2014 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 ... November 11, 2014 Today’s poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Fairy Tale Garage Sale, comes from the Giant.
Note from the Poet:
Sometimes, I just have a gross sense of humor, and that’s what I’m showcasing in this poem. Can you imagine if a vicious giant had ... November 10, 2014 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 ... November 6, 2014 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!
November 6, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic at the Walker Art Center’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden on my birthday. It’s been years since I’ve been there! This image makes me think of:
1) a classic “Once upon a time” ... November 5, 2014
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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, a character, or even just a tiny detail in a picture or a single phrase from ... November 4, 2014
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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, a character, or even just a tiny detail in a picture or a single phrase from ... November 3, 2014 I’ve been around those kids who take over a room with explosive voices and actions, and so I was totally sympathizing with the nervous classmates in Dinosaur vs. School, by Bob Shea.
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I’ve been doing something new. After reading a picture book, sometimes I jot down ... October 30, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Usually, I post my own pics, but it’s almost Halloween, and I like this kinda creepy hand picture. This image makes me think of:
1) a scary funhouse
2) a cross between a demon and a ... October 28, 2014 To say that The Flat Rabbit, by?Bardur Oskarsson, is an odd picture book is an understatement, since it’s about a rabbit that is…roadkill. Ugh. But, somehow, this ends up being a kind of sad, beautiful statement on life and what we do for each other, ... October 23, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I’m sharing another poetryaction today. I sometimes have trouble sleeping. Lately, my back has been aching–I don’t know why. Long car trips to blame? Anyway, I felt bad for Barney Saltzberg’s Chengdu and wrote this cinquain in his honor.
Here I am reading ... October 23, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
After eating a tasty vanilla mini-cupcake the other day, I thought the empty liner looked kind of sad and lonely. This image makes me think of:
1) what do the other cupcakes think when they ... October 22, 2014 My little nonfiction book group is talking about some of Dorothy Hinshaw Patent’s books today, and one I read and loved was Super Sniffers: Dog Detectives on the Job. Very. Cool. Nonfiction. Book.
I decided to do a poetryaction for it, and at first I was ... October 21, 2014 I love the concept of Take Away the A, by Michael Escoffier. It pairs words together, showing what one word becomes if you take a letter out of it. ?
One of the pairs in the book (the “i” pair) turned “stair” into “star.” I especially ... October 20, 2014
Look what I got for my birthday! More on my Little Free Library next week!
And here’s another poetryaction, this one inspired by a beautiful book that Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading raved about, Fall Leaves.
After I read this gorgeous book, I brainstormed ... October 16, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I’m sharing another poetryaction today. In this one, I just was intrigued by the monkey that’s pictured in much of the book, and I went off on a little tangent imagining how much trouble one monkey could make. So this is a ... October 16, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I had an amazing time in Sheboygan for the Children’s Book Festival. Will share a few highlights next week. Meanwhile, here’s a pic I took at Bookworm Gardens, my new favorite place!? This image ... October 14, 2014
I’ve been doing something new. 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, a character, or even just a tiny detail in a picture or ... October 9, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! In person today, I’m sharing poetry and picture books with students at two Sheboygan, WI-area schools–fun! Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting at the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival. If you are going, I hope you’ll find me and say hi!
I’m sharing a riddle-ku today:
This ... October 9, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic I took while walking the dog the other day. This image makes me think of:
1) a cemetery
2) hiding places
3) lying on the floor by a Christmas tree
And here’s my?first draft.
Hidden Worlds
stolen????????? ... October 8, 2014 I already mentioned that the second book in my 30 Painless Classroom Poems series is going to be Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading. You might remember that I shared these poems here during National Poetry Month earlier this year. What was cool as I ... October 2, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic I took when we were in New Orleans in May for the International Reading Association conference. I loved the architecture there. This image makes me think of:
1) a swan at night
2) ... September 25, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic from the bakery. I love frosted cookies! But scarecrows…hmmm. I think I’ve seen too many horror movies/TV shows where a scarecrow comes to life. This image makes me think of:
1) The ... September 18, 2014 Happy Poetry Friday! I don’t often write poems or verses for specific people. Well, I do, occasionally, but I don’t give it to them–I’m too self-conscious to do that. I’ve written poems for/about both my daughters but don’t think I’ve ever shared them. However, inspired ... September 18, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic from a chandelier in our hotel on our recent drum corps trip to NY. This image makes me think of:
1) Bubbles in the sea
2) a super-fancy necklace (hey, anybody remember the ... September 11, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic from our amazing overnight Niagara Falls stop that Randy and I made on our way home from drum corps championships in Rochester, NY. (I shared more pics on my Water ... September 4, 2014 Hi, poetry people! I’m over at Teaching Authors for my Poetry Friday post and my farewell to Teaching Authors. I hope you’ll stop by and read the lovely Lilian Moore poem I’m sharing.
September 4, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this picture while riding somewhere in outstate Minnesota, through farm country. I don’t even know exactly what it is, but I’d love to see it in action! This image makes me think ... August 28, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
When I was walking Captain Jack the other night, the sun shining on these weeds caught my eye. This image makes me think of:
1) a UFO shining down
2) butterflies in chrysalises, waiting to fly
3) ... August 21, 2014
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Randy and I went to the American Idol concert last week, and I took this picture of a lamp in the lobby.?It makes me think of:
1)?butterfly wings
2)’sunrise
3) shuffling a deck of ... August 14, 2014
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a pic I snapped in Vegas last spring. It makes me think of:
1)?a’deck of cards
2)?gila monsters and how their bacteria-laden saliva is what kills their prey
3) standup paddleboarding
And here’s my?first ... August 7, 2014
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a little prop from our?Minnesota Brass show this season, Supernova!?It makes me think of:
1)?a shooting star
2)?a squid
3) New Year’s Eve
And here’s my?first draft:
Comet
I arc above
Stars applaud
my sparkling wake of
dust and ... July 31, 2014
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Our drum corps, Minnesota Brass, rehearsed at a middle school over the weekend, and this interesting sculpture was hanging in the corner. It makes me think of:
1)?a dandelion
2)?Freddy Krueger (there’s a ... July 24, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a picture I took during my nature-poetry-writing workshop in Bemidji, MN, earlier this summer.?This image makes me think of:
1)?cauliflower
2)?Alice in Wonderland
3) s’mores!
And here’s my?first draft:
When I Eat S’mores, I Taste…?
smoky ghost stories,
crisp Superior ... July 17, 2014
Today’s poem comes from the fabulous Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.
This latest offering in their Poetry Friday Anthology series is chock-full of poems exploring everything from physics to scientific methods to nature to machines to scientists. There’s ... July 17, 2014
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a forgotten photo I found on my phone . This is a sculpture in an art gallery in one of the skyways in downtown Minneapolis.?This image makes me think of:
1)?the Jetsons
2)?how would you ... July 10, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Happy Thursday, and if you’re visiting as a result of Mary Lee Hahn’s kind shoutout at nErDcamp MI, welcome! We love having new people drop by and give this a try–or use it with ... July 3, 2014 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Surprising nature images are my favorite poetry prompt, but?everyday stuff works, too! Here’s?our upstairs hall light.?The image makes me think of:
1)?an invisible creature watching (one eye is the light; the other eye is the ... June 26, 2014
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
OK, I’m aware I have done too many tree pictures for 15 Words or Less, and I’ve sworn off them. But…but I had to share this! I went for a walk ... June 19, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I had such a great time at the Bemidji Library Book Festival! I led a two-hour nature-poetry writing workshop and did a storytime presentation. At the nature-poetry session, we took yarn circles ... June 12, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Look at what Patty,?my sister visiting from Fla., spotted as we walked Captain Jack (who totally ignored it). Here’s what this turtle makes me think of:
1)?moving boxes (which they don’t have to ... June 5, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this picture at drum corps rehearsal last week. The little medians inside a parking lot had this tall grass that made it look like a miniature meadow!
1)?ocean waves (of course)
2)?tiny ... May 29, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here are some Velcro?balls we’re throwing at targets all this week at a Young Authors Conference. I’m sharing the poetry activity here next week, so if you’re curious, stay tuned. Meanwhile, here ... May 28, 2014 I had a lovely surprise when the presenters at an IRA session performed one of my poems! The session was The Power of Poetry to Provide Teachable Moments, and the presenters had no idea I was in the audience (until my friend Janet Fagal told ... May 22, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I just realized I still had this?pic from Vegas. It is just a little thingamajig that was on the floor of the High Roller observation wheel we rode in. I was intrigued ... May 15, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
One last pic from Vegas! Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1)?the evil trees in various tales, like Wizard of Oz
2)?bonsai trees
3) blown glass–I love individual pieces, but when I ... May 12, 2014 National Poetry Month was so fun! I thought it might be helpful if I posted one page with links to all the riddle-ku, so that if you’re new to them entirely or if you want to return here and use them again, you can use ... May 8, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s another pic from my trip to Las Vegas recently. Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1)?SCUBA diving and the bubbles that float up
2)?blowing bubbles at a wedding
3) tiny fish ... May 1, 2014 ?
Photo: Laura Salas
National Poetry Month is over, and I had so much fun with riddle-ku! Thank you for all of you who stopped by to read, comment, or share these poems with kids. I really appreciate it!
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or ... April 30, 2014
THANK YOU for joining me for National Poetry Month, and I hope you’ve had fun with my riddle-ku! I’d love to hear your feedback, and I’d be thrilled to hear about or see how you used these little poems in your classroom this month. Please ... April 29, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
My tail whisks my nose
when I lie round as a dime
I wish you were home
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas (model: Captain Jack Sparrow:>)
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
DOG
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire ... April 28, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
??
?
?
I’m smarter than you
My answers fly like jet planes
But I feel?nothing
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
COMPUTER
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for ... April 27, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I dive into milk
It’s my start-the-day routine:
Swimming with my friends
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
CEREAL
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using ... April 26, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
??
?
?
I’m the mountain’s crumb
hard and old, jagged or smooth
Broken???????? Beautiful
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
ROCK
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using ... April 25, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
?
Big drum, wooden, waxed
I wait for your feet to beat
a loud romping song
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
?
.aLL
Photos by?Randy Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
GYMNASIUM
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for ... April 24, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
Oh, no! Don’t shoot me!
I like to gather, not hurt?
pigtails, papers?please?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
?
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
RUBBER BAND
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions ... April 23, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
??
?
I feel you watch me,
wanting my hands to point to
lunchtime or recess
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
CLOCK
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions ... April 22, 2014
Educators, if you’re on Twitter, tonight I’ll be part of the #SharpSchu Book Club (along with Kate Messner!). Would love to answer your questions about LEAF CAN BE… and WATER CAN BE…. Click here for all the details! Hope to see you there! Now…back to ... April 21, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
??
?
When I’m up, light rules
When I’m down, darkness descends
My moods switch often
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
LIGHT SWITCH
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get ... April 20, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
??
I hold cold inside
Unfold me out, make a spout
I’m a white mustache
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
MILK CARTON
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get ... April 19, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
Without me, a door
is an unmoving, flat wall
I’m a simple twist
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
DOOR KNOB
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions ... April 18, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
I don’t see faces
Only back pockets and legs
introduce themselves
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
[Addendum: Revision inspired by Michelle’s joke in the Comments:
?
We dance cheek to cheek,
but I never see your face.
You rest on my legs.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved]
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos ... April 17, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
Suck up! Make me a
mini milk vacuum cleaner
Sip soda?Slurp?Burp!
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
?
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
STRAW
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these ... April 16, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
My yellow explodes
in the middle of summer
like daytime fireworks
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
FLOWER
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these ... April 15, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
I grow when sun’s low,
stretching silently away
I am ground’s darkness
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
SHADOW
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for ... April 14, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
I’m a vast jungle
to ladybugs and earthworms?
a backyard carpet
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
GRASS
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these ... April 13, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
?
I connect hand to dog
in an endless tug of war
I’m always well s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
LEASH
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get ... April 12, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
?
I’m a sleep launchpad
Your dreams, like rockets, blast off
while I cushion you
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
PILLOW
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions ... April 11, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
My halves–soft and rough?
????????? hold hands with their sticky grip
I will not let go
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
?
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
VELCRO
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to ... April 10, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
Alone, I drift down
With friends, I lift, high and swift
I make robins fly
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.aLL
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
FEATHER
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get ... April 9, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I chase dirt all day
My bristles race trash to the
dustpan finish line
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.PhotosPPhPho
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
BROOM
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions ... April 8, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I’m over your head
and under your jumping heels
We dance together
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.PhotosPPhPho
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
JUMP ROPE
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for ... April 7, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I’m a secret wand
I wave over blank paper,
make words?worlds?magic!
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.PhotosPPhPho
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
PENCIL
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these ... April 6, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I sail the sky-sea
Fluffy ship blowing above
My anchor is rain?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.PhotosPPhPho
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
CLOUD
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using ... April 5, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I wave like a flag
that calls in a green-breeze voice:
?Summer is coming!?
?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
LEAF
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku ... April 4, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I am wrapped-up sun
Boxed inside stone and metal
Tied with flame ribbons
?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
FIREPLACE
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku with ... April 3, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
This merry-go-round
spins upside down: I’m singing
the room full of breeze
?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
.
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
CEILING FAN
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku with ... April 2, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I’m a pencil crop
writing love notes on the ground–
erasing the sky
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
FOREST
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku with ... April 1, 2014
Riddle-Ku of the Day
I’m a metal snake
whose flickering silver tongue
bites into your lunch
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
HINT 1:
HINT 2:
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
FORK
[Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku with your ... March 27, 2014 ?
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I’ve been taking pictures lately for my National Poetry Month Riddle-ku feature, and here’s one of my rejects!?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1) a tree in winter
2) an x-ray ... March 20, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
For Christmas, we gave our nephew a glow in the dark ant farm, and the ants finally arrived last month during a “warm spell” (aka above freezing). Nifty!?Here are?3 things this photo ... March 13, 2014
Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong have done it again! This time, their Poetry Friday Anthology is focused on science, and there’s a K-5 edition as well as individual grade-level student editions–illustrated! These books are fantastic, and I’m proud to have a number of poems in ... March 13, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
On our plane ride home from Florida Sunday, I was behind this girl wearing her doll in a backpack. I was half amazed and half horrified. How cool! How creepy!?Here are?3 things ... March 12, 2014 I’m excited about April, National Poetry Month! I can’t remember if I’ve ever done an original poem a day for April, but that’s what I’m going to do this time. I’m going to be sharing some riddle haiku–or riddle-ku. I know. Riddle-kulous, right? Anyway, I ... March 6, 2014 view cop(R(.
Today, I’m appearing in my first post at TeachingAuthors.com, where I’ll be a temporary member-whee! My post is about writing rituals, and I mention Roald Dahl over there, so I thought I’d share a Dahl poem here. As with his other writing forms, Dahl ... March 6, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
When Randy and I went up to the North Shore (of Lake Superior, in Minnesota) last month, this is one of the oversized side-of-the-road things we saw. There was also a Voyageur ... February 27, 2014 view cop(R(. I’m sharing an unpublished poem today, one I originally wrote as part of the collection that became BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion, 2011).? I hope you like it!
Ocean Tales
Each book is a drop in an ocean of choices, A glimpse of a ... February 27, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
This was?a cool scene during a color guard winter show recently.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1)? The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (anyone remember that old movie?)
2)? a butterfly?eager ... February 20, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
This was part of some wall art at The Smack Shack in Minneapolis, made, according to the server, by making molds of real lobsters. Ick.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think ... February 13, 2014
Photo: Randy Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this picture a few days ago on the North Shore of Lake Superior. I was gathering lots?of images of water in various forms to use in materials related to my ... February 6, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic downtown (Minneapolis) because I liked the way the mirrors made it look like there were bowls holding these decorative balls, when there were really only half-bowls. Here are?3 ... January 30, 2014 I’ve got a poem up as poem of the day?at PoetryMinute.org, the site started by U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt that features a children’s poem every day. Today, starting at 7 a.m. and for 24 hours, my poem “Blush” from Stampede! Poems to Celebrate ... January 30, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic while walking Captain Jack Sparrow by the lake. I love these tracks leading off into the distance.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1)?tightrope walker
2)?the Yellow Brick ... January 23, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic inside the Luxor hotel in Vegas last year. When I’m looking for interesting pictures, I often look up. We tend to ignore what’s overhead most of the time. ... January 16, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This is a closeup pic, and?here are 3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?Shampoo commercial 2)?Rope swing 3) Hangman’s noose And here’s my first draft. I had fun ... January 9, 2014
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Hi, everyone–sorry if you got an incorrect email of this post yesterday (and it was probably still last week’s post, anyway). I’m switching over servers, and it’s a big honking mess! Anyway. ... January 3, 2014 I wasn’t planning to post today, but Betsy’s Michigan poems inspired me when I stopped by to check out the round-up. So for my daily poem this morning, I wrote Song of the Ice Storm.
Song of the Ice Storm
winter storm swoops in
on silent wings,
but it ... January 2, 2014 ??
?
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Happy New Year!
I mentioned earlier this week that I’ll be making some pretty major changes to the blog this year, but 15 Words or Less will not be going anywhere:>) I ... December 19, 2013 Happy Poetry Friday!
First, please check out my online holiday card, featuring another adorable snowman, for all of you, my online friends! Ok, thanks:>) Now, I wrote this poem back in 2007, inspired by Mike Wohnoutka’s art for Grace Lin’s Robert’s Snow auction. I had fun writing ... December 19, 2013 ??
?Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I hope you saw my online card earlier this week–I consider this 15 Words or Less community one of my very favorite things about my online life! Here are 3 things ... December 5, 2013 ??
?Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here).
Snow is falling hard and fast right now, so maybe by next week, I’ll have a gorgeous snowy image. But for today, it’s a picture from my physical therapy place!
3 things this ... November 28, 2013 ??
?Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Happy Thanksgiving! Well, I was trying to figure out what picture to post on Thanksgiving. I wanted it to be something I’m thankful for, but didn’t think you guys would be ... November 21, 2013
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this photo makes me think of:
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Elmo escaping Sesame Street
A kid in time-out having to watch a fun class party go on without him
And here’s my first ... November 14, 2013 ??
?Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I missed you guys! Glad to be back this week! Three things this photo makes me think of:
1) Rockets2) Umbrellas3) Post-hurricane destruction
And here’s my first draft!
Waterproof? Yes. Windproof? No.
Umbrella is batteredUmbrella ... November 7, 2013 ??
Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this photo makes me think of:
1) Medusa2) Mermaid castle3) Duck feet
And here’s my first draft!
Floor Plans
Beaver architectpulls soggy floor plansfrom fur coveralls,gnaws thoughtfullyon a pine pencil
–Laura Purdie Salas, all ... October 31, 2013 ??
Photo: Randy Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Happy Halloween! Part of my birthday present from Randy was going to see the ballet Giselle. I’ve never seen anything but The Nutcracker (yawn). This was so cool! And, this photo ... October 24, 2013 This week, I had mice on the brain. I recently shared Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s wonderful “Winter Home,” from Lee Bennett Hopkins’ Sharing the Seasons, with a group of librarians. And I read one of my favorite Billy Collins poems, “The Country,” which is hysterical. So ... October 24, 2013 ??
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) Bacteria in a petri dish
2) Fishing nets full of jellyfish
3) Pods. Pods with monsters in them
And here’s my first draft!
Fishing Net
Strainer of the ... October 17, 2013 Last week, I shared a sad and serious pantoum I wrote?as part of?the Poetry 7’s latest shenanigans. This week, I’m sharing a slightly (ha!) more lighthearted pantoum.
Otter’s Winter Song
The frigid air sings–
time to tumble and dive!
I’ve got better things
to do than survive.
Time to tumble and ... October 17, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) The Wizard of Oz
2) Calla lilies
3) Doing India ink calligraphy with my big sister
And here’s my first draft!
Weekend Visit Home from College
She brought ... October 10, 2013 Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m making this post live Thursday evening for all you early-birds. Please put your links in Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post. And also click on Mr. Linky to see and visit all of the other Poetry Friday posts. I am ... October 10, 2013 ?
??
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) Mermaid family reunion2) Sculptor who wants his statue to live3) Giant who skips boulders across a lake
And here’s my first draft!
On the Way ... October 3, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) Cruise
2) Pet rocks
3) Traction
And here’s my first draft!
What My Pet Rock Can’t Do
Mom: Bark. Pee. Bite.
Me: Wag. Beg. Love.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights ... September 26, 2013 ?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) Kindergarten2) Pelican pouch3) Baby bird with its beak gaping
And here’s my first draft!
Hunger
Body small as your palmBeak gaping like Grand CanyonMade of emptiness ... September 13, 2013
Photo: NASA
I’ve missed you guys! It feels so good to be back for Poetry Friday here at my new blog! I’m sharing a quick first draft I just wrote upon reading articles about Voyager One, which scientists say has left our solar system and will ... September 12, 2013 ?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Three things this makes me think of:
1) Sand castles2) Death mask3) Optical illusions
And here’s my poem first draft:
Dream MonsterEmpty eyes,sunken foreheadknock at 2 a.m.,coffin holdingiron screams
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights ... September 5, 2013 ?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
Welcome to my new blog! I’m still decorating and organizing, but I hope to start posting again next week!
Here’s what this picture makes me think of:
1) Joysticks2) Razor stubble3) Buttons
And ... August 8, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!
I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>)
Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:
1)?Bumper ... August 1, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>)
Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:
1)?The incredibly strong ... July 25, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I’m on hiatus, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>)
Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:
1)?A log cabin
2) The ball pit at McDonald’s ... July 18, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>)
Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:
1)?A cloud that ... July 11, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I was downtown (Minneapolis) for a food truck lunch with Randy recently, and these window cleaners were hard at work. Here’s what they made me think of:
1)?Those circular swing rides at ... July 4, 2013 Check out the cool printable that the Poetry Friday Anthology folks created for my cinquain poem, “Fire!” As we?already know, and as sad national news is proving more than ever this week, firefighters are truly heroes who risk their lives for our safety. (This printable ... July 4, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Happy 4th of July! I don’t know if anyone will stop by today, but I’m posting just in case:>)
Isn’t this pretty??Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:
1)?A blue-jay feather
2) A snow wake ... June 20, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I did a young authors conference in Winona, MN, recently, and snapped this pic there. Here’s what it makes me think of.
1)?You are what you eat
2) A swan with feathers made ... June 13, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I was driving home from a school visit in outstate Minnesota when this hay-filled truck passed by. Took a few pix without looking, and this one came out ok.?Here’s what?this picture?makes ... June 6, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Oh, my funny brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When we went to their house for games shortly after Easter, they stashed this Easter decoration in the tub so that I almost had a ... May 30, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I love this sculpture?inside a building in downtown Minneapolis. I don’t usually like art of people, but abstractions like this are fun. It makes me think of:
1) Decorated skulls and bones ... May 23, 2013 I’m trying something new today, inspired by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s post at Author Amok during Laura Shovan’s Techno-Verse celebration.?I recorded a poem starter audio using SoundCloud, which I’d never tried before. Thanks, Amy and Laura, for showing me this tool. It took me a while ... May 23, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Last week’s photo: That was a set of plastic Easter eggs, opened, and placed on top of my open laptop. We recently went to a Gordon Lightfoot concert at the State ... May 16, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I think you’ll know right away what this is, but I’m not going to say in case anyone doesn’t know. It’s fun to write poems inspired by an ambiguous image! Here’s ... May 9, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this pic at a winterguard show (the activity color guards’do over the winter, performing with flags, rifles, sabers, and other props) a few weeks ago. Here’s what it makes ... March 28, 2013 1) Monday will begin National Poetry Month, and there will be all sorts on kidlitosphere poetry fun! I hope to feature a Poem Starter daily, with poems by lots of my favorite poets!
.
.2222)?? 2) This week, my poem is “Shades of Red,” from my book? ... March 28, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a shot from outside The Luxor in Las Vegas, from my NCTE trip. This sphinx makes me think of:
1) Riddles, of course!
2) Having a root canal (something about that ... March 21, 2013 1) If you’re a published poet with an in-print children’s poetry collection available in a printed version, and you’re interested in having a poem used in my Poem Starter series, please see my post from Tuesday!
.
2) March Madness Poetry continues, and today, voting is live ... March 21, 2013 It’s March Madness Poetry time and the Sweet Sixteen poem matchups should be live soon. Visit, read, and vote:>)?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I took this picture of a quirky-looking fruit, though I can’t remember where ... March 14, 2013 There’s a crazy poetry battle going on, and it’s March Madness Poetry, created by Ed DeCaria! I had to use the word “fickle” in my poem, and I decided to write about the shape-shifting pufferfish (aka blowfish). I’m battling it out in Round One right ... March 14, 2013 It’s March Madness Poetry time! Voting is now live on Round 1 Poems. My matchup is here–my pufferfish goes up against Walt Disney. I hope you’ll go check both poems out and vote for your favorite…and then browse through all the other match-ups, too!
Photo: Screen ... March 7, 2013 This week, my poem is “Ordinary,” a cinquain from my book?Do Buses Eat Kids? Poems About School?(Capstone, 2008).
.
Ordinary
Pencil
Black tube hiding
Inside yellow wrapping
Leaves grey trail of letters, stories,
Magic
–by Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Teachers, if you’re looking ... March 7, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a ginormous snowman I saw on my way home from a school visit a few weeks ago. It was huge–10-15 feet tall!?It makes me think of:
1)?What would a snowman carry ... February 28, 2013 I’m trying something new–poem starters!
I’ve been trying to figure out what I can offer of value to teachers and young writers, and poem starters seems to be something lots of them are looking for. So I’m going to give it a try. I’ll be trying ... February 28, 2013 Poetry Lovers, I need your help with two things!
I’m looking for a children’s poem about perseverance, and I need it by the end of today. Ack! It doesn’t need to actually be about it, but it has to demonstrate it. I have to read ... February 21, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Aren’t tickets fun? They mean something is going to happen!?Here’s what this image?makes me think of:
1)?Magic show
2)?Bag filled with memories
3) The old tickets Disney World had when I was growing up ... February 14, 2013 Well, my head is still spinning from the lovely news yesterday that BookSpeak has been given the Cybils award for Poetry! I had a specific book in mind that I thought would surely win it. When I got up at 5:30 and turned on my ... February 14, 2013 Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. BookSpeak has been given the Cybils award for Poetry! I am so honored that my peeps–poetry book-lovers of the kidlitosphere–chose BookSpeak for this, especially when all the?Finalists are such fantastic collections/ anthologies that I love. (And I’m super thrilled that Wonder, which I just ... February 7, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a seedhead from fall. I love how odd and prickly they look!?Here’s what this image?makes me think of:
1)?Brillo pad
2) Spiderweb
3) Hair going grey
And here’s my poem first draft:
Cinderella’s Beauty?
Cracked skin
red, ... January 31, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s the atrium ceiling from the cruise ship we were on in late December. I love glass ceilings! Here are a few things this one makes me think of.
1)?The carapace of ... January 30, 2013 I’m excited to have a poem in Cricket Magazine.It’s one I wrote a number of years ago, back when we had old double-paned windows with bad seals. Every winter, the hot air from the house would meet the cold air outside and, between the two ... January 24, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here are the roots of a cool tree in the Bahamas–I think this was at a beach in Freeport. Here’s what this image?makes me think of:
1)?Knotted shoelaces
2) Mermaid hair
3) Medusa
And here’s ... January 17, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s what this image?makes me think of:
1)?Glasses of juice
2) Sunset
3) Tropical Lifesavers
And here’s my poem first draft:
Sunrise
She squeezed Sun,
caught each drop in
morning’s clear glass…
served the Eastern sky.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights ... January 16, 2013 I don’t think I ever had a chance to share this last fall. The NCTE‘s Journal of Children’s Literature featured one of my poems!
I was so excited that they wanted to share a poem from BookSpeak!
Part of what made it even more pleasing was that ... January 10, 2013 Just updated my What’s New page for January. If you’re interested in what I’m excited about and what I’m not excited about in my writing life this month, feel free to drop by! And share what’s on your excited/not excited list in your comment:>)
Photo: Laura ... January 7, 2013 I miss taking part in poetry challenges and games, and I’m going to try to do better in 2013. At David Harrison’s blog, J. Pat Lewis has a Careerhymes challenge up. Go read the hysterical examples and try your own! Here’s mine:
Why You Can Never ... January 3, 2013 I hope you had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate it, and that everybody had a terrific New Year’s. I am sick with the flu and wasn’t planning to post today. But, I’m so excited that BookSpeak has made the shortlist for the CYBILS Poetry ... January 3, 2013
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
The lion in the MGM lobby at NCTE in Vegas was in a boxing ring to promote some upcoming big boxing match. It was an arresting image, this gold lion in ... December 20, 2012 I’m sharing a poem today on the theme of light. Recent news events have been so sad and scary. I sometimes feel guilty that I don’t follow them more closely, but I find my best way to combat them, to try to change the world, ... October 11, 2012
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
This week’s image makes me think of:
1)?Scuba diving
2) Bat wings
3) Wading in Lake Superior and feeling the sharp rocks right through my water shoes
And here’s my poem first draft:
My Feet
need gentle ... September 7, 2012 Last Friday, I shared a poem I wrote about Rachel Carson. That poem appeared in Cricket Magazine. Today, I’m sharing the second Rachel Carson poem I wrote (this is when I was working on poems for Dare to Dream). I always knew that a time ... August 31, 2012 While working on poems to submit for Dare to Dream, the fantastic new anthology edited by Jill Corcoran, I wrote two poems about environmental pioneer Rachel Carson. Jill chose a different poem, but I’m excited to say that both my Carson poems will be shared ... June 15, 2012 I was sharing one of my favorite songs, “100 Years,” by Five for Fighting (John Ondrasik) with a friend this morning. I’ve shared those lyrics here before, so I’m going to share another Ondrasik song instead.
World
Got a package full of wishes
A time machine, a magic ... May 4, 2012 The Poetry Sisters and I did a quick collaboration a couple of weeks ago. I am out the door in three minutes, so I’ll just share the verse. To see who’s who and read a bit of the background, please visit Andi Sibley and show ... April 30, 2012 mittens and sunscreen
vacation mates in coach class–
leaving Chicago
Whew! Day 30–I did it! Happy Poetry Month!
April 29, 2012 retrievers frolic–
make friends with Lake Michigan,
forgive its coldness?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
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I had a wonderful poetry event at the Evanston Public Library today celebrating the winning poets of the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Award. It was just so cool to see a room full ... April 28, 2012 Quarters rub shoulders.
Plastic ice cream bucket swings
in homeless man’s hand.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
April 27, 2012 Gutter ball dinner
Potato chips weigh heavy–
Greasy bowling ball
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Not a thing of beauty, is it? Dinner last night did not turn out well, and I ended up eating some noodles and a bunch of potato chips. Ugh. Now my stomach is ... April 25, 2012 each darkling drop–
even distant curling current–
fuels ocean’s tides?
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
There is so much poetry deliciousness going on right now, and I’m missing most of it. That makes me partly sad, but it also gives me such a feeling of abundance, that there’s ... April 24, 2012 black ink jumps off page
somersaults, bounces, leaps high–
royalty statement!
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
I just got my April royalty statement, and attached was the first royalty check I’ve ever gotten. It’s not a big check, mind you. A week of working at Target would pay ... April 23, 2012 papery waves roll,
dip and swell on forest floor–
curling storms of birch
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
I love birch trees, and the North Shore, where we spent the weekend, is full of them. Birch bark on the ground inspired this haiku.
Also, I have a guest post ... April 22, 2012 fence-top weathervanes
flash metallic sunbeams–
line dance to breeze-beat
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Randy and I went up to the North Shore (of Lake Superior) this weekend, and it was wonderful! A lot of people sell arts, crafts, homemade sausages/jerkies, etc. One house’s post-and-rail fence was topped ... April 21, 2012 Birch bark learns to curl,
yearns to sparkle like fireworks–
crackles in campfire
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
April 20, 2012 sun climbs all morning
perches at sky-top: burns, sweats–
declines rest of day
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Happy Poetry Friday!
Two pieces of news:
1) I’m on Your Daily Poem today! Do you know YourDailyPoem.com? I love it, and I was so thrilled when they took my poem “Unwrapped.”? ... April 19, 2012 Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Photo by Paolo Costa Baldi. License: GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0
I love this panoramic view of the Colosseum. It makes me think of:
1.?Gladiators, of course
2. Lions
3. The lens of a microscope
Here’s my poem first draft, in haiku ... April 18, 2012 on riser’s top row
first-grader flashes?white smile
sun lights up the gym
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
—————————————————-
That one is for my beautiful niece, Lily, whose first-grade music show last night was fantastic!
Poem in Your Pocket Day is next Thursday, April 26. What poem will you be carrying ... April 17, 2012 honeysuckle buckles,
tucks green shoots and?fuschia buds?
through warm, weathered fence
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
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I’m visiting Irene Latham’s blog today (she of the progressive poem brilliance) and talking about metaphor in poetry, in 2 of my BookSpeak! poems in particular. I hope you’ll stop by and ... April 16, 2012 pink, red, blue daisies
dance and sway to draw your eyes–
dying for drama
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Plants in their natural state are always gorgeous, but I do love the totally fake and cheerful colors of dyed daisies! So, that’s where I got my haiku from ... April 15, 2012 atop your shoulders,
taller than I hoped to be,
I see other worlds
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
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Cue sappy poem music. But BookSpeak! won the Minnesota Book Award (Children’s Literature category) last night, and I’m in a floaty/sappy mood today! And in that banquet hall full of ... April 14, 2012 crumpled index cards
abandoned confetti scraps
after the awards
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
—————————————————-
I’m jotting a couple of notes on an index card for the Minnesota Book Awards banquet. I don’t expect BookSpeak! to win, but when Stampede was a Finalist, I panicked when they started the ... April 13, 2012 crab dances on beach
tickling sandy ivories
???? playing summer’s song
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Happy Poetry Friday! This haiku was inspired by a crab running across the beach on Survivor this week. Those tiny pointy legs that run so lightly across the sand always surprise ... April 11, 2012 (for J.P.)
Her hand winds through air.
Her mind stretches toward sun–
Reaching for meaning.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
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Great news! BookSpeak! Poems About Books is on the Bank Street’s Best Books of 2012, Ages Five to Nine. Woohoo! At least, that’s what I’ve been told. I can’t ... April 10, 2012 Crisp brown stalks project,
Tall tombstones?among new green–
Daylily graveyard
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
?
April 9, 2012 Beagle’s Easter treat:
forbidden Gobstoppers.
Dread resurrection.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
————————————————————
One of my goals for 2012 was to put some videos online. Videos of me reading poems.?A few clips from school visits or public events. Bits with me and Lisa Bullard answering some writers’ questions on ... April 8, 2012 storm rises from ground…
sand dispenses dust to sky…
clouds tan leather sun
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
————————————————————
I almost wrote today’s haiku about our beagle getting into the Easter candy, but then I read this great interview with David Harrison about his?new collection, Cowboys. It’s at Sylvia ... April 7, 2012 new pen ink rushes
like snowmelt from spring mountains–
quenching winter’s dry throat
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
April 5, 2012 she waves her red stick–
goalie in matador pads–
welcomes charging bull
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Happy Poetry Friday! My daughter Maddie had lacrosse tryouts recently, and she’s going to be goalie for the varsity team. Yikes. It’s nerve-wracking watching her defend the goal–but she loves ... April 5, 2012 I interrupt this regularly scheduled 15 Words or Less post to direct you to David Harrison’s blog, where he is featuring BookSpeak today–thank you, David!
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Sorry for the delay, you earlybirds–computer issues this morning!
Photo: Dietrich ... April 4, 2012 regal lion suns,
soaks spring from weathered veldt:
beagle on the deck
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
I love watching our beagle, Captain Jack Sparrow, sun on the deck right outside the window where I’m writing. He just soaks up the sun out of the planks of ... April 3, 2012 eyes–dry, sandy beach
packed down by day’s heavy feet–
welcome high tide’s sweep
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
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I know more and more poets (including me) are at least thinking about e-publishing as print publishers buy fewer and fewer poetry collections and anthologies. Terrific poet David L. ... April 2, 2012 leafy whiskers sprout
on beech’s smooth, pale bark chin–
no shaving ’til fall
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
I’m also at Laura Shovan’s Author Amok blog today with a villanelle and a post about my poetry-writing rituals. Hope you’ll drop by and say hi!
April 1, 2012 pond wears white swan gown
velvet folds, feathers flutter–
dragonfly pin shines
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
April is always a busy month for me, and this year that’s truer than ever. But I hate to see National Poetry Month just slide by without doing something ... February 6, 2012 My husband Randy and I have been married 24 years today, which is pretty hard for me to believe!
I am not good at love poems to people (somehow it’s much easier to write a love poem to a cranberry bush or a snowman or a ... December 28, 2011 In a few days, the Cybils finalists will be announced, and I’ll have six weeks to talk poetry books with my delightful co-judges! I’m excited to learn which books the first-round judges selected.
Meanwhile, it was fun to have BookSpeak! Poems About Books named as a ... November 4, 2011 Welcome to Poetry Friday! This is my first time hosting here at my new (and still being decorated) bloghome on Wordpress, and I’m happy you’re here!
Here’s a poem I wrote earlier this year. It’s part of a batch of seashell poems I wrote to submit ... October 25, 2011 Today is the pub date of my second poetry collection with Clarion!
Happy Birthday, BookSpeak!
In BookSpeak!, 21 wild, wacky, and winsome poems showcase the magic on a single bookshelf. Characters plead for sequels, book jackets strut their stuff, and a raucous party starts when the lights go ... September 21, 2011 I wanted to play in The Miss Rumphius Effect poetry stretch this week, which was about scale and magnitude. My dog, Captain Jack Sparrow, was sick last night, and it made me go into worrying mode. Here’s a poem that swam around my head as ... September 14, 2011 I've been working on a fiction shared reader of fewer than 150 words. It has to be a journey, use a certain phonetic sound throughout, rhyme, and include the basic shapes. Whew! What a puzzle to work all that in. I turned in a draft ... July 1, 2011 Happy Poetry Friday! Last week, I shared “Get Smart With the Periodic Table,” which recently appeared in KNOW Magazine, a Canadian science magazine for kids. The theme for the issue was the elements, and here’s the other poem I had included in that issue.
Golden Possibilities
Labeled Au ... June 24, 2011 Happy Poetry Friday! I thought I’d share my light verse poem that recently appeared in KNOW Magazine, which is a Canadian science magazine for kids. The theme for the issue was the elements, and I had fun poring over the periodic table for the first time ... April 25, 2011 Friday, I posted my poem "After the Storm" from PoetryTagTime, the fun, inexpensive (99 cents!), teacher-friendly e-anthology of the 30 poems from Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry Tag feature for National Poetry Month.
Yesterday, at the PoetryTagTime Tips blog, Sylvia posted some great teaching tips for teachers to use with my acrostic poem, ... April 22, 2011 Roger Sutton recently posted about Poetry Tag Time, the e-anthology brilliantly created by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong to try to make poetry more accessible and get it into more classrooms. 30 fun and fantastic kids’ poems for only 99 cents!
So I thought I’d share my ... January 5, 2011 I mentioned recently that I had ordered Billy Collins’ Picnic, Lightning and a couple of other poetry books as my own Christmas gifts. And in a separate post, we chatted about writing in books and whether it’s a sign of love or a desecration (most, ... October 8, 2010
A couple of weeks ago, I shared how I came to write some found poems recently.Last week I shared another found poem ("I’m Sort of Sorry About What Happened While I Was Walking My Dog"), again aimed at about 4th-5th grade.
Today I’m sharing one last ... September 30, 2010
Last week, I shared how I came to write some found poems recently.This week I’m sharing another found poem, again aimed at about 4th-5th grade.
Today’s found poem is called "I’m Sort of Sorry About What Happened While I Was Walking My Dog," and the ... September 23, 2010
I wrote some found poems to submit for an anthology a couple of months ago, but the way I do found poems is a little different–I like to find an article or song or whatever and use it kind of like a word bank to ... May 28, 2010
I started reading Jane Kenyon: Collected Poems recently, and was shocked when part of one of the poems described a landmark of my childhood, The Langford Hotel, in Winter Park, Florida.
My family had a membership to the pool, and my dad put on pool/diving shows ... March 12, 2010
It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect. In fact, I haven’t been doing daily poems, either. I had to put that ritual and several others on hiatus this winter in order to meet deadlines. ... March 4, 2010
So, every once in a while, I get to write poems with the Poetry Princesses, which is an intimidating thrill. First, we did the crown sonnet. Next up was the villanelle. And then, with barely time for a deep sigh of relief after we posted those ... December 22, 2009 Today is my husband’s birthday! Since I love many song lyrics as poetry, I wanted to share an old-school Billy Joel song that we almost chose to have sung at our wedding (we went with Onward, by Yes, instead). Happy birthday, Randy. You’re my home. ... December 11, 2009 Last Friday, a group of seven of us, led by Liz Garton Scanlon of Liz in Ink, posted original villanelles.
I had wanted to do something other than a nature poem, because those feel like home, and I wanted to push myself out of the comforts ... December 4, 2009 OK, you know Liz Garton Scanlon, of Liz in Ink? You know how she’s always so enthusiastic and passionate about stuff? Well, a month or so ago, she emailed our group that wrote the crown sonnet a year and a half ago (that long?). And ... December 2, 2009
Maybe you’ve heard that Lee Bennett Hopkins, gifted poet and anthologist, was officially awarded NCTE’s Excellence in Poetry for Children Award the weekend before Thanksgiving? I couldn’t attend the Philadelphia conference because I was in Atlanta for a joyful family wedding, and it sounds like ... October 15, 2009
Happy Poetry Friday!
I’ve been re-reading Words with Wrinkled Knees: Animal Poems, an old collection by Barbara Juster Esbensen (who also wrote one of my favorite poetry collections ever, Swing Around the Sun). Here’s one poem I love:
You must read
this word under water
under
wavering nets of cool
light
A ... October 9, 2009
I felt like sharing a Billy Collins poem this morning, and "Picnic, Lightning" won the Poetry Friday lottery. I really love the tiny dark unmoored ship and the ending images of immersing yourself in the now, the ordinary moments that make live so vivid.
Picnic, Lightning
"My ... September 25, 2009
Today, I have a poem and a question to share with you. First, the question. I’m looking for recommendations of poetry journals for adults featuring accessible, mainstream poetry. I love Billy Collins, Kay Ryan, Jane Kenyon…so you can see I don’t really go too much ... September 18, 2009
I took a wonderful poetry class at the Loft in Minneapolis last spring. One of our exercises was to write a poem with the word "rancor" in the title. Most of my poems are NOT actually about my personal experiences, though people often think they are. ... August 14, 2009
LJ’s giving me fits this morning, so I’ll try this super quick to see if it works! The Poetry Stretch at the Miss Rumphius Effect this week was to write poems about articles of clothing. Early in the week, I wrote two for my daily poems–totally ... July 9, 2009
Shhh! Don’t tell the Poetry Friday police! I’m posting a day early because I leave tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. for the airport to head to Chicago for ALA.
This week’s Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect is all about recipe poems. On Monday and Tuesday, ... July 3, 2009
Summer is my least creative time of year, so I’ve been extra grateful for the Poetry Stretch challenges at The Miss Rumphius Effect recently. This week’s challenge was to write an acrostic (where the first letter of each line forms a word when you ... June 11, 2009 This week’s Poetry Stretch over at Miss Rumphius Effect is about fairy tales. My WIP is actually a collection of poems all with a certain hook and related to fairy tales, but I can’t share one of those here. So here’s a different one, for an ... May 18, 2009 OK, not the plagiarism part, but an effect of it.
Just recently, my husband was asking if I worry about people taking poems I post online and posting them elsewhere or publishing them as their own. The reality of that crosses my mind occasionally, but I ... March 27, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect participated in a challenge and shared her favorite D things, a letter assigned randomly to her by Julie Larios, who had praised P.
Well, cool. I emailed Tricia to get a letter, and she sent ... January 30, 2009
We went to a Killers concert a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I’d share some lyrics for Poetry Friday. This is the opening of "Bling," (lyrics, I assume, by Brandon Flowers, but I can’t find proper credit on their site).
"Bling (Confession Of A King)" ... December 12, 2008 I love to write acrostics–they’re fun and they often come fairly easily. But not always. Stop by Kid Magazine Writers to see my Meter Readers column, Acrostics: Poetry, Top to Bottom. In it, I share my process and also some of my struggles
And here’s one ... September 25, 2008
I’ve been thinking about a variation on acrostics this week. They’re called phrase acrostics, and I hadn’t really heard of them until an instructor mentioned them in a poetry class I was taking last year at the Loft Literary Center. When she explained that you ... September 22, 2008
It’s time for Pensieve’s monthly poetry challenge, Poetic License!
The challenge this time? An autumn cinquain. I love cinquain, and I love autumn. This is one I actually wrote to a different image, and this is the closest I could find to share.
Weaving????
Sunlight
threads through stiff ... May 16, 2008
As I’m teaching my Getting to a Poem workshop this week, I am, as always, doing the assignments along with everyone else. One day we wrote poems based on places, so I browsed through my Scotland photos and decided to try to capture the immensity ... April 10, 2008
I am so proud to be part of the crown sonnet project called Cutting a Swath, which a group of us are publishing on our blogs today! You can read all about the project at Liz in Ink, where Liz Garton Scanlon has the entire crown sonnet ... January 16, 2008 OK, it’s only one cento, but it feels long! Miss Rumphius challenged us to a modified cento this week, using titles of favorite books. I chose mostly some of my favorite poetry books, from this year and years past. There are a couple I only chose for ...Being a Pond, a Poetryaction to Being a Dog
The Flow, a Poetryaction to Joyce Sidman’s We Are Branches
That Day in July
Poems Born from Wonder
Welcome to the Wonder House, from Two Wonderful Poets and One Wonderful Artist!
My Friend’s House – A Poetryaction to In a Cave
Noise of the World
A Blizzard of…: a Poetryaction for The Power of Snow
Take 2: Driving Through Farm Country and Heart of Earth Choral Work
Back Together with Moon
Heart of Earth
Tail of Red, Tip of White, by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Mom’s Quilted Tree Skirt, a Poetryaction to Pick a Pine Tree
The Song of Sunshine
Put a Muzzle on My Ghazals
Imagine…, a Poetryaction to Milo Imagines the World
Iris, Rainbow, and a National Poetry Month Link Roundup
Day 30: The Problem with Monkeys
Day 29: A Dog Will Be a Dog
Day 28: The Moon Is a Silent Cymbal
Day 27: Smaug Returns
Day 26: Balloon Dance
Day 25: The Nature of Leopards
Day 24: The Ghost, Alone
Day 23: First Steps
Day 22: Out of the Smoke
Day 21: Day of the Pumpkins
Day 20: Go West. Nope!
Day 19: Windy Web
Day 18: Night Siren
Day 17: A Driply Rain
Day 16: Electric rhythm
Day 15: Singing with Sea Ghosts
Day 14: Egg as a Promise
Day 13: The Nature of Wolves
Day 12: Soft Secrets
Day 11: The Cold Is Slipping Away
Day 10: The Bull
Day 9: Tough Trees
Day 8: The Tentacle of Want
Day 7: Surging Across Always
Day 6: Sky Lessons
Day 5: Among Dolphins
Day 4: Take a Little Piece of My Heart
Day 3: Batter Up!
Day 2: Before and After a Snail
Day 1: Hey, Baby!
Ready for National Poetry Month 2023? Start now!
Ode to a Mandala–an Etheree
Swelling and Swirling – a definito poem
The Poetry Friday Roundup Is Here!
Waiting, a Poetryaction for The Lodge That Beaver Built
Where Time Goes: Ekphrastic Poems from the Poetry Sisters
The Idea and A Poem Grows Inside You
Somewhere, Mom Is Sewing
Lydia Lukidis and Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench
Fixing What Rips–a Cascade Poem
Figure It Out, Henri Weldon, by Poetry Friday’s Tanita S. Davis!
Five Fall Favorites, a Poetryaction
How Could She Leave?
Box Your Shadow, Block the Sun — and Happy New Year!
No Degrees of Separation
Recipe for a Song
“So Much Love” – A Definito
“What Used to Be Whole” – A Definito to Go with a Forthcoming Book
Jitters and a Giveaway
Insomnia – a Dansa
2 Brinicle Poems and a Cover Reveal
Plume – Another Definito
Folly – a Definito
Flight #PoetryFriday
Thank You, Educators — a Post-Pandemic (well, sort of) Poem
2 Small Reads Roundups for Right Now!
I Can’t Say for Sure
Hidden Life #PoetryFriday
The Deadliest (a phrase acrostic)
Waiting for News
My Face, Space, and Picture Day
NPM2022 Day 31: If You Want to Know the Secret of You
NPM2022 Day 30: If You Want to Know the Secret of a Pocket
Day 29: How Gratitude Is Like an Inflatable Kayak
NPM2022 Day 28: If You Want to Know the Secret of Perfume
NPM2022 Day 27: My Month in Water
NPM2022 Day 26: Silly Radish
NPM2022 Day 25: Souvenir
NPM2022 Day 24: pen + sticky note
NPM2022 Day 23: lunch + Kindle
NPM2022 Day 22: Happy Meal + Laura
NPM2022 Day 21: Dolphin Encounters
NPM2022 Day 20: What the Rain Knows and a Cover Reveal!
NPM2022 Day 19: My Mom-in-Law Can Make Anything
NPM2022 Day 18: Open curtains + lightning
NPM2022 Day 17: rain + night = ?
NPM2022 Day 16: Island Day
NPM2022 Day 15: Mean Words
NPM2022 Day 14: Wind: a Sky-High Designer
NPM2022 Day 12: Cold Aches
NPM2022 Day 11: Travel Law #1
NPM2022 Day 10: Skyscraper Bones
NPM2022 Day 9: Magic Rock
NPM2022 Day 8: Thirsty Rocks
NPM2022 Day 7: The Sun Is Never a Spoon
NPM2022 Day 5: The Opposites of Chickadees
NPM2022 Day 5: The Opposites of Chickadees
NPM2022 Day 4: Hyperspace
NPM2022 Day 3: Bird Calligraphy
NPM2022 Day 2: Ukraine
NPM2022 Day 1: Sandcastle
Artisan at Work — a Dodoitsu [Poetry Friday]
Leaving Things Behind–for Ukraine
One Egg–The Poetry Sisters Play With an Exquisite Corpse Poem
“Do you come from close by?” from We Belong and the Poetry Friday Roundup!
Maybe You’re Quiet… and a We Belong Launch Party!
The Pit
I Love You, Giraffe
Turtleneck, Free Author Visit Zoom, Storytime, and One Little Word–Whew!
Bell Song [Poetry Friday]
Without
Ode to Bare Branches
Roundup of Fall Small Reads [Poetry Friday]
Sheep Is a Solid Word [Poetry Friday]
Her Fur Is Soft as Mittens, But… #PoetryFriday
Call of the Highland Sky #PoetryFriday
The Poetry Friday Roundup Is Here!
What Detroit Knows [Poetry Friday]
Bs Are a Few of My Favorite Things, and an Uplifting Anthology
Apart But Part
Welcome, Panther — a Tangled Poem #PoetryFriday
Freeze-Up #PoetryFriday
Why You Cry When You Read Me [Poetry Friday]
The Dance of Being Human [Poetry Friday]
Happy Retirement to Mary Lee Hahn! #PoetryFriday
More Fantastic Student Equation Poems #PoetryFriday
Student Equation Poems #PoetryFriday
#EquationPoem 30
#EquationPoem 29
#EquationPoem 28
#EquationPoem 27
#EquationPoem 26
#EquationPoem 25
#EquationPoem 24
#EquationPoem 23
#EquationPoem 22
#EquationPoem 21
#EquationPoem 20 Plus an Equation Poem Video
#EquationPoem 19
#EquationPoem 18
#EquationPoem 17 (donuts!)
#EquationPoem 16
#EquationPoem 15
#EquationPoem 14
#EquationPoem 13
#EquationPoem 12
#EquationPoem 11
#EquationPoem 10
#EquationPoem 9, Plus Some Guest Equation Poems!
#EquationPoem 8
#EquationPoem 7
#EquationPoem 6
#EquationPoem 5
#EquationPoem 4
#EquationPoem 3
#EquationPoem 2
#EquationPoem 1
The Wind Is an Owl [Poetry Friday]
Talent Is a Ticket [Poetry Friday]
Riddle-ku by 2nd graders! #PoetryFriday
Writing Alone, Together #PoetryFriday
Four Forever, and Help Needed with Names
Snowmelt #PoetryFriday
An Audience of One #PoetryFriday
Winter Song #PoetryFriday
Year’s End and a Bit of Bradbury #PoetryFriday
In the Bleak Midwinter — Beauty in Stark Times #PoetryFriday
Chimney Smoke or Wireless Fires #PoetryFriday
I’d Rather Stick With You #PoetryFriday
Letter to a Thief – AKA Gifts from 2020
When Hope Is Not Easy #PoetryFriday
Qualities I Love in Art Forms and How They’re Reflected in What I Write
Winter Is the Warmest Season #PoetryFriday
They Have Their Uses, But… [Poetry Friday]
A Halloween Riddle-Ku [Poetry Friday]
Nesting [Poetry Friday]
Petting Zoo [Poetry Friday]
High-Stepping Hippo [Poetry Friday]
Traveling Together [Poetry Friday]
New Mouse [Poetry Friday]
Freedom Is a Word [Poetry Friday]
Make Time Fly?
Vacation Time #PoetryFriday
Why Aren’t All Books Happy? #PoetryFriday
Blow It Up, Pufferfish! Plus the Poetry Friday Roundup
Pandemic Summer: an Etheree
Dandelion Poems, Crafts, and Coloring Page
Obsession, a Cinderella Poem #PoetryFriday
If an Aurora Appears [Poetry Friday]
Fireworks Poem
“Morning” [Poetry Friday]
I Need You Need Me
Some Poems for World Refugee Day
The World’s Last Magic Bean #PoetryFriday
Respirator [Poetry Friday]
Bright Star #PoetryFriday
Fee-Fie-Foe-Fairian: Surprise! I’m Vegetarian! #PoetryFriday
Blue Whale’s Apology #PoetryFriday
Online Launch Party and #NationalPoetryMonth Roundup
Day 30: The Finish Line (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 29: A Special Day? (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 28: Secrets of the Loon Book Birthday (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 27: Today I Took a Walk (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 26: A Bridal Shower Equation Poem: (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 25: Seeing Mom Today (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 24: Daily Party – a Skinny Poem [#NationalPoetryMonth2020]
Day 23: These Are the Hands (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 22: Staying Calm in a Storm, by a Sea Goddess (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 21: Grocery Store Heroes (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 20: An Oil Spill Diamante (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 19: Spindrift Definito (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 18: Puddle Is a Word (#NationalPoetryMonth)
Day 17: I Am From…by Water (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 16: Drip from My Fingertips (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 15: Spring Peepers (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 14: Goodbye to Jack (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 13: Floor, Not Sky (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 12: Soap Bubbles (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 11: Ode to the Shore of Lake Mizell (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 10: Things to Do if You Are Spring — community edition! [Poetry Friday]
Day 9: Water Volleyball (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 8: Water Is a Word (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 7: Still Spring (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 6: In My Hand (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 5: A Snow Envy Skinny (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 4: Directional (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 3: Things to Do if You Are Spring and Add Your Own Line #PoetryFriday
Day 2: Nature’s Project Runway (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Day 1: Ruler of the River (#NationalPoetryMonth2020)
Splash Zone #WaterPoemProject
The Way I See It #WaterPoemProject
Canyoning #WaterPoemProject
What Is a Wave? #WaterPoemProject
First Date Haiku [Poetry Friday]
Irish Memories – a Fogbow Fibonacci #WaterPoemProject
Found Haiku from Wonderopolis
Belief in Birds and Asking Teachers for Poetry Tips #PoetryFriday
Author Visit at Rogers Elementary
More Than Two Sides [Poetry Friday]
Fairy Ring [Poetry Friday]
Sacred Land #PoetryFriday
Your Song #PoetryFriday
Haiku to Welcome the New Year
Grateful for…
Toilet Gets Bummed Out and Dreamy from In the Middle of the Night [#PoetryFriday]
3 Equations from Snowman-Cold=Puddle [#PoetryFriday]
Winter Haiku from Lion of the Sky [Poetry Friday]
Come In? [Poetry Friday]
Endings and Beginnings [15 Words or Less]
Immersion Suit [15 Words or Less]
Why Ms. Rob Is Awesome and Some Gratitude [Poetry Friday]
Robot Man [15 Words or Less]
Still Shining (a gratitude sonnet) and a Poetry Gathering at NCTE [Poetry Friday]
Broken Eggs [15 Words or Less]
Pumpkin Palm [15 Words or Less]
Look Through a Log [15 Words or Less]
Under the Bridge [15 Words or Less]
Winter Before Fall? [15 Words or Less]
The Voice of Winter–a Villanelle [Poetry Friday]
Echeveria [15 Words or Less]
Fall Tree [15 Words or Less]
Perfect Raspberry [15 Words or Less]
Moth Surprise [15 Words or Less]
Visiting Elizabeth Dulemba’s Blog!
From a City Dweller to Her Love [Poetry Friday]
City Bird [15 Words or Less]
Photo Shoot Chaos
Roll the Bones [15 Words or Less]
Mosquitoes and Mexican Free-Tailed Bats [Poetry Friday]
Pond Aerator [15 Words or Less]
Dot Day and Giveaway Winners for Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle!
The Opening of Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle + a Giveaway! [Poetry Friday]
Snakes with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
ELO Light Show [15 Words or Less]
Roller Coaster [15 Words or Less]
Henna [15 Words or Less]
Camping in Fall and Lee Bennett Hopkins #PoetryFriday
Rearview Mirror [15 Words or Less]
In Memory of Lee Bennett Hopkins [Poetry Friday]
A Pig in the Audience [15 Words or Less]
Raise Your Gaze — an Ekphrastic Definito [Poetry Friday]
Drumsticks [15 Words or Less]
Cow on a Flatbed? [15 Words or Less]
Building Growing Out of a Tree [15 Words or Less]
It’s the Circle of…Barstools? [15 Words or Less]
Heat Is a Lemon Lollipop – a Triolet [Poetry Friday]
Waterfall [15 Words or Less]
Sneakers [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetry Blast and a Riddle-ku #PoetryFriday
Chandelier Jellyfish? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Coral Reef [15 Words or Less]
Equationpoems from Young Authors Conference #PoetryFriday
Skinny Poems with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Fruity Bath? [15 Words or Less]
Formerly Known As… [15 Words or Less]
Who Will You Be Today? [15 Words or Less]
Ladybug, Ladybug [15 Words or Less]
My Poems at the TLA Poetry Round Up #PoetryFriday
Mask [15 Words or Less]
Floor Bunny [15 Words or Less]
Korean War Veterans Memorial [15 Words or Less]
DC Trees [15 Words or Less]
Introducing Lion of the Sky #PoetryFriday
Lighted Moose [15 Words or Less]
Poetry-Palooza Book Launch Photos
Sky Love Story – an Anagram Poem [Poetry Friday]
Vietnam Veterans Memorial [15 Words or Less]
Dreamy #PoetryFriday
Space Module [15 Words or Less]
Student Equation Poems for Poetry Friday #PoetryFriday
Coast Guard Monument [15 Words or Less]
Dirty Clothes Do-Si-Do [Poetry Friday]
Frosted Snowflake [15 Words or Less]
Leatherback [15 Words or Less]
Floor Lamp Waits [Poetry Friday]
Metal Tree [15 Words or Less]
Moose Topiary, Sort Of [15 Words or Less]
Olmec Head [15 Words or Less]
Bird on a Branch [15 Words or Less]
Lunch in a Refugee Reception Centre [Poetry Friday]
Eyeborg [15 Words or Less]
Cloth Caught Midair [15 Words or Less]
When Clouds Grow Claws [15 Words or Less]
De-Icing an Airplane [15 Words or Less]
Anatomy of Typography [Poetry Friday]
Storm [15 Words or Less]
Gizmo [15 Words or Less]
Never Say No (to a Philly Cheesesteak) [Poetry Friday]
Shrouded Plants [15 Words or Less]
Pinwheels [15 Words or Less]
Cleaning Out My Locker [Poetry Friday]
Convention Center [15 Words or Less]
Wings Rising [15 Words or Less]
Give Thanks [15 Words or Less]
Gold Statue [15 Words or Less]
Infinity [15 Words or Less]
Water, Water Everywhere [Poetry Friday]
World Tour (After a Lucia Micarelli Concert) [Poetry Friday]
Car with Eyelashes [15 Words or Less]
Revenge (of the Bonneville Salt Flats) [Poetry Friday]
Atlatl [15 Words or Less]
Sacred Land [Poetry Friday]
Dragonfly Captured! [15 Words or Less]
spike roof shadow: Building Short Poems with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Double Vision [15 Words or Less]
Is This Just Fantasy? [15 Words or Less]
Wind Tunnel [15 Words or Less]
Toys Rise Up! [15 Words or Less]
Daydreams Through a Looking Glass – Collage Cento [Poetry Friday]
Jeweled Fish [15 Words or Less]
Paddle Boat [15 Words or Less]
Bikes at a Salt Lake [15 Words or Less]
Foreign Letters [15 Words or Less]
Fountain [15 Words or Less]
Afraid to Wish for Answers [Poetry Friday]
Peacock [15 Words or Less]
On Your Way to School #PoetryFriday
Hay! [15 Words or Less]
Spurious Sayings [Poetry Friday]
Camel [15 Words or Less]
Together. Three. [Poetry Friday]
Mosaic Sky [15 Words or Less]
Things I Will Miss When We Move – an Aphra Behn Poem [Poetry Friday]
Refugee Camp Mural [15 Words or Less]
A Thousand Nicknames for Snow [Poetry Friday]
Tower Bridge [15 Words or Less]
Poems of Empathy – #PoetryFriday
Swan [15 Words or Less]
Right Now [Poetry Friday]
London Eye [15 Words or Less]
What We All Need [Poetry Friday]
Red Light, Green Light! [15 Words or Less]
3 Limericks with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Iron Maiden [15 Words or Less]
Aphrodite’s Rock [15 Words or Less]
Roundup of My Poetry Month Haiku [Poetry Friday]
Cereal? [15 Words or Less]
Climbing Out [15 Words or Less]
Cow [15 Words or Less]
Day 29: Haiku: waves roll in and out
Day 28: Haiku: wooden bus stop bench
Forget charts and rules [15 Words or Less]
Day 25: Haiku: a plane of strangers
Day 24: Haiku: patio seats, treats
Day 20: Haiku: egg nog jellybeans
In a Salt Shaker Far, Far Away [15 Words or Less]
Day 18: Haiku: fresh green fiddlehead
Day 17: Haiku: Library beehive
Day 16: Haiku: irritated geese
Day 15: Haiku: Before the news breaks,
Day 14: Haiku: sky yells, “Pillow fight!”
Day 13: Haiku: focus ripped into…
Recipe for a Poetry Book–Happy Birthday, Lee Bennett Hopkins! [Poetry Friday]
Day 12: Haiku: headlights slice darkness
Blur [15 Words or Less]
Day 11: Haiku: steady drip-drop-drip
Haiku: Day 10: Joyce summons spring with
Day 9: Haiku: spin-out’s finished, but
Day 8: Haiku: white-haired man tries to
Day 7: Haiku: It looks like a book
Day 6: Haiku: Headline shouts, “ENOUGH!”
Borrow a Line with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Extreme Swing and Day 5: The pause at the top
Day 4: Haiku: Basketball flies by
Day 3: Haiku: Scarlet in April
Day 2: Haiku: Minnesota spring
Day 1: Haiku: On the calendar
Do You Hear the Wind? [Poetry Friday]
Snowpeople [15 Words or Less]
Mandrake [15 Words or Less]
Voldetort the Turtle [15 Words or Less]
Security Camera [Poetry Friday]
Eye [15 Words or Less]
Throne [15 Words or Less]
Penguin [15 Words or Less]
On the Wings of Stories #Poemsketch #Calendarpoem
A Poem for National Pig Day on March 1 [Classroom Connections] [Poetry Friday]
Silica Packet? [15 Words or Less]
Dandelion Poem [Poetry Friday]
Tile Trees [15 Words or Less]
More Than Two Sides, a Tanka About Truth [Poetry Friday]
Winter Sky [15 Words or Less]
A Poem for Black History Month and for Dreamers [Classroom Connections] [Poetry Friday]
Avalanche? [15 Words or Less]
8 Things a Kid Believes In [Poetry Friday]
Angel Wings [15 Words or Less]
When Death Moved In [Poetry Friday]
Candle [15 Words or Less]
Mae’s Wall of Warmth [Poetry Friday]
Shredder [15 Words or Less]
In Memory of Jack
Gloves in the Snow [15 Words or Less]
Sailing Ships [15 Words or Less]
Coral? [15 Words or Less]
Jellyfish Dance [Poetry Friday]
Traffic Cones [15 Words or Less]
December #Poemsketch
Lai-ing About with Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Bike Rack [15 Words or Less]
Silo Storm #Poemsketch
After #Poemsketch
Seamstresses #Poemsketch
Without [Poetry Friday]
Tree Puzzle [15 Words or Less]
Bald Head #Poemsketch
Listening Pod [15 Words or Less]
First Snow – Triolets with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Black Forest Face [15 Words or Less]
Autumn Leaf #Poemsketch
Almost Halloween #Poemsketch
Train Through Fence [15 Words or Less]
And Fall Arrives + Looking for NCTE Roomie
Not Frond of Palms #Poemsketch
Poems Are Teachers by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater [Poetry Friday]
Hydrangeas (I think) [15 Words or Less]
Beach Ball #Poemsketch
Lonely Sky #Poemsketch
Rescued Owl [15 Words or Less]
Library Day #Poemsketch
Unarmored #Poemsketch
Power Tower Cinderella #Poemsketch
An Old Dog in Autumn with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Making Art [15 Words or Less]
Finding a Flashlight #Poemsketch
Games by Candlelight #Poemsketch
Lamp #Poemsketch
Burning Maple [15 Words or Less]
Survival Supplies #Poemsketch
Snowy Egret #Poemsketch
Bird Footprints #Poemsketch
Shovel Left Behind #Poemsketch
Safety Pin [15 Words or Less]
Mom’s Nightgown #Poemsketch
It’s State Fair Season! #Poemsketch
What Is a Dot? [Poetry Friday]
Moray Eel [15 Words or Less]
Strawberry-mango Waves
Step Into a Storybook
Locust Hurricane #Poemsketch
Trinity College Library [15 Words or Less]
Art in the Shadow of the Sheep Barn #Poemsketch
Stop Wishing for Me! [Poetry Friday with the Poetry Princesses]
Leopard [15 Words or Less]
no home but kindness #Poemsketch
The Shape of a Hug #Poemsketch
Fly #Poemsketch [Poetry Friday]
Beetle [15 Words or Less]
A Poem for the Solar Eclipse
Statues in the Park, Round 2 [Poetry Friday]
Life Preserver [15 Words or Less]
Maze [15 Words or Less]
Statues in the Park [Poetry Friday]
Sail On! [15 Words or Less]
City Hall [15 Words or Less]
How to Make a Dog Live Forever [Poetry Friday]
Balcony Cat [15 Words or Less]
If You Are a Macaroni Noodle [Poetry Friday]
Globe [15 Words or Less]
She Walks in Glitter (Which Is a Lot Like Beauty) [Poetry Friday]
Egg [15 Words or Less]
Flames of Gratitude [Poetry Friday]
Eyebrows [15 Words or Less]
Book Spine Poems with Kids [Poetry Friday]
Mary Poppins [15 Words or Less]
Bee Cookie [15 Words or Less]
“The Genre Chant” [Poetry Friday]
Freeway Treeway [15 Words or Less]
Teaching Is Easy–You Should Try It, Too!
Leaving Things Behind – a Golden Shovel Poem [Poetry Friday]
Catacombs [15 Words or Less Poems]
Writing Poems with 5th Graders [Poetry Friday]
Sculpture of…? [15 Words or Less]
Summer Biopoem and Things to Do if You Are a Firework [Poetry Friday]
Arc De Triomphe Stairway [15 Words or Less]
Pink Cow [15 Words or Less]
Things to Do if You Are a Minnesota Summer [Poetry Friday]
Mont Saint Michel [15 Words or Less]
A Black-Eyed Susan Video for Maryland Educators
Drop of Water and Tree [National Poetry Month]
Day 30 of the Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem!
Yellow Umbrella [National Poetry Month] #moreforAKR
Dandelion [Poetry Friday]
Moon and Sunbound
Explorers [National Poetry Month]
Evergreen [National Poetry Month]
Scrabble [National Poetry Month]
Taco [National Poetry Month]
Cattail [National Poetry Month]
Award [Poetry Friday]
3 Poems and an Icelandic Horse [15 Words or Less]
My Scar [National Poetry Month]
A Chair [National Poetry Month]
Kitchen Canisters [National Poetry Month]
Running Water [National Poetry Month]
Clock [National Poetry Month]
Reflections [Poetry Friday]
Icelandic Bicycle [15 Words or Less]
Library [National Poetry Month]
Bud on Tree [National Poetry Month]
Snow [National Poetry Month]
Railroad Tracks [National Poetry Month]
Garden Center [National Poetry Month]
Oh My Darling Clementine [National Poetry Month]
Fire on a Windy Day [National Poetry Month]
Talking Back to Rilke with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
A Treat at Dairy Queen [National Poetry Month]
Northern Lights [15 Words or Less]
My Pen [National Poetry Month]
Decorations [National Poetry Month]
A Dog on My Lap [National Poetry Month]
Conker [National Poetry Month]
Single Serving Size [National Poetry Month]
Tectonic Rift [15 Words or Less]
National Poetry Month Plans: #wonderbreak [Poetry Friday]
Moonglow [15 Words or Less]
Lava Cave [15 Words or Less]
Searching – an Ekphrastic Poem with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
The Bumble Ball [15 Words or Less]
Last Leaf [15 Words or Less]
Whale Postcard [15 Words or Less]
Barely the Moon [15 Words or Less]
One Day Too Late–Villanelles from the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Party Boar [15 Words or Less]
Ice Carving [15 Words or Less]
Pawprint [15 Words or Less]
Tower [15 Words or Less]
Long Distance Relationship–Somonka with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Dolphin Lady [15 Words or Less]
Rounding Up the Poetry Princesses
Losing Perspective [15 Words or Less Poems]
Airport Gorilla [15 Words or Less]
The Scraps of the Year–Happy Holidays!
Taking Pictures (by me) [Poetry Friday]
Jigsaw [15 Words or Less Poems]
What Will the Aide Do? [Poetry Friday]
Cookie Monster! [15 Words or Less Poems]
Going Peacock on You with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
What Didn’t Make the Cut in One Minute ‘Till Bedtime [Poetry Friday, Part 1]
Grid [15 Words or Less Poems]
[Crow Balance] 15 Words or Less Poems
Umbrella Chandelier [15 Words or Less Poems]
Storm [15 Words or Less Poems]
Terza Rimas with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday Roundup]
Locks [15 Words or Less Poems]
The Country, by Billy Collins [Poetry Friday]
Viking Ship [15 Words or Less Poems]
Window [15 Words or Less Poems]
We’re Bats, from One Minute Till Bedtime [Poetry Friday]
Mushroom [15 Words or Less Poems]
Ekphrastic Poems with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Horse [15 Words or Less Poems]
Tennis [15 Words or Less Poems]
Tower [15 Words or Less Poems]
Happy Birthday, Maddie!
Goodbye to Summer, Hello to Fall [Poetry Friday]
Hello [15 Words or Less Poems]
Clogyrnachs with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Volcano [15 Words or Less Poems]
Quilt [15 Words or Less Poems]
Airport Piano Man [15 Words or Less Poems]
Tyger [15 Words or Less Poems]
Spark [15 Words or Less Poems]
Splash [15 Words or Less Poems]
Fluff [15 Words or Less Poems]
Dragon Dreams [Poetry Friday]
Tractor [15 Words or Less Poems]
House for Sale with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Disappearing [15 Words or Less Poems]
Dog on the Job, a Zeno Poetryaction [Poetry Friday]
Tracks [15 Words or Less Poems]
Ducks on a Log [15 Words or Less Poems]
Revenge of the White Dragon [Poetry Friday]
Umbrella, Inside [15 Words or Less Poems]
Harpy Is Just a Word with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Bird [15 Words or Less Poems]
Testing Shame, a Poem About High-Stakes Testing
Jailed [15 Words or Less Poems]
More Poems About Balance
When They Write, a Poem About Student Writing
Seesaw Highs and Lows, a Poem About Balance
An Answer to, “Teachers have it easy–three months off!”
Boxed In [15 Words or Less Poems]
Acceleration Exasperation
Open Wide [15 Words or Less Poems]
The Heart of a Teacher Is Here!
Water Can Be… a Black-Eyed Susan Picture Book Nominee!
Back to Life with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Branches [15 Words or Less Poems]
Post-Putrid Poetry: Thank You!
Putrid Poetry: Day 29: Poetry Heals: A Get Well Poem for Miss Sweetmallow
Play(ne)ground [15 Words or Less Poems]
Putrid Poetry: Day 28: Family Recipe
Putrid Poetry: Day 27: Bats on the Move
Putrid Poetry: Day 26: Attacking Bubble Gum
Putrid Poetry: Day 25: Talent Share Day
Putrid Poetry: Day 24: Class Is a Gas
Putrid Poetry: Day 23: Value Foods’ Hot Dog-Eating Contest
Putrid Poetry: Day 22: Rules from Mom and Dad [Poetry Friday]
Neon Sky [15 Words or Less Poems]
Putrid Poetry: Day 21: Rabbits Recycle!
Putrid Poetry: Day 20: This Really Happened!
Putrid Poetry: Day 19: One Fine Spine–For Now
Putrid Poetry: Day 18: Lamar Didn’t Listen
Putrid Poetry: Day 17: Bloody Memory
Putrid Poetry: Day 16: Eddie’s Trick and So-Called Stew
Putrid Poetry: Day 15: The Piandroid
Putrid Poetry: Day 14: Grandma’s Snakes
Sunroof [15 Words or Less Poems]
Putrid Poetry: Day 13: Lemons Coming Out of My Pores
Putrid Poetry: Day 12: Don’t Look at Uncle Gary!
Putrid Poetry: Day 11: My Mom Doesn’t ALWAYS Embarrass Me
Putrid Poetry: Day 10: Guaranteed to Make You Puke
Putrid Poetry: Day 9: The Ballad of My Shameful Mother
Putrid Poetry: Day 8: The Bald Truth [Poetry Friday Roundup!]
Who, Me? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Putrid Poetry: Day 7: Head Cheese
Putrid Poetry: Day 6: If You Accidentally Swallow Ocean Water
Putrid Poetry: Day 5: Shh…It’s a Snake
Putrid Poetry: Day 4: Pimple Popping
Putrid Poetry: Day 3: My Grand Canyon Feet
Putrid Poetry: Day 2: Lovebug Popcorn
Grasshopper Reality TV with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Putrid Poetry: Day 1: It Begins
Eggshell [15 Words or Less Poems]
Rabbits Recycle, from Putrid Poetic Ponderings [Poetry Friday]
Tangled [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction for Summer Birds [Poetry Friday]
Landing [15 Words or Less Poems]
A Sap and Sun Sedoka with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]
Snowplowasaurus [15 Words or Less Poems]
A Poetryaction for If You Plant a Seed [Poetry Friday]
Leaf Necklace [15 Words or Less Poems]
Sort of Ceiling [15 Words or Less Poems]
I Don’t Know Art, But I Know What I Don’t Like [Poetry Friday]
Garden Snake? [15 Words or Less Poems]
A Plea from the Invisible–a Diversity Acrostic by Laura Purdie Salas
Things To Do If… Student Poems
Froggy? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for P. Zonka Lays an Egg
Poetryaction for The Secret Life of Squirrels
Poetryaction for The Harvey Milk Story
A Poetryaction for Poetry Friday
Pipe Cleaners [15 Words or Less Poems]
A Skeleton for Poetry Friday
Trunk [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Marilyn’s Monster
The Periodic Table – a Crown Sonnet by the Poetry Sisters [Poetry Friday]
Antlers [15 Words or Less Poems] & Live Writing Video
Cougar [15 Words or Less Poems]
Merry Poetry Friday Christmas!
A Pear-y Pretty Chandelier [15 Words or Less Poems]
BookSpeak, Old-School!
My Biggest Fan
Poetry Friday Anthology for Science–remix!
Great Gourd! [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction for Blizzard
Ice on Fire [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction for Please, Mr. Panda
Poetryaction for Ben & Zip
Poetryaction for Bedtime at the Nut House
The Light, a Poem Honoring CLA and Reading Teachers and Researchers
Key Lime…Pie? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Fierce, a Thanksgiving Villanelle
Jungle Tile [15 Words or Less Poems]
Inside Music [15 Words or Less Poems]
2 Kinds of Cats, a Poem by Laura Purdie Salas
Brinicle, from National Geographic’s Book of Nature Poetry
X Marks What? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Unwrapped, a Wild Poetry Cheer for Irene Latham
Ekphrastic Poems with the Poetry Sisters [Poetry Friday]
Armor [15 Words or Less Poems]
Airplane Window [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for In Mary’s Garden
Cows [15 Words or Less Poems]
Poetryaction for Toad Weather
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Emu
Pipes [15 words or less poems]
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for By Mouse & Frog
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Sweep Up the Sun
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Whale Trails
Sailing Stone, National Geographic’s Book of Nature Poetry, & the Poetry Friday Roundup!
Reaching Hands [15 words or less poems]
The Sun and the Moon Gripe a Little [Poetry Friday]
Flower Boot [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for When the Wind Blows
Fossil [15 words or less poems]
Pencil Riddle-ku
Photopoem Summer Splashings Gallery
A Forest Riddle-ku
The Giant Spider [15 words or less poems]
Found Poems with the Poetry Sisters [Poetry Friday]
The Arch [15 words or less poems]
Bull vs. Bear [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for Lost and Found
Big Fish [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Totally Secret Secret
poetryaction and bookalikes for Popcorn Astronauts
Eros [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Wherever You Go
poetryaction and bookalikes for Yard Sale
Classified Haiku [Poetry Friday]
Weebles [15 words or less poems]
Pit [15 words or less poems]
My Cat, by Valerie Worth
Umbrellas [15 words or less poems]
Meet Me in St. Louis? And poetryaction for Dolphin Baby!
Theater [15 words or less poems]
Fall is like a last-chance hand (the Poetry 7 are at it again)
Belly of the Beast [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Giant Squid
Marie [15 words or less poems]
A Jig and a Poem [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for See What a Seal Can Do
A Poem for Charleston
poetryactions and bookalikes for Snow School
Iron Man [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise
poetryaction and bookalikes for Wolfie the Bunny
Dandelion [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for Santa Clauses
poetryaction for Spiky, Slimy, Smooth
In Praise of Junk Food
poetryaction for The Iridescence of Birds
Statue [15 words or less poems]
When a Poem Is a Blanket
poetryaction for If You Were a Dog [poetry friday]
Concert [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for Last Stop on Market Street
Poetry Tips for Teachers Roundup
poetryaction for All Aboard [poetry friday]
Seagull [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for You Are (Not) Small
poetryaction for Imani’s Moon
poetryaction and bookalikes for Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled
Oh, Did You Need That Homework? [poetry friday]
Straws [15 words or less poems]
Tip #23: Ask Kids Questions [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
2 Poems for Poetry Friday!
Tip #22: Fess Up [and 15 Words or Less Poems]
Tip #21: Focus on Sounds [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #20: Mix It Up! [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip#19: Let kids chime in! [Plus a guest post for rhyming writers]
Tip #18: Let the Poet Read [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #17: Give a Line Some Space [and 15 Words or Less Poems]
Tip #16: Add Sound Effects [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #15: Echo Read [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #14: Riddle Me This [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #13: Lights Out! [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #12: Use a Prop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]
Tip #11: Focus on Transitions [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #10: Emphasize Important Words [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #9: Speed It Up! [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #8: Connect With the Poem & Poetry Friday Roundup!
Tip #7: Walk and Stop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]
Tip #6: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #5: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #4: Slow Down [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #3: Post It [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
Tip #2: Define It [and 15 Words or Less Poems]
Tip #1: Twice Is Nice [Poetry Tips for Teachers]
National Poetry Month and Poetry Tips for Teachers
Thanks for Rocking My Blog and Welcome to National Poetry Month
Perfect [15 words or less poems]
Cow? [15 words or less poems]
Stay! [15 words or less poems]
The Uprising–a Sestina [poetry friday]
Spectacles [15 words or less poems]
Blizzard, by Barbara Juster Esbensen
Yarn [15 words or less poems]
Why Can’t I Feel the Earth Spin? Why-ku by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
Old Tree [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for One Plastic Bag
Why Don’t We Float Away? [why-ku]
Meet My Collaborator, Mary Lee Hahn
Why Can’t I Fly: Why-ku by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
Onion [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction and bookalikes for Star Stuff
poetryaction and bookalikes for Taking a Bath With the Dog
Just a Rock [poetry friday]
poetryaction for Junkyard Wonders
poetryaction and bookalikes for Toucan Can!
poetryaction and bookalikes for Yuck!
poetryaction for Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla
Flowers [15 words or less poems]
Everglades–With a Dash of Salt: a 50 State Poems Poem
Alaska: Night Lights: a 50 State Poems Poem
Bell [15 words or less poems]
Washington: Move It! a 50 State Poems Poem
North Carolina: On Her Way to the Graveyard: a 50 State Poems Poem
Swirly Jack [15 words or less poems]
Broken Yolk [poetry friday]
Pineapple [15 words or less poems]
Rowing to the Future [poetry friday]
poetryaction for Ben Franklin’s Big Splash
poetryaction for Caminar
poetryaction to Sometimes You Barf
Tights [15 words or less poems] and Merry Christmas!
poetryaction for Circle, Square, Moose
poetryaction and bookalikes for Big Bug
Happy Holidays and poetryaction to Camp Rex
poetryactions for Moonlight and It Is Night
Charmed [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for The Baby Tree
Lionesses: Girrrrrrrrl Power! A Need to Feed Poem
Hickory Dickory Dance: A Need to Feed Poem
Wolf: Death Dance [Poetry Friday]
Crabby [15 words or less poems]
Brotherly Love: A Need to Feed Poem
poetryaction for Flight School
The View [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Monday, Wednesday, and Every Other Weekend
poetryaction for Silly Doggy!
poetryaction to Pierre in Love
Silk [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction for Trains Go
poetryaction for What There Is Before There Is Anything There
poetryaction for When the Wolves Returned
Misbehaving Magic Wand, by Laura Purdie Salas
Bow-Wow Pirate [15 words or less poems]
Out of Time, by Laura Purdie Salas
Cinderella poem, by Laura Purdie Salas
The World’s Last Magic Bean, by Laura Purdie Salas
Enclosure [15 words or less poems]
Solid Gold Sounds, by Laura Purdie Salas
Fee-Fie-Foe-Fairian: Surprise! I’m Vegetarian!, by Laura Purdie Salas
Jack and the Beanstalk poem, by Laura Purdie Salas
poetryaction to Winter Bees
Leaping Hare [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction to Number One Sam
poetryaction to Peggy: A Brave Chicken on a Big Adventure
poetryaction to Dinosaur vs. School, by Bob Shea
Scary Hands [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction to The Flat Rabbit, by Bardur Oskarsson
poetryaction to Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep
Empty Liner [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction to Super Sniffers, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
poetryaction to Take Away the A, by Michael Escoffier
My Little Free Library! and a poetryaction to Fall Leaves, by Loretta Holland
poetryaction to The Tree House That Jack Built, by Bonnie Verburg
Dino [15 words or less poems]
poetryaction to The Promise, by Nicola Davies
This Merry-Go-Round [by Laura Purdie Salas]
Hidden [15 words or less poems]
A riddle-ku revision
Scroll [15 words or less poems]
Scarecookies [15 words or less]
Poetry Friday – A Daughter Can Be…
Beads [15 words or less]
Niagara Falls [15 words or less]
Poetry Friday – Until I Saw the Sea, by Lilian Moore
Big Wheels [15 words or less]
Weeds [15 words or less]
Lamp [15 words or less]
Statue [15 words or less]
Shooting Star [15 words or less]
Hands [15 words or less]
Fungus [15 words or less]
Go Fly a Kite, by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
Metal Woman [15 words or less]
Hoofing It [15 words or less]
Hallway Beacon [15 words or less]
Tree Eyes [15 words or less]
Lichen [15 words or less]
Turtle [15 words or less]
Grassy [15 words or less]
Prickly [15 words or less]
New Ways to Perform Poetry
Can Top [15 words or less]
Tree [15 words or less]
Riddle-ku Roundup!
Globes [15 words or less]
Courage [15 words or less]
Riddle-Ku! [squeeze]
Riddle-Ku! [tail whisks]
Riddle-Ku! [smarter]
Riddle-Ku! [dive into milk]
Riddle-Ku! [mountain’s crumb]
Riddle-Ku! [big drum]
Riddle-Ku! [don’t shoot]
Riddle-Ku! [watch me]
Riddle-Ku! [water slide]
Riddle-Ku! [light rules]
Riddle-Ku! [hold cold]
Riddle-Ku! [simple twist]
Riddle-Ku! [no faces]
Riddle-Ku! [slurp-burp]
Riddle-Ku! [yellow explodes]
Riddle-Ku! [darkness]
Riddle-Ku! [vast jungle]
Riddle-Ku! [hand to dog]
Riddle-Ku! [sleep launchpad]
Riddle-Ku! [halves]
Riddle-Ku! [drift down]
Riddle-Ku! [chase dirt]
Riddle-Ku! [over your head]
Riddle-Ku! [secret wand]
Riddle-Ku! [sky-sea]
Riddle-Ku! [wave like a flag]
Riddle-Ku! [wrapped-up sun]
Riddle-Ku! [merry-go-round]
Riddle-Ku! [pencil crop]
Riddle-Ku! [metal snake]
Ribs [15 words or less]
Slow Jets [15 words or less]
“What Can You Make from Carbon?” by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
Behind the Glass [15 words or less]
Natl. Poetry Month Sneak Peek: Riddle-Ku!
“Pure Imagination,” by Roald Dahl [Poetry Friday]
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo [15 words or less]
“Ocean Tales,” by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
Ghostly [15 words or less]
Lobster [15 words or less]
Snow Cloud [15 words or less]
Mirror [15 words or less]
Blush (by Laura Purdie Salas) [poetry friday]
Tracks [15 words or less]
Look Up! [15 words or less]
Rope [15 words or less]
Bridge [15 words or less]
Song of the Ice Storm [poetry friday]
The View [15 words or less]
Dancin’ (Snow)man (by Laura Purdie Salas) [poetry friday]
Starlight [15 words or less]
Man or Machine? [15 words or less]
Thanksgiving [15 words or less]
[15 words or less] Elmo in Trouble
[15 words or less] Shadeless
[15 words or less] Submerged
[15 words or less] Giselle
[poetry friday] Mice on Skates (by me)
[15 words or less] Bacteria?
[poetry friday] Otter’s Winter Song (by me)
[15 words or less] Funnel
“Buckled Bricks” and Poetry Friday Roundup!
[15 words or less] Mermaid
[15 words or less] Towel Dog
[15 words or less] Scissors
[poetry friday] Voyager 1
[15 words or less] Face
[15 words or less] Stubble
[15 words or less poems] Lifeboats
[15 words or less poems] To the Sky Light
[15 words or less poems] Foamy
[15 words or less poems] Wispy
[15 words or less poems] Spidey?
[poetry friday] “Fire” (by Laura Purdie Salas)
[15 words or less poems] Blue Mood
[15 words or less poems] Swan
[15 words or less poems] Hay there!
[15 words or less poems] Eeek!
[15 words or less poems] Hard-Headed
[poem starter audio] You’d Better Be Scared (by me)
[15 words or less poems] Juliet?
[15 words or less poems] Who Knows?
[15 words or less poems] Is That a #2 Pencil?
[poetry friday] “Shades of Red” – a Poem Starter
[15 words or less poems] The Mystery of the Sphinx
[poetry friday] “I Am Fog” — a Poem Starter
[15 words or less poems] Gnarled
[poetry friday] “Blow It Up, Pufferfish” — My March Madness Poetry Poem
[15 words or less poems] Where Would You Like This Camel Delivered?
[poetry friday] “Ordinary” — a Poem Starter
[15 words or less poems] Giant Snowman
[poetry friday] “Say Yes” — a Poem Starter
[15 words or less poems] Petal
[15 words or less poems] Tickets!
[Poetry Friday] Cybils!
[15 Words or Less Poems] Sparkle & Cybils!
[15 Words or Less Poems] Seedhead
[15 Words or Less Poems] Glass Ceiling
[Good News] “Winter Window”
[15 Words or Less Poems] Roots
[15 Words or Less Poems] Glasses
[My Writing Life] I’m In the Journal of Children’s Literature!
[15 Words or Less Poems] Sea Serpent
[Poetry Play] A Careerhyme Challenge
[Poetry Friday] CYBILS Finalists!
[15 Words or Less Poems] Lion
[Poetry Friday] Icicles, Cold and Waiting (by Laura Purdie Salas)
[15 Words or Less Poems] Webs
[Poetry Friday] Sea Change (Another Rachel Carson poem)
[Poetry Friday] Rachel Carson: Reborn at Sea
Poetry Friday: World (lyrics by John Ondrasik)
Daisy Chain Haiku by the Poetry Sisters
Poem-a-Day: #30
Poem-a-Day: #29
Poem-a-Day: #28
Poetry Friday and Poem-a-Day: #27
Poem-a-Day: #25
Poem-a-Day: #24
Poem-a-Day: #23 and the Hate-Mongering Tart
Poem-a-Day: #22
Poem-a-Day: #21
Poetry Friday and Poem-a-Day: #20
15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #19
Poem-a-Day: #18 (Plus Poem in Your Pocket and a BookSpeak Giveaway)
Poem-a-Day: #17
Poem-a-Day: #1 6 and Nonfiction Monday: What We Wear (Maya Ajmera)
Poem-a-Day: #15
Poem-a-Day: #14 and a BookSpeak! Award
Poetry Friday and Poem-a-Day: #13
Poem-a-Day: #11 and Bank Street’s Best Books of 2012
Poem-a-Day: #10
Poem-a-Day: #9 and (Gulp) a Poem Video
Poem-a-Day: #8
Poem-a-Day: #7
Poetry Friday and Poem-a-Day: #6
15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #5
Poem-a-Day: #4
Poem-a-Day: #3
Poem-a-Day: #2
Poem-a-Day: #1
wholly to be a fool for Randy
BookSpeak! A Proud Poetry Nerdie
Poetry Friday Roundup: Starry Beach
Happy Birthday, BookSpeak!
The Loudest Quiet
Circling Around
Poetry Friday: Golden Possibilities (by me)
Poetry Friday: Get Smart With the Periodic Table (by me)
Acting Out “After the Storm”: Teacher Tips
Poetry Friday: After the Storm (by me)
It’s Like Billy Collins Read My Mind!
Poetry Friday: The Insult (by me)
Poetry Friday: I’m Sort of Sorry About What Happened… (by me)
Poetry Friday: How to Talk to a Girl (by Me)
Poetry Friday: Jane Kenyon Went to My Pool?
Poetry Friday: I Sailed a Poem to the Grocery Store (original poem)
Poetry Friday: A Round of Rondeau Redouble
Lyrics as Poetry: You’re My Home (Billy Joel)
Poetry Friday: Wounded (an original villanelle)
Poetry Friday: The Villanelle People
A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins
Poetry Friday Right Here!
Poetry Friday: Picnic, Lightning (Billy Collins)
Poetry Friday: Without (an original poem)
Poetry Friday: Without Rancor (an original poem)
Poetry Friday: The Poems We Wear (original poems)
Cooking Up Recipe Poems (2 Original Poems)
Poetry Friday: Dry Sea Skin and The Best Place to Be… (2 original poems)
Poetry Stretch: Obsession, by Prince Charming
Plagiarism Made My Day
Poetry Favorite: A Few of My Favorite (B) Things! (Original Poem)
Poetry Friday: Bling (The Killers)
Poetry Friday: Acrostics
Poetry Friday: Written in the Stars (original poem)
Weaving: an autumn cinquain
Poetry Friday: A Highland Cow poem
Poetry Friday: A Crown Sonnet
My Two Centos’ Worth