Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

You are here: Home / Archives for Poems for Teachers

Introducing Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations #PoetryFriday

By 28 Comments

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m thrilled to introduce you to my first spring title this year, Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations (Charlesbridge, 2/5/19), with gorgeous art by Micha Archer. It’s a combination of equation poems and prose sidebars. The equations explore the transformations that happen all around […]

Tagged With: , , , ,

When Clouds Grow Claws [15 Words or Less]

By 23 Comments

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 in the incredible National Museum of African American History and […]

Tagged With: , ,

Winter Poem Swap #PoetryFriday

By 22 Comments

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) This year, I participated in Tabatha Yeatts’ Winter Poem Swap for the first time. It was scary, as I had no idea what to expect. But I wrote my poem for Irene Latham (though postal catastrophes followed) and sent off my little package. And I […]

Tagged With:

De-Icing an Airplane [15 Words or Less]

By 32 Comments

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 makes me think of several things:

Tagged With: , ,

Anatomy of Typography [Poetry Friday]

By

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 four images I’m sharing. Whew! Good thing she […]

Tagged With: , , , , ,

Storm [15 Words or Less]

By

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 a filtered version of a public domain image. Can […]

Tagged With: , ,

Gizmo [15 Words or Less]

By

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 last photo from Houston. This is a gizmo over […]

Tagged With: , ,

Never Say No (to a Philly Cheesesteak) [Poetry Friday]

By

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, I celebrated the famed Philly cheesesteak–yum! I’ll take mine […]

Tagged With: , , , ,

Shrouded Plants [15 Words or Less]

By

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 hotel had all their huge potted plants wrapped up. It […]

Tagged With: , ,

Pinwheels [15 Words or Less]

By

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 think of several things:

Tagged With: , ,