Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

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My Biopoem Lesson Plan

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As I mentioned yesterday, I led biopoem sessions at a Young Authors Conference all last week. The students wrote and shared amazing poems: a silly poem about brussel sprouts, a thoughtful poem about creativity, a heartbreaking poem about gender identity and fitting in, a scary poem about rats, a celebratory poem about soccer, and SO […]

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A Tree Can Be…, by Mrs. Vallarino’s 3rd-Grade Class

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As a writer, nothing makes me feel better than knowing that my words inspired someone else to do something: to write, to think differently, to take some kind of action (or even just to relax, to laugh, or to learn). Last month, I got the nicest letter from teacher Ashley Vallarino, who wrote: I am […]

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Catch Your Breath: a poetry-writing guide by Laura Purdie Salas

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Hey, guess what! My most recent writing project for Capstone Press is a guide to writing poetry, aimed at 4th-8th graders. And it covers ALL sorts of poetic forms and moods. (The title is rather a long story.) And in addition to a few classics, it features poems generously, graciously donated by many poets you […]

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Wordplay Poems from the Young Authors Conference, Part 2

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One more day of wordplay poems here! Monday, I shared the lesson plan. Yesterday, I shared a gallery of poems. And today, here’s a gallery of the rest of the poems! Thank you, students! Teachers, please note: Most of these are their notebook version, not copied over neatly yet. That’s because these students spent time […]

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Wordplay Poems from the Young Authors Conference

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Today and tomorrow, I’m sharing student poems from my sessions at Success Beyond the Classroom’s Young Authors Conference at Bethel University. I shared the process/lesson plan yesterday, and I’m excited to share student work here. Teachers, I know you’ll find some awesome poems here to use as mentor texts/examples if you do wordplay poems in […]

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Wordplay Poems in Your Classroom

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Last week, I taught all week at Success Beyond the Classroom‘s Young Authors Conference in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I love this event every year. It’s an opportunity for me to lead the same writing workshop 12 times in a row with 4th-8th graders, mostly kids who are strong, enthusiastic writers. This year, I […]

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2015 Progressive Poem: What’s My Line?

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Hi, everyone! It’s Day 4, and thus Line 4, of the 2015 Progressive Poem, created and curated by Irene Latham.? I missed participating last year and am happy to be back. OK, I confess I am a fan of short poems. And short lines. (My Ireland poem from yesterday feels long to me, and it’s […]

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Meet the Zeno (a great poem form for classrooms)

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You guys know Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ Ditty of the Month Challenge at Today’s Little Ditty, right? Where she features a guest, who issues a poetic challenge? This month she featured J. Patrick Lewis, who shared a poetic form he created, the zeno. You can read all about the zeno (and Pat) here. I encourage you […]

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Write a Color Poem – My Blue Is Happy, Pt. 2

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Teachers, last week I posted about a picture book I love, My Blue Is Happy, by Jessica Young. It would be fun to take this book and then brainstorm what you see each color as and write a list poem based on it. You could dim the lights and project a solid screen of each […]

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Jone MacCulloch’s Silver Star Poetry Project

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Please forgive the double post today, but I wanted to share this poem while it was still Poetry Month. I signed up for Jone MacCulloch‘s Silver Star Poetry Project again this year, and I just got my beautiful postcard yesterday. What a burst of brightness and cheer on a grey, drizzly day (well, OK, you […]

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