Laura Purdie Salas

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[Nonfiction Monday] Write a Poem Step by Step and Happy News!

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Welcome to Nonfiction Monday! I have a two-parter today.

1) I want to share Write a Poem Step by Step, by JoAnn Early Macken, author of many fun nonfiction books for kids as well as lovely picture books like Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move. JoAnn is a poet and has written a “simple, logical plan you can follow to create your own poems” (as the subhead says). To many teachers and students, poetry can feel too ambiguous, too mysterious. There are no right or wrong answers in poetry, which is both a blessing and a curse. JoAnn’s simple, logical directions in this book will hold your hand as you walk through the process. It’s sure to give both adults and kids more confidence in their writing. Here’s just a brief example to give you a feel for the tone of JoAnn’s book:

When you read a poem, you often pause briefly at the end of a line. To add line breaks, read your poem aloud and listen for those pauses. Wherever your voice stops, draw a vertical mark between the words. Those places are the most obvious places to break the lines. Copy your poem over, starting a new line after each vertical mark. You will have a complete draft of your new poem.

Write a Poem Step by StepThis book covers everything from finding ideas to using imagery, word choice to patterns, form to revision. It’s full of sample poems from elementary school students, and I think teachers will find it super useful. (And if you’re a fledgeling poet yourself, you’ll love it, too.)

(Book source: Review copy provided by the author.)

Check out Write a Poem at Amazon.com.

A Leaf Can Be . . . (Millbrook Picture Books)2) Happy News! My rhyming nonfiction book A Leaf Can Be… has been named a Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award! The three other finalist books are by David LaRochelle, Jane Yolen, and Mem Fox. Oh, my.

Nonfiction Monday Roundup! Please leave your link in?Mister Linky below. Visitors, please click on Mister Linky to follow the links to enjoy all the Nonfiction Monday posts. Thanks! And feel free to leave a Comment if you like, but?be SURE to leave your link in Mister Linky!

[Addendum:?One generous commenter pointed out?that “if anyone has trouble seeing Mr. Linky, try changing browsers. I can’t see it in FireFox, but it shows up in Safari.” Thanks, Roberta!]

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Comments

  3. Congratulations, Laura! That is a pretty cool honor for a pretty cool book. Love the book that you shared today. Very helpful for classroom teachers.

  4. Congratulations, Laura! That is a pretty cool honor for a pretty cool book. Love the book that you shared today. Very helpful for classroom teachers.

  5. Hooray for you, Laura! And thanks for the poetry teaching book – it looks wonderful and I now need to find it!

  6. Hooray for you, Laura! And thanks for the poetry teaching book – it looks wonderful and I now need to find it!

  13. Congratulations on your great book news (on the same shortlist with Mem Fox!). It couldn’t have happened to a nicer book. 😉 Thanks for hosting.

    • Thanks, Lisa, and…I know! And Jane Yolen. And David LaRochelle. I have met all three of those wonderful writers, and I am honored.

  14. Congratulations on your great book news (on the same shortlist with Mem Fox!). It couldn’t have happened to a nicer book. 😉 Thanks for hosting.

    • Thanks, Lisa, and…I know! And Jane Yolen. And David LaRochelle. I have met all three of those wonderful writers, and I am honored.

  19. Laura,
    What wonderful news on your book! I’ve been using it as a read aloud in my Project Learning Tree workshops and the teachers all love it (as do I)!
    We’ve had a tiny bit of snow here, which makes me long for a bit more. There’s not been enough for sledding or much snowman building. Ice today and 65 on Wednesday! Since I’m thinking snow, that’s what I wrote about today.
    Thanks for hosting!
    Tricia
    (P.S. – Miss you!)

  20. Laura,
    What wonderful news on your book! I’ve been using it as a read aloud in my Project Learning Tree workshops and the teachers all love it (as do I)!
    We’ve had a tiny bit of snow here, which makes me long for a bit more. There’s not been enough for sledding or much snowman building. Ice today and 65 on Wednesday! Since I’m thinking snow, that’s what I wrote about today.
    Thanks for hosting!
    Tricia
    (P.S. – Miss you!)

  21. Congratulations for having A Leaf Can Be becoming a finalist, Laura. It is such a special book! I didn’t know about the poetry book & it looks good for teachers, as you explain. Thanks for sharing about it!

  22. Congratulations for having A Leaf Can Be becoming a finalist, Laura. It is such a special book! I didn’t know about the poetry book & it looks good for teachers, as you explain. Thanks for sharing about it!

  25. Laura,

    Great news about your book! It definitely deserves recognition.

    I’ll be checking out the poetry book, too.

    PS. If anyone has trouble seeing Mr. Linky, try changing browsers. I can’t see it in FireFox, but it shows up in Safari.

    • Thanks so much, Roberta. And I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t know that Mister Linky didn’t play nice with all browsers. I’ll add an addendum to my post–thanks!

  26. Laura,

    Great news about your book! It definitely deserves recognition.

    I’ll be checking out the poetry book, too.

    PS. If anyone has trouble seeing Mr. Linky, try changing browsers. I can’t see it in FireFox, but it shows up in Safari.

    • Thanks so much, Roberta. And I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t know that Mister Linky didn’t play nice with all browsers. I’ll add an addendum to my post–thanks!

  27. Thank you so much for your positive comments, Laura! And huge congratulations on your exciting award news. I love A LEAF CAN BE . . . and use it in my picture book writing classes as a perfect example of creative nonfiction.

    • Oh, thanks, JoAnn! And you’re welcome! I’m doing a poetry inservice (twice) at the Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference here in the Twin Cities in February, and I’ll show it off there:>)

  28. Thank you so much for your positive comments, Laura! And huge congratulations on your exciting award news. I love A LEAF CAN BE . . . and use it in my picture book writing classes as a perfect example of creative nonfiction.

    • Oh, thanks, JoAnn! And you’re welcome! I’m doing a poetry inservice (twice) at the Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference here in the Twin Cities in February, and I’ll show it off there:>)

  35. Thanks for hosting. My selection is — “Tillie the terrible Swede : how one woman, a sewing needle, and a bicycle changed history” by Sue Stauffacher with illustrations by Sarah McMenemy.

  36. Thanks for hosting. My selection is — “Tillie the terrible Swede : how one woman, a sewing needle, and a bicycle changed history” by Sue Stauffacher with illustrations by Sarah McMenemy.

  41. Ok so technical question, I was looking at Dante’s inferno for the pre-18th century classic. Amazon has one in “modern English”, will that still qualify as reading the classic? I hope so cause it is easier for me to understand than the Longfellow translation. Also is the century based on when the book was published or when century it was set in? trying to figure out my books and I am doing the monthly keyword challenge too is I hope some will fulfill both challenges. So excited to get started! C’mon 2013!

    • Good question, Lee–I guess the person who created that challenge would be the one to answer. For me, I would consider it as qualifying. You would lose, of course, some of the beauty of the language. But if you’re not a huge reader of the classics (and I admit I am not), I think reading it in some form is better than not reading it at all. And I assume the century listed is for publication date. Good luck!

  42. Ok so technical question, I was looking at Dante’s inferno for the pre-18th century classic. Amazon has one in “modern English”, will that still qualify as reading the classic? I hope so cause it is easier for me to understand than the Longfellow translation. Also is the century based on when the book was published or when century it was set in? trying to figure out my books and I am doing the monthly keyword challenge too is I hope some will fulfill both challenges. So excited to get started! C’mon 2013!

    • Good question, Lee–I guess the person who created that challenge would be the one to answer. For me, I would consider it as qualifying. You would lose, of course, some of the beauty of the language. But if you’re not a huge reader of the classics (and I admit I am not), I think reading it in some form is better than not reading it at all. And I assume the century listed is for publication date. Good luck!

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