Happy National Poetry Month! Thanks for dropping by my Poem Starter Video party.
Today’s poem comes from Poetrees?(Beach Lane Books, 2010), by poet and artist?Douglas Florian. One of the best rejection letters I ever got (I know–writers are weird) was from an editor who said my animal poems full of wordplay felt too much like Florian’s work for her house to publish both of us. Yes, I realize she didn’t say mine were anywhere near as good as his. But it was a lovely rejection anyway!
For whimsy and wordplay and sometimes for deceptive simplicity, Florian is always a fantastic choice.
Oak
From the acorn
Grows the tree–
S l o w l y,
S l o w l y.
–by Douglas Florian, all rights reserved
And here is my Poem Starter Video:
[wpvideo NTXzdBJa]
Hi, Laura–
These are really useful and accessible! I’m sharing this one with staff at my school today because the poem is short, the poet is male, the mission is achievable for kids of all levels and English abilities and the art is awesome.
[Addendum by Laura: Heidi also pointed out a typo that I’m mortified about–which I am grateful she noticed and I have fixed. Yikes! Thank you, Heidi!]
Thank you, Heidi! I’ve got male poets all week this week:>) And I appreciate the feedback–it’s good to know what mades a Poem Starter Video useful as I try to figure out how to make these work for educators. And THANK YOU for telling me about my error. Holy moly. So glad you saw that first thing!
Hi, Laura–
These are really useful and accessible! I’m sharing this one with staff at my school today because the poem is short, the poet is male, the mission is achievable for kids of all levels and English abilities and the art is awesome.
[Addendum by Laura: Heidi also pointed out a typo that I’m mortified about–which I am grateful she noticed and I have fixed. Yikes! Thank you, Heidi!]
Thank you, Heidi! I’ve got male poets all week this week:>) And I appreciate the feedback–it’s good to know what mades a Poem Starter Video useful as I try to figure out how to make these work for educators. And THANK YOU for telling me about my error. Holy moly. So glad you saw that first thing!
Ooh, and don’t forget to stop by and see how things are developing with my 30days30words collaborative poem–I know you’ll have good suggestions…
Ooh, and don’t forget to stop by and see how things are developing with my 30days30words collaborative poem–I know you’ll have good suggestions…
OK, so I love this book! And I LOVE your video and suggestion. You have a very nice way or presenting the poems and your writing tips! I agree with Heidi! But I also adore Douglas Florian and marvel at his ability to constantly write so many poems that are just fine and that appeal to everyone including my boys. I love one in there in the middle that might be about leaves….I think it is the page that matches the cover….but I love how you talked about the concrete style of how to show the “speed word” on the page. These are going to be very helpful for teachers, Laura.
(Just FYI, it took too fixes from Irene to get my guest blog right. I proofed like crazy, but tired old eyes didn’t catch them and I was rushing to go out with my poor neglected hubby….who kept saying, “one line, it is taking you this long to write one line?……I don’t think he realized what blog post might look like, especially a first time effort!!! I hereby promise that if I note a typo on any friendly blogger’s post, I will alert them….I generally go with the adage, well, I goof, too, but I so get it!)
PS Just a thought…..I might still include a little teacher topic helper under your video like: Works for Earth Day, stresses small poem, concrete style and words that deal with “speed of movement” etc. etc…..just something that they can have and quickly see/find…like an index. But you can come back to add these. (I am just trying to think of the way a busy teacher could have your links in an accessible format rather than hunting through the archives if they forget from year to year or through their bookmarks….)
Our school has been on vacation since April 1, now back in time for test prep and then a month of testing. I do, however, think that your videos and other ideas for NaPoMo might be just the thing for stress relief and education rolled into one beautiful package….
Thanks, Janet! I hope teachers like them. I’m planning to have a spot where teachers can see at a glance the poem and poet and book featured, and also the poem starter subject (like “speed”). Just super brief. But I haven’t yet figured out where I want these videos to live permanently. My blog? My website? YouTube? I’m just not sure. Once I figure that out, I’ll work on making them easy to sort through and find what you want. For now, they’re just daily tidbits so I can feature lots of poets and also to build up a nice little set of them.
Typos are embarrassing, but I don’t worry about them TOO much. But this was actually a terrible error where I got a name wrong (because I used a previous post as a template and didn’t change the name in one part). Ack!
OK, so I love this book! And I LOVE your video and suggestion. You have a very nice way or presenting the poems and your writing tips! I agree with Heidi! But I also adore Douglas Florian and marvel at his ability to constantly write so many poems that are just fine and that appeal to everyone including my boys. I love one in there in the middle that might be about leaves….I think it is the page that matches the cover….but I love how you talked about the concrete style of how to show the “speed word” on the page. These are going to be very helpful for teachers, Laura.
(Just FYI, it took too fixes from Irene to get my guest blog right. I proofed like crazy, but tired old eyes didn’t catch them and I was rushing to go out with my poor neglected hubby….who kept saying, “one line, it is taking you this long to write one line?……I don’t think he realized what blog post might look like, especially a first time effort!!! I hereby promise that if I note a typo on any friendly blogger’s post, I will alert them….I generally go with the adage, well, I goof, too, but I so get it!)
PS Just a thought…..I might still include a little teacher topic helper under your video like: Works for Earth Day, stresses small poem, concrete style and words that deal with “speed of movement” etc. etc…..just something that they can have and quickly see/find…like an index. But you can come back to add these. (I am just trying to think of the way a busy teacher could have your links in an accessible format rather than hunting through the archives if they forget from year to year or through their bookmarks….)
Our school has been on vacation since April 1, now back in time for test prep and then a month of testing. I do, however, think that your videos and other ideas for NaPoMo might be just the thing for stress relief and education rolled into one beautiful package….
Thanks, Janet! I hope teachers like them. I’m planning to have a spot where teachers can see at a glance the poem and poet and book featured, and also the poem starter subject (like “speed”). Just super brief. But I haven’t yet figured out where I want these videos to live permanently. My blog? My website? YouTube? I’m just not sure. Once I figure that out, I’ll work on making them easy to sort through and find what you want. For now, they’re just daily tidbits so I can feature lots of poets and also to build up a nice little set of them.
Typos are embarrassing, but I don’t worry about them TOO much. But this was actually a terrible error where I got a name wrong (because I used a previous post as a template and didn’t change the name in one part). Ack!
Laura, when it comes to rejections, those kind are definitely the best ones! Like your experience, I had an editor tell me she liked my work, but it was too similar to Silverstein & Prelutsky…again, she didn’t say my stuff was nearly as good, but it was still the best rejection letter I ever got!
Here’s my poem:
THE SLOTH AND THE SNAIL
A sloth and a snail
decided to race,
so each one set out
at his usual pace.
Friends rooted them on
with great fanfare and cheers,
and we should have a winner
in a…
…couple…
…o f…
…y e a r s…
Very clever!! That’s a keeper.
That’s fabulous! Love how you used ellipses to accomplish the speed stuff. And very funny poem.
On the rejection letter, niiiiice. It’s extra helpful when it’s poets you admire:>)
Laura, when it comes to rejections, those kind are definitely the best ones! Like your experience, I had an editor tell me she liked my work, but it was too similar to Silverstein & Prelutsky…again, she didn’t say my stuff was nearly as good, but it was still the best rejection letter I ever got!
Here’s my poem:
THE SLOTH AND THE SNAIL
A sloth and a snail
decided to race,
so each one set out
at his usual pace.
Friends rooted them on
with great fanfare and cheers,
and we should have a winner
in a…
…couple…
…o f…
…y e a r s…
Very clever!! That’s a keeper.
That’s fabulous! Love how you used ellipses to accomplish the speed stuff. And very funny poem.
On the rejection letter, niiiiice. It’s extra helpful when it’s poets you admire:>)
Well you know I love short poems and tree poems. This is delightful!
All the loooong winter
leaf buds sleep tight
then suddenly
spring goes
POP!
Love how your line lengths support your speed words! I like winter, but it’s starting to feel loooong here in MN. We’re supposed to get a ton of snow in the next several days!
Well you know I love short poems and tree poems. This is delightful!
All the loooong winter
leaf buds sleep tight
then suddenly
spring goes
POP!
Love how your line lengths support your speed words! I like winter, but it’s starting to feel loooong here in MN. We’re supposed to get a ton of snow in the next several days!
Laura,
I am so enjoying this video series. I feel like I’m getting a daily poetry class, with concrete examples. Thank you!!
Thanks, Buffy–I’m really glad you’re finding them useful:>)
Laura,
I am so enjoying this video series. I feel like I’m getting a daily poetry class, with concrete examples. Thank you!!
Thanks, Buffy–I’m really glad you’re finding them useful:>)
THE ACOLYTE
Our congregation was dozing off
During this mornings sermon,
So I whispered to Pastor Herman
FASTERFASTERFASTER!
In order to avoid a Sunday
Morning sleeping disaster.
(C) Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Ha! Great use of speed, and very funny poem:>)
THE ACOLYTE
Our congregation was dozing off
During this mornings sermon,
So I whispered to Pastor Herman
FASTERFASTERFASTER!
In order to avoid a Sunday
Morning sleeping disaster.
(C) Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Ha! Great use of speed, and very funny poem:>)