Poetry Friday: Thirty Days of Student Poetry

Welcome. Today I am featuring the poems from Mr. Haines third graders. I teach research skills and yet, what to do with the research? So this class wrote cinquain poems based on the information they gathered.

Russia
Far away
Soccer, fish eggs, soup
Biggest country in the world.
Fun

Ayana, 3rd grade

Australia
Far away
Eat lobster, crab
Australians speak English and Aussie.
Shrimp

Tessia, 3rd grade

United Kingdom
Big Ben, trains
People like trains
I like red apples and cars.
The end

Andrew C , 3rd grade

Poetry Friday is being held at Random Noodling. Thanks, Diane.

Happy Poetry.
happy Reading.
MsMac

Thirty Days of Student Poetry

Germany
Far, far away
Games, bar-b-queing, soccer
Germany has big buildings like Japan.
German

Brazee, 3rd grade

Canada
Not far
Its very snowy in the hills.
The second biggest country in the world.
Friends.

Lily, 3rd grade

Japan
Biggest island
Japanese like origiri rice.
New Year is the biggest event.
A big country.

Ashton, 3rd grade

Happy Poetry.
Happy Reading
MsMac

Thirty Days of Student Poetry

Continuing our around the world travels:
Japan
Use ikanji
Baseball, sumo wrestling, scooters
Japan has a big population.
Rice

Brevin, 3rd grade

Japan
Far away
Gaming, baseball, sumo wrestling
Japan has lots of islands.
Awesome.

Levi, 3rd grade

Canada
Christmas, New Year Day
Cars, bus, subway
Uses lots of French language.
Awesome

Kailey C, 3rd grade

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading

These are two of the books on my list for the Highlights Foundation workshop. I read both of these intense books this weekend. My Book of Life By Angel by Martine Leavitt and Stop Pretending Nothing Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones are gripping, intense, and you just can’t put them down. Or at least I couldn’t. You can tell I tabbed some pages in the Sones book. I will be re-reading them over the next couple of weeks.

What are you reading? Find out what others are reading at Teach Mentor Texts

Happy Reading.
MsMac

Thirty Days of Student Poems

Google image

I am late due to computer (IPad specific) challenges. Here are some poems from Mr. Baker’s fourth grade class:

Sun shines over river
Where fish swim for food
So they can live.

- Andrew

The winter is cold
My birthday is in winter
Pinata; boom, boom!

-Antonio

Look out the window
To the garden and I see
Sunflowers everywhere

-Bailey

big fat monkeys in the sky
those kind just need to fly
I get a big raspberry pie
then they charge at my pie

-Joshua

Happy Poetry.
Happy reading.
MsMac

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

I am getting ready for my poetry novel workshop in April by reading the work of Kelly Bingham and Helen Frost. One month from today I will be at the Highlights Foundation with them.

I have read other books by Helen Frost but am not as familiar with Bingham’s work.

I finished Don’t Feed The Boy by Irene Latham. It’s a story that gathers you up from the first page. Latham’s writing is fluid and poetic, hard to put down. A boy living at the zoo, how fun would that be? Remember there are always two sides of the coin.

What are you reading? Visit Teach Mentor Texts.
Happy Monday.
MsMac

Bridget Zinn Poison Blog Tour

I feel fortunate to be a part of the Bridget Zinn author tour. d you know there are over 100 blogs getting the word out about Poison?

My first involves Poison. It is the first book I read on an ereader. I was able to download the ARC through Netgalley, a way for librarians to keep abreast of the latest soon to be released titles. I loved Kyra, the adorable pig, the action and twists of the book. Definitely could hear Bridget’s voice throughout.

BUT I also discovered that I am in love with real books. I need to have them in hand, be able to turn the pages, and smell the newness of the book. So I was very happy to have purchased Poison last Saturday at the book release party. You can read more about it HERE

So I am currently rereading the real thing.

Poison

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.
But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?
Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Purchase your copy

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

IndieBound

iTunes Bookstore

Powell’s Books

Add Poison to your Goodreads pile!

About Bridget Zinn
Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the “summer of love” and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died. Her last tweet was “Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect.”

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers’ copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

More blog posts can be found HERE

Run out now and get your book.

And the Winner Is….

If a book remains unopened
and no reader turns its page,
does it still embrace a story
or trap words inside a cage?

BookSpeak! celebrates all things books. One of our judges stated that it shows kids “how to look at a common object with new eyes.” Another said, “I love the many ‘voices’ she created within the book world.” A third judge noted, “when read aloud, I feel these poems have heaps of personality–and utility, too.”

Laura Purdie Salas explores reading, writing, stories, and book components in a wide variety of poetic forms, styles, and imaginative voices. From the lyrical “Skywriting” to the clever personification of “Index,” the poems flow from beginning to end, providing helpful models that young writers may enjoy exploring and imitating.

Josee’ Bisaillon’s use of collage, digital montage, and drawings complete the whole package. Complemented by a distinctive use of typeface and energetic and expressive illustrations, BookSpeak! is a book of book poems that readers of all ages will return to again and again.

No worries about words being trapped in this winning book!

Thank you to the following judges:
Linda Baie
Ed DeCaria
Renee La Tulippe
Diane Mayr
Sylvia Vardell

For the full list of the CYBILS Award winners visit HERE
Congratulations.

Happy Reading
msMac.

Poetry Friday: Draw by Amy Van DerWater

On Wednesday, I featured Amy VanDerWater. Today she shares this poem with me:

Draw

Cavemom said, Draw on our walls!
Caveboy got a bone
dipped it into mud and blood.
And then he felt alone.

The wall was blank. The wall was clear.
He stood in place. He stared in fear.
How would he fill this empty space?
Cavemom looked into his face.

Caveboy darling. Caveboy child.
Draw the bison, free and wild.
Draw your father.
Draw a deer.
Draw your life.
Draw right here.

He drew one tree. She drew another.
They drew all morning, boy and mother.

Someday
we will all be gone.
But art we make lives on and on.

© Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

I don’t know about you put I can see the drawings made by the cave of and cavemom. I love the last stanza.
Poetry Friday is hosted by Jama’s Alphabet Soup

Happy Reading.
MsMac

Interview Wednesday: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Your Reading Life

MsMac: What books are on your night stand?
Amy: At the moment, my nightstand holds two very different books: THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO by Stephen Galloway and IF YOU WERE A CHOCOLATE MUSTACHE by J. Patrick Lewis.

MsMac:What was your favorite book as a child/teen? As an adult?
Amy: I loved so many books. As a little girl, I would get lost in RICHARD SCARRY’S BEST STORYBOOK EVER and A CHILD’S GARDEN OF POEMS, illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa. As I got older, I was a real Nancy Drew fan, enjoying 15 nightly minutes of reading in bed. My mother always checked out library books for my sister Heidi and me, and we kept them on a deacon’s bench in our front hall. Now I have the bench, and it reminds me of those days. As an adult, I have many favorites including WORDS TO LIVE BY by Eknath Easwaran and David Shenk’s THE GENIUS IN ALL OF US.

MsMac: Where’s your favorite reading spot?
Amy: I love reading in bed, in the bathtub, under the Christmas tree…anywhere, really!

MsMac: What do you think about the trend to e-books?
Amy : E-books are amazing, and although I don’t own an e-reader yet, I wouldn’t be opposed to reading on one. But just as I love drafting on paper and then moving to computer, my heart will always hold paper books dear.
MsMac: I have to agree with you, Amy. I have an IPad but I have yet to read a book with it.

Your Writing Life

MsMac: What does a day of work look like for you? What is your favorite time of day to write?
Amy: My daily work often finds me planning to teach or teaching workshops in schools. Writing is something I tuck into nooks of both day and night, often when the rest of the house is sleeping. Some days I am more disciplined than others, and those days make me happy.

MsMac: Writing the first draft or revising? Which is your favorite?
Amy: I love both! I adore the surprise of drafting, being visited by a mysterious sparkling idea. And I love revising, getting to know the idea better, helping it find its shape and voice. Drafting allows me to free my mind, to accept quirky trinkets from the universe. Revising requires me to read, reread, listen, tune, and rewrite. Both are exciting.

MsMac: What does your writing space look like?
Amy: I write everywhere: at the kitchen table, on my bed, lying on the living room floor, outside in the grass, snuggled up in our fat purple chair, on my steering wheel, at my roll top desk…

MsMac: What are your current projects?
Amy: Right now I need to finish up READING TIME (WordSong), a collection of poems about reading. I am also working on my first picture book and brewing a few other poetry collections.

MsMac: What advice do you have for poets of any age?
Amy: Listen to that small inner voice, the one tossing you mysterious sparkling ideas. Build in some daily quiet so you can hear it.

MsMac: What might readers find you doing when you’re not writing?
Amy: Oh, you might find me just visiting with my great husband and children, or baking, or reading, or working on this enormous granny square afghan, or laughing at the antics of our many pets.

About The Poem Farm

MsMac: How did The Poem Farm Get started?
Amy: I began The Poem Farm as a one-month blog in April 2010. My intent was to write and post a new poem each day for the whole month, but when April ended, I was not finished! I decided to continue posting daily poems and notes to students for a whole year and now still post regularly. Keeping this blog has widened and deepened my little world in more ways than I ever could have dreamt.

MsMac: You have a couple of poetry books that are going to be released. What can you tell me about them?
Amy: FOREST HAS A SONG (Clarion) will be published this March, and it is a whimsical collection of poems about a forest through the seasons. My husband Mark, a science teacher, taught me to pay lose attention to nature on our many hikes together. With this book, I hope to pass on his reverence for the wooded world.

READING TIME (WordSong) is a celebration of reading, inspired by watching our children – Hope, Georgia, and Henry – fall headlong into books of all sorts.

MsMac: What do you hope readers take away?
Amy: I love reading poems that make me whisper, “Yes! I feel that way too, but I didn’t know I felt that way until now.” And I hope that in some small way, my poems will give readers this “not alone” feeling. I always hope that people will be able to find themselves in my poems.

Just for Fun

MsMac: Chocolate: Dark or milk?
Amy: Any!

MsMac: Coffee or tea?
Amy: Tea

MsMac: Dance: funky chicken or the tango?
Amy: Tango

Favorite Quote:

Here is one I love, from Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness.”

“Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.”