Today, I decided to try my hand at writing some book spine poetry. This is a form of poetry I have heard about but never written. Earlier this week I saw a social media post from our high school showing students in the library, working on book spine poetry. Not having any background in this…
I spy a Short Eared Owl nestled in the Grasslands, three Great Blue Herons hiding in the cold Marsh, six Bald Eagles sitting on the ice as the sun soon melts, a single hawk hovering over a dry creek bed, seeking a tiny moving morsel for its morning meal. For these are the Birds of…
What sparkles for you? Is it Sapphires, Rubies, or Opals, too? Diamonds, Emeralds, & Tanzanite all bringing out reflected rays of light. Or do you prefer the more natural scenes of crystal clear lakes, a jagged snow-capped mountain range, or a prairie meadow dancing with butterflies caught on a breeze? Some shiny baubles are…
I wonder…… How do you connect with people? Do you go to them, or do they come to you? Are you an Organizer, or a Participant, or Both? Do you like to talk face to face or send an email? Do you meet for coffee in a public place or at your kitchen table? Are…
Some years ago, about four – I think, I had my writer’s circle students write a compilation of alphabet poems. There were six students in my group, each getting four letters on which to write a short, descriptive poem about what the letter brings to mind for each of them. I gave my usual, stay…
Learning to Snowshoe The thermometer on my phone told me it was seven below zero (-7) as I awoke to drive 40 pairs of snowshoes to a remote terrain in an adjacent county last Saturday morning. This is part of my new job. We had about 40 hikers signed up to join us at a…
I have been told am “old school.” Seriously, I have been told that in the middle of a day of substitute teaching for someone I knew well who had asked me to take her class for several days in a row. It was a tough time. The class was hard to corral; behavior problems abounded….
Today is Poetry Friday. Early this morning my sister-in-law contacted me to make sure we were okay. She keeps tabs on us from afar, partially through reading my daily blog posts. I have not posted in two days! You have to go all the way back to July to see another block of time void…
Acrostic poems aren’t as easy as they seem. At the end of my last garden club meeting in mid-January, I gave the students a mini-lesson on writing acrostic poems. We had just discussed and planted flower bulbs and I wanted to incorporate some language arts into are lesson. The directions were simple, as I used…
Today is Poetry Friday. We are headed into the time of year when I really miss writing poetry with students. For six years, I led a Third Grade Writer’s Circle at the elementary school my boys attended. It started when my youngest was in Third Grade; I was trying to support the love he and…