National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.25

we turned a corner

(the redbuds are leafing out)

over there -- summer

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

 

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.17

old trees make new leaves

bark is rough but roots are strong

spring becomes summer

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

 

Poetry Friday -- Autumn Acrostic

a tree in our neighborhood

 

At first, it goes

Unnoticed.

Then it is

Undeniable. Almost like

Magic, summer is gone.

No more shorts and swimsuits.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020 (with input from students on the last line)

My original last like was "naked trees," but "naked" is still a squirmy word for fifth graders (which I LOVE), so I gladly accepted this perfectly child-centric alternative last line.

We have been blessed with a glorious autumn, but my heart goes out to those who have had drought and fires, hurricanes and flooding. 

Jama's serving up warm cider and donuts with an autumn poem which, like mine last week, features an apple orchard. It's all kinds of perfect. Head over to the Poetry Friday Roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup and check it out.

Poetry Friday -- Winter Solstice

solstice sunset --

skeletal sycamore

backlit by autumn

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Happy Solstice! Welcome back, Kachinas, who come bearing gifts.

We're at the end of a dark, dark year, but we need to remember that it is the darkness that helps us appreciate the light.

Buffy has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week, and I'm happy to announce that the January-June 2018 Poetry Friday Roundup Schedule is complete!

Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves
by Loretta Holland
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September, 2014
Review copy from the public library, via my amazing literacy coach, Brooke!

The best compliment I can give this book is that I have read it at least 5 times and I am still finding new things to love!

When Amazing Literacy Coach Brooke handed it to me with a, "Have you seen this? I think it would make a fabulous mentor text." I read through it quickly, seeing the short phrases in large font with informational text in smaller font below.

On the next read, I really thought about the word choice for the words in large font. The book begins with, "FALL ARRIVES" and on the next page, "BIRDS LEAVE," then "LEAVES TWIST" and "RAIN FALLS."

I started to form a theory about the pattern of the words on my second read, but I had to read the whole book again from start to finish to confirm it: (spoiler alert) every page has either FALL or LEAVES in the text! Fall can be used as the noun (the season) or the verb (to fall). Same with leaves. So cool! And the text is satisfyingly circular.

On the fourth read, I studied the illustrations and marveled at the use of color, light, and movement that Loretta Holland used to perfectly capture the mood and feel of fall. On Goodreads, I tagged this book "Potential Caldecott."

Finally, on the fifth go-round, I read the nonfiction text under the large words on each page. The science behind each phrase is clearly explained and includes the large words (in italics).

Brooke was right. This would make a fabulous mentor text. Not since Nothing Like a Puffin have I read a picture book that calls to me to use its pattern to write my own version. The hardest thing will be to find two words that can both be used as nouns and verbs. I'm off to my notebook to brainstorm...

AWESOME AUTUMN by Bruce Goldstone

When Beth (at Cover to Cover) walked over to hand me a new book about autumn, my first thought was that I was not interested. But I should know by now that Beth only hands me great books!  The book she handed me was Awesome Autumn by Bruce Goldstone. The Subtitle of this book is "All Kinds of Fall Facts and Fun".   I opened it up and knew I had to buy it.  Immediately.  Bruce Goldstone is the author of Great Estimations,  Greater Estimations and 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days. I love every one of his books and I love this new one too!

Each page in this book is pretty much a stand alone. Each page looks at some different aspect of fall-How Does Autumn Feel? In Autumn, Some Birds Leave Town, What Do People Do In Autumn? etc. The photos on each page make you want to spend a lot of time there.  Although some pages are mostly photos and labels, other pages have a great deal of text. Just the perfect amount of text for kids to dig in and read.

This is a gorgeous book that is packed with information.  It can be used as a read aloud and it will tie nicely into science units around seasons or weather.  I can see younger readers spending lots of time with the book and I can see my upper elementary students reading it from cover to cover. It is filled with so much to look at and to learn.

Wacko - a haiku

Iris in April?

Should be Memorial Day --

Seasons are wacko.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Poem #23, National Poetry Month 2012

Truth in advertising -- this is neither an iris from my garden, nor is it an iris that's blooming right now (it's name is Fire and Ice, and it's from Mom's garden last June). 

But I  really did do a complete double-take last week when I saw whole beds of iris blooming in Denver. Some are blooming here, too. What's up with THAT?!?! Iris bloom at the end of May so that you can cut them and take them to the cemetery to lay on the graves on Memorial Day. Used to be, at least. Can't tell me nothing's wacko about the weather and/or the seasons...

Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku), Jone at Deo Writer (daily haiku)...and YOU?