Poem #21 -- Overheard

WHAT BILLY COLLINS SAID AFTER THE POETRY READING LAST NIGHT

The reason there is so much bad poetry written

is that the tools of poetry are so accessible --

with pencil and paper anyone can write a poem,

unlike, say, playing the saxophone,

which requires the instrument and some lessons.

And who could just go out and start hacking

at a block of marble and make a sculpture on the first try?

The training for writing poetry is in the library.

Reading.

Reading poetry.

Reading deeply.

And you find your voice by 

being jealous of other poets.

By reading other poets.

You write poetry because of 

an urge to emulate,

to imitate.

No copyright on these words, folks, because Billy Collins said them -- I just wrote them down. What he said about bad poetry...ouch. I feel like a poser with this "tra-la-la, I'll write a poem a day" project. And yet, what he said about reading poetry, and the urge to emulate...I do that! I have nearly every book of poetry he's published, plus one long and two short shelves of other poetry books (not to mention Amy LV's The Poem Farm, the weekly impromptu anthology known as Poetry Friday, and The Writer's Almanac). 

Billy Collins has a new book of poetry, published just this month:

Horoscopes for the Dead

And now I have a whole new slew of favorite Collins poems, such as the five-liner that made the crowd burst into laughter, the one that riffs off a comment overheard in a restaurant ("I was like give me a break"), the one about having a hangover and listening to kids playing Marco Polo, the poem about memorizing a poem. 

Favorite Series: Fox and Hen

Fox and Hen Together
by Beatrice Rodriguez
Enchanted Lion Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

The surprise in Chicken Thief (a PW Best Book of 2010), the first book in this trilogy (watch for Rooster's Revenge in September), is that when the fox steals the chicken, the outcome is happily ever after and not chicken feathers at the corners of fox's mouth. In this book, Chicken leaves Fox in charge of her egg while she goes out to catch a fish for dinner. The adventure that ensues for Chicken takes up the rest of the book, except for the part at the end where there's a surprise with that egg.

I'm not telling. Sorry. You'll have to read it for yourself.

Why I love this series:
1. It's more than just the Fox and the Chicken, it's a whole series of wordless books that Enchanted Lion is doing called Stories Without Words. (see also my review of ICE by Arthur Geisert)
2. The size and shape of the books -- they are different from other books -- long and skinny.
3. Wordless picture books are "just right" books for EVERY reader in my classroom.

Poem #20 -- Happy Birthday, Franki !!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRANKI !!

We're the cupcakes,

You're the frosting.

You're the sprinkles on the top!

We're the shelves,

You're the books.

You could practically be the shop!

You're the fulcrum

of our balance.

You remind us to stay sane!

You're the laughter

that brightens our days.

A toast to you, with poetic champagne!

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

I hope you'll add your birthday wishes to Franki in the comments! Help me celebrate a fabulous blogging partner, a good friend, and a dynamic teacher/librarian. Three cheers for Franki !!!

SEED SOIL SUN: EARTH'S RECIPE FOR FOOD by Cris Peterson

I picked up quite the fun pile of books at the Debbie Miller workshop this weekend. One book that I am really excited about is SEED SOIL SUN by Cris Peterson.  This is a nonfiction book with gorgeous photographs.

I was surprised at how much I loved the writing in this book and how much I actually learned. I assumed this would tell me about plants growing as so many other books do.  But this book takes a unique look at the topic. Each page has several gorgeous photos accompanied by a bit of text giving details about the way plants grow. I loved information like this, "Microscopic one-celled bacteria that munch away on dead leaves and insects in the soil are so minute that it would take a thousand of them lined up in a row to reach across the head of a pin."  The author does a great job of creating visuals that help readers understand difficult concepts.

One of the interesting new things I learned, was, "Each handful of soil contains more living things than all the human beings on Earth."

The author does a great job of making this book accessible to young readers and at the same time introduces very sophisticated concepts ideas.

The length of this book makes it good for both read aloud and independent reading.

Poem #19 -- Life

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by ADoseofShipBoy

LIFE

the price of gasoline

pistachio ice cream

colonoscopies

bunches of daisies

stages of cancer

a friend with the answer

haze in the sky

pecan pie

graffiti

confetti

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Patrick Carman on Multimedia Books

I recently had the opportunity to interview author, Patrick Carman for Choice Literacy. In this podcast, Patrick Carman talks about his commitment to literacy and the role multimedia can play in hooking kids into reading.  If you are interested, you can listen to the podcast on the Choice Literacy site.

Patrick Carman also talked about this at a recent TED NYEd Talk.


If you had not had a chance to hear Patrick Carman speak about Mutlimedia books and the doors they can open, I would highly recommend it. He really helped me see possibilities for students that I hadn't seen before.  Also, if you had not had time to take a look at his multimedia books (Skeleton Creek, Trackers) or his new 3:15 project, they are brilliant.  I promise they will totally hook you.  Great stories and amazing use of various forms of media.  I love the fact that Carman has some multimedia books and then more traditional books that kids can go to once they get hooked on his writing.

Poem #18 -- To Educate

TO EDUCATE IS TO FUNAMBULATE*

My students are the
absorbate
for all that I
communicate.

All day long I
motivate,
they
concentrate,
we
collaborate.

For some I must
abbreviate,
for others I
accelerate.

On my best days I
fascinate and
motivate.

On the other days I
hesitate
dubiate**
cogitate

then

reinvigorate,
regenerate.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011





*Funambulate -- to walk or dance on a tight rope.

**dubiate -- to doubt

POETRY PICNIC!

This week in the library, we are having a POETRY PICNIC! There is no food at this picnic, but we are just getting a taste of poetry. The library is set up to look like a picnic and there are about 20 places that kids can choose from--places to try things having to do with poetry. My big goal is to get kids' hands on different types of poetry books and to give them time to explore poetry with friends. Classes come to the library every 4 days and we'll keep the picnic set up for 2 rotations. The library is set up so that students can be independent--with directions at each station inviting them to try some things. Many of the tables are set up with a certain type of poetry for kids to read together or on their own. Below are some of the things kids can choose from:


LIST POETRY
At this table, students can read poems from Georgia Heard's book FALLING DOWN THE PAGE. I have also included skinny strips of paper and pencils at this table so kids can try their own list poetry writing.

POETRY TAG ON THE KINDLE
I love the POETRY TAG TIME kindle book that Mary Lee told me about. Several children's poets got together to play poetry tag and write poetry. One poet began and tagged another. The next poet writes a poem that is connected in some way and tags someone else. Most of our kids don't have any experience with ebook readers so just putting this out to play with has been good.


POETRY ON THE IPODS
I have several song and poetry apps on the ipods. TALES2GO has a poem that kids can listen to. DUCK DUCK MOOSE has several songs, and I just discovered POET KIDS which is like magnetic poetry on the ipod.


POETRY PLACE MATS
I gathered many food poems and food poetry books. At this table, kids can read poems about food and make a place mat. After weaving the place mat, kids then add some food poems to the place mat. Some books at this table are WHAT'S ON THE MENU?, EATS and FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH.


ORIGAMI POETRY
FOLD ME A POEM by Kristine O'Connell George has always been popular in our library. I found directions for making the dog in the book on George's website. At this table, kids can read the poems and make the dog or other items from the book.


SHAPE POEMS
Many kids have never taken the time to look at the great shape poems in books such as DOODLE DANDIES. This table is full of those. I may introduce TAGXEDO this week so that kids can create their own shape poems with this tool.


SONGS
This table includes many song books. A new favorite is IF YOU'RE HOPPY AND YOU KNOW IT. Alan Katz's books such as TAKE ME OUT OF THE BATHTUB are also popular. Kids are having a ball finding the accompanying songs on the Internet and playing clapping games with others (such as MISS MARY MACK).

FUN WITH WORDS
One table celebrates playing with words. Included are games such as Bananagrams and Hinky Pinky and books. The books invite kids to play with words in a variety of ways. Some of the favorites are ANIMAL SOUP, MOM AND DAD ARE PALINDROMES and 13 WORDS.

POETRY SPLATTER ON THE SMARTBOARD
I found POETRY SPLATTER on RIF's website. (Thanks, Carol!)  I put this up on the Smartboard and kids are having fun dragging over words to create their own poems.

POETRY WITH FRIENDS 
This table has lots of fun poetry books to read with friends.  The YOU READ TO ME series as well as JOYFUL NOISE are part of this table for kids to read together.

POETRY WEBSITES
Computers are set up for students to explore websites such as GIGGLE POETRY, POETRY4KIDS, and Shel Silverstein's website.

LEMONADE
This table only houses the new poetry book LEMONADE, some magnetic letters, pencils and paper. Students can read and enjoy the poems and also try some of their own scrambled poetry here.

Other spaces include pillows for reading poems by favorite poets, a table with Acrostic and Haiku and a space to try Poetry Riddles.

We are all looking forward to a fun week of poetry!

Poem #17 -- Book Spine Poem, Poetry Edition

To My Daughter With Love:

No Roof But Sky;

From This Soil,

For the New Year:

Tickets for a Prayer Wheel.

Nurture

Sweet and Bitter Bark --

Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #16 -- Two Haiku

Empty nests are caught

in the budding skeleton

of the maple tree.

First leaves interrupt

the criss-cross calligraphy

of the bare branches.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011