The Poem Farm

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 6 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception. Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too. You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them. If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Winterspring. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Wyoming

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today is April 6th, and this means that we have waltzed our way through one fifth of the poemsongs for this month. I thought it would be a good idea to offer a tip for figuring out the tunes. This hint comes from how I write them.

Songs often have patterns, and these patterns are built from syllable counts per line and repeated words and repeated rhymes and other sounds. To write these poemsongs, each day I begin with a song in mind. I choose a tune from the matching form or the list in the sidebar there to the left and then count out the number of syllables per line all the way through the song.

You can see an example of this below. Look at the right hand side of my notebook, and you will see the syllables I've counted out for today's poem. (The title is underneath that napkin in the upper left hand corner. No peeking!)

Notebook Draft - Click to Enlarge

Amy LV

Sometimes I sing the original song with syllable counts instead of the words. The first stanza of this song would sound like this:

1-2-3.
1-2-3-4.
1-2-3-4.
1-2-3-4.
1-2-3.
1-2-3-4.
1-2-3.
1-2-3.

Originally, I wrote today's verse out with these line breaks, to match what you see above in the handwritten draft. See how the syllables in each line match what you see in my notebook and in the numbers I just wrote.

Sometimes, though, line breaks can be heard differently. I looked up today's song, and I found that the lines actually break in a different way than I originally heard them, in the way you see below. There are the same number of syllables as you see in my handwritten and longer version above, but this version has fewer, longer lines. Check out the comparison. Same numbers but different line breaks.

SYLLABLES I DECIDED UPON (Final Poem - Up Top)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7.

1-2-3-4-5-6.

MY FIRST DRAFT SYLLABLES (Longer Version - Just Above)

1-2-3.

1-2-3-4.

1-2-3.

1-2-3-4.

1-2-3.

As poem writers, we always decide not only how we want our poems to sound, but also how we want our poems to look. In this poemsong, I prefer the longer, fewer lines. But often I try the same words a few different ways to see what feels, what looks best.

Can you sing the song yet? If not, go to the matching form or sidebar song list and count out the syllables in the first few lines of each song. What matches what I counted above? I try to stay quite true to the numbers so that these songs are easily singable. It is a bit like a math puzzle, isn't it?

Oh, and that cute kitty? That's Wyoming. We found her at a county fair this summer, lost and crying in a thicket and covered in fleas. We brought her home all snuggled in my green fleece and within a few weeks, we found her a wonderful home with a lady whose beloved "Sammy" cat had just died. It was a beautiful pairing.

Many of my poems are about cats, and sometimes I write about longing for pets. We do love animals around here.... Meow!

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 7 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was I Will. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Secret Language

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is based on a memory I have with my old friend, Keisha. We would go to the school near my home or to the mall and pretend that we spoke another language besides English. It was a made up language, and it didn't mean anything to us or to the people around us, but we loved inventing and playing with the sounds of the words. Because Keisha and I both had brown eyes, we imagined that the strangers around us likely thought we were sisters from a different country, speaking our native tongue. We were quite mysterious indeed.

For some reason, this childhood memory with Keisha popped up in the writing of today's little verse. My daughter said, "It was easy to make your nonsense words fit the meter" - and she is right! But the funny thing is that it did take me a while to figure out how to make the nonsense words sound just right. To be honest, I was a little bit nervous about it.

Classrooms of Students - If any of you are interested and willing to share your singing of one of these poems, I would adore hearing your voices and would like nothing more than to feature your recording here on The Poem Farm. Please feel free to send me a SoundCloud (free app) link, and you're on!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 8 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Greefee Wumpa. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Henry's Deer Shed - Found on April 7, 2015

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I had the opportunity to Skype with the first grade students at Darby Creek Elementary School in Hilliard, Ohio. One of the questions they asked me was, "Where do you find your ideas?"

Yesterday's Skype Visit - Hi Friends!

Photo by Cathy Mere

Well, friends - today's poem is a perfect example of finding ideas in the moment. There I was, lying on the couch, humming today's song to myself, wondering....wondering....wondering...."What should I write about?"

Suddenly, my son Henry walked in the front door. He'd been out in the field, throwing his new boomerang, and he came in calling, "Mom! I have something you are going to love. You will love this."

Henry walked right over to me, placing a small deer antler in my hand. See, as he had looked for his boomerang, Henry found a surprise that he never would have found had he been indoors. White-tailed bucks lose their antlers between January and April of each year, and this little shed must have come from young buck. (To learn how to become a good shed hunter, here is an article from FIELD AND STREAM.)

At that moment, after I thanked Henry, the first two lines of today's poem jumped right into my head:

Look what I found in the field --

An antler from a small deer.

And once again, my poemsong is longer than the actual song - hint!

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 9 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Look. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Now, here is something wonderful! One of the funny parts about this month's challenge here at The Poem Farm is getting my poem to match the meter of the song I choose each day. I sing along to myself, line-by-line (see more about meter here), and I revise based on sound.

However...

Some poems and songs have rhythms that are very similar to each other. When I put this project's song list together last week, my daughter Hope said, "Mom, be sure not to include TWINKLE TWINKLE and THE ALPHABET SONG and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP because they all have the same tune." So I didn't.

However...

There are many songs that have similar rhythms even though they do not have the same tune as each other, and so it was a complete delight and surprise to receive a note from Ms. Simon's class from New Iberia, Louisiana and to learn that yesterday's poem, Look, can also be sung to the tune of YANKEE DOODLE. Way to go, my friends! Thank you so much for sharing your voices here - you are making this game more fun for me.

Just wonderful! I hope that perhaps some more classes will join in and send some sounds for sharing. I hear that one class is writing their own poemsong, and we'll share that in time. All are welcome! Please just send me a SoundCloud file, and I'll put your voices right here.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Poems Live with Foxes

by Amy LV

Students - Last night I got into a mood to write a poem about poems. I have been wallowing in the goodness of National Poetry Month for the past week now, and so poems are swimming in my mind and soul. This poem speaks to what we all face and hope when we seek words, sometimes mysterious, sometimes elusive. We remain hopeful. The poems are there.

To discover what is happening all around the Kidlitosphere this National Poetry Month, visit Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama gives us the complete roundup.

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 10 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was There is a Poem. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Yesterday I had the good fortune to visit Arcade Elementary in Arcade, NY, and I learned that many fourth graders have been following along with Sing That Poem! Lindsey Staub's class told me that they had figured out yesterday's puzzle...and they were right.

Margaret Simon's students from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana figured out yesterday's song too. Ms. Simon says, "We wrote out the syllable count, sang almost all the songs, used YouTube to find the tune, sang through to practice about 3 times, and recorded twice. Whew. I am sure they are still singing it in their minds as I am."

Way to stick with it, folks!

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

View from the Duquesne Incline - Pittsburgh, PA

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Twenty-one years ago, I lived in New York City for one year. It was such a wonderful time, and I wrote pages and pages full of impressions and loves. Cities are magical, and even though I live in the country now, I have a campfire in my heart for the hustle and bustle and sounds and colors and excitement of cities. Because I live in the country now, I often write about the things I do and see here in nature. But lately I have been thinking that I would like to write more about the glories of cities. So today's poem is a start.

This can be a good way to find a writing idea. Ask yourself, "What DON'T I write about very often? What is something I may be ignoring? What is something that I like very much but have not written so much about?" You may find a whole secret stash of ideas just waiting for you.

Now, if you're having trouble naming today's tune, I recommend counting out the syllables in the first couple of lines and then finding which song from the matching form has the same number of syllables in the first two lines. Then keep checking, line-by-line. And keep singing and listening to see if the song you choose matches the rhythm of this poem. The more people I talk with, the more I hear that this is getting easier and easier for those who are practicing each day.

You know what? This is true for just about everything in life. Keep at it...no matter what it is!

Laura is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Writing the World for Kids. If you visit her place, you'll find out about so many wonderful poetry happenings in the Kidlitosphere today and this week. We gather and share every Friday all year long, and everyone is always welcome.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 11 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was City Home. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Here are our friends from Margaret Simon's class at Jefferson Island Road Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana. They got it! As always, I welcome you to share your SoundCloud (easy free app) recording with me via e-mail, and I will be happy to include your voices here too.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Hint - Both stanzas of this poem are written to the syllable and meter count of the first verse of today's selected song. I repeat the pattern of the first verse twice rather than changing it in verse/stanza two.

Friendship

by Amy LV

Students - One can never know where a poem will come from. I often say that I like to trace a poem's family tree back in time, to figure out its roots, where it came from. Today's poem came from a conversation.

On Thursday at Arcade Elementary, I was eating lunch in between assemblies, when a lady who works at the school walked into the empty-except-for-me auditorium. She was looking at my puppets and books, and I said, "Hello." She said "Hello" back and stayed to chat for a while.

During this warm chat, I learned that my new friend adores lighthouses. She likes them so much, in fact, that she stops at lighthouses on her travels and asks to speak to the lighthouse keepers. Then she writes down what she learns about the different lighthouses. She has many stories and has met many interesting people this way. In fact, one keeper even offered to sell her the lighthouse!

Isn't that fascinating?

I loved talking with someone new this week, and it is clear that I kept our conversation in my mind. That conversation came out in today's poemsong.

It is funny how sometimes I will not hear a word for many weeks or months and then, suddenly, I hear it over and over. After talking with my new friend about lighthouses, on Friday I found this great NY TIMES parenting article about "lighthouse parenting." Clearly, I was meant to write about a lighthouse for today. Lighthouses are following me!

Pay close attention to the images and words and sounds that seem to be recurring in your own life. Any one of these might give you an idea to write about. What is following you?

Remember - it is National Poetry Month, and you can learn about poetry happenings all around the Kidlitosphere, all month long, at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 12 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was In the Harbor. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

One Pen at a Time

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday I began trying to write to the tune/beat of a different song, but you know what? I just wasn't in the mood for that tune, so I switched to this one instead. It is funny to me that one tune would not somehow appeal on a certain day, but this is exactly what happened. Now that other meter is all counted out and waiting for the just-right day.

I do adore the idea of octopi and writing and ink. In fact, I wrote another octopus-writer poem back in 2010, and you can read it here if you wish. It is interesting to hold onto your writing, students, because if you keep at it, you will notice themes in your own work. Who knows? Maybe in 50 years, I'll have a complete collection of octopus-writer poems.

Did you know that the preferred plural of 'octopus' is actually 'octopuses' and not 'octopi'? Here is why.

from Grammarist.com

Well, I certainly AM a "fan of quirky words" - so much so that this seven letter delight landed in my thirty-five word poem not once, but twice!

Which quirky words do you like? Consider making a list of these and then just choose one to write from. Simply place one of those quirky words atop a fresh page...and go! Writing from one word often yields surprising poemjourneys.

There is a second poem to go with today's song, and it is actually the first one I wrote. You can read/sing it below. I am curious as to what you think of the differences between these two and if you prefer one to the other.

Hope and Eli at Camp - Summer 2000

Photo by Amy LV

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 13 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poems were Ocean Writer and The Best Dog. Here is the tune that goes along with them, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Vase of Flowers - 2011

by Georgia LV

Students - Painting and writing are very similar to each other. Both require facing a blank page and making something new. Both ask us to look outside and inside ourselves, to find what it is we have to say. Both welcome us as explorers!

Today's song was a little bit of a challenge for me because it has a very different rhythm and pattern. It was a fun puzzle, and what is interesting for me is that writing these as songs makes me think of them as songs. I want to try to step back and see if I can see them as poems - do they still work as poems...or do they need the tunes to work?

This week begins NYS Common Core testing. It is very important to be sure to play outside, draw, paint, do all kinds of things to express your gifts. Humans are multifaced, and by exploring many ways of making, we discover who we are. I wish you some good messy play!

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 14 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Painter. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Guess what? Mrs. Holt's reading-loving students from Ladue Fifth Grade Center in St. Louis, MO figured it out, and they were kind enough to share their voices with us here today. Right now, these students are studying poetry, writing their own poems, and enjoying many mentor texts to understand form and topic choice. As to how they solved yesterday's tune-puzzle, Mrs. Holt writes, "We don't have any extraordinary tips for figuring out the song, but our strategy was to try out different rhythms from your list until we thought it made sense." You can hear their voices below.

Thank you so much to these students for singing with me today. I welcome any classes to do the same; simply send me your SoundCloud (easy free app) link in an e-mail, and I will include your voices here too.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

National Library Week Web Badge

from the American Library Association

Students - Happy National Library Week! This is a special week to celebrate the wonder of free libraries, fabulous librarians, all of the good people who work in libraries and all of the resources we find there. Today's poem is a poem to honoring libraries and librarians.

There are times when it just feels right to write a poem for a special person or a special day. You might think about those you love or about holidays that mean a lot to you or well, you might make up your own celebration, as the character does in I'M IN LOVE WITH CELEBRATIONS by Byrd Baylor. It is a joy to celebrate others and things we care about through poetry.

Read More at IndieBound

You will notice that today's poem has a repeating stanza, or chorus. This has been something new for me this month. Usually in poetry, I do not include a repeating stanza. But sometimes, in these poemsongs, I do.

Below, you will see a new book of poems about celebrations. It was just born this National Poetry Month! Happy birthday, book! Congratulations again to Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, who brought together many many poets and put together this beautiful volume in both English and Spanish for all of us.

Read More at Pomelo Books

Photo by Amy LV

Now, go find a librarian to hug. Say, "Happy Library Week!" This is important.

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 15 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Librarian's Song. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

If you are a classroom of students who figures this out, and if you would like to share your voices singing today's poem, please just send me a link to your SoundCloud (easy free app) recording, and I will post it here tomorrow.

Joe's Pole and Tackle Box

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This is a shorter song...and I am imagining that you will not have a very difficult time figuring out the tune. I wrote this one in my head while driving eight hours to Vermont, and it was fun to sing, tap my steering wheel, and drive. Every once in a while, I would pull over into a parking lot and write down a draft. I am especially happy with "Dig fat worms" and all of line four and the "sh" and "ch" sounds in the final line.

Today we are halfway through the songs. So far, this has been an interesting challenge for me. I took it on to try out some new meters and to practice listening carefully to the stresses in words, and I can feel my meter muscles stretching. I hope that your listening-to-syllables-and-stresses-muscles are stretching too. Thank you for playing along this far, and thank you for your comments and notes and audio clips!

Teachers and Other Adults - If you are new here...please know that I also keep a Facebook page for The Poem Farm. This page includes poems for grownups, links to all things poetry for children and adults, articles, quotes, neat poetry products...just poem-y things I love. You can find that page here, and I welcome you.

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 16 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was You and Me. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Time

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about something that always strikes me. Old barns. Whenever I drive here near home or far away in other rural areas, I fall in love with barn after barn. There are so many stories in old barns, and I wish that I could bewitch each old barn I see...bewitch it into talking for just five minutes...so that I could learn the stories from its past.

Yesterday, I had a long drive home from Vermont, after two delightful days teaching in the Georgia Elementary and Middle School. On my way, I passed many old barns, and the one you see above simply stole my heart.

Today's poem is a simple verse, full of simple solid noun-words: barn, moon, cow, cats, children. I wanted my poem to feel sturdy and safe, just like a steady barn. I wrote it while driving, in my head, once again stopping at gas stations to jot on the paper below. Because I was driving, most of the revision was invisible...in my old singing head!

You can think about your writing even when you are not writing; just let the ideas and sounds play together in your head. You can think about writing at any time at all: when you are riding your bike, sitting on a bus seat, looking out of your living room window at the rain.

The wondrous poet Eve Merriam once said, "I've sometimes spent weeks looking for precisely the right word. It's like having a tiny marble in your pocket, you can just feel it. Sometimes you find a word and say, 'No, I don't think this is it...' Then you discard it, and take another and another until you get it right."

We can all be like Eve, thinking about our writing during all times of day, carrying words in our pocket, patiently waiting and searching for just the right ones.

Poem Draft (Most Revision Done in Head While Driving)

Photo by Amy LV

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Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 17 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Memories. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Margaret Simon's students from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana, have done it again! You can listen to their strong voices singing about that old barn. Thank you, singers!

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Freedom

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem does not have much of a story behind it other than it began with some notebook writing. I knew which tune I would write to because I knew that we were lucky enough to have guests with the same tune here today. But which topic should I choose?

I wrote about a few ideas in my notebook, and some were too silly for today's rhythm and song. I adore this tune, and I wanted to write something worthy of it. I hope I did.

Today we have a special Poetry Peek from Joy Keller's fourth grade poets Brooks Hill Elementary in the Fairport Central School District in Fairport, NY. These students have been researching oceans, and they used their research to write a class song...to the same tune as my song for today.

Taking information and restructuring it into the rhythms and lines of a poemsong is a complex task, and these writers did a beautiful job here. This might be something that other classes wish to try. It's a glorious way to culminate a unit in science or social studies. And when you read this poem (and tomorrow, listen to these students' singing voices), you will feel that you are in the sea.

Thank you so much for sharing your song with us today, students. It's a treat!

The Ocean

by Mrs. Keller’s Fourth Graders

The ocean’s turquoise, with bubbles floating,

There’s emerald seaweed, with ruby coral.

With pearls in clams and some diamond seashells,

Barnacles cling to opal rocks.

From the sunlight zone down to the twilight zone down

To the midnight zone down to the abyss,

From the abyss down into the trenches,

Those are the levels of the sea.

There are the mammals that live in oceans,

They have to come up for a breath of fresh air.

The whales have blowholes that spurt out water

Dolphins and seals will splash and play.

Fish breathe through their gills, and swim in schools,

And they have scales, and they have fins.

Sharks have sharp teeth, and the sailfish swim fast.

Tripod fish even walk around.

Deep in the ocean, strange fish are glowing.

Most fish down there have bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence is like a bright light bulb—

That’s what helps fish to catch their prey.

Invertebrates live down in the ocean.

They don’t have backbones, but some have hard shells

Like jellyfish and lobsters and crabs and

Octopi squirting out black ink.

Don’t throw your garbage into the ocean

You’ll hurt the fish and you’ll cloud the water.

The dirty bottles and destructive poisons

Can really ruin our gorgeous seas.

Robyn is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Life on the Deckle Edge. Have fun feasting on the poems all day, all week long!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 18 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Red Kite. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Lindsey Holt's students from the LaDue Fifth Grade Center in St. Louis, Missouri have joined us again today with the puzzle solved. Enjoy their lovely version below! Thank you, singers.

Below is the song for The Ocean, a beautiful poemsong written and sung by Joy Keller's fourth grade students from Brooks Hill Elementary in Fairport, NY, to the same tune as Red Kite. You can read the text of The Ocean here and listen to it here. Much gratitude to these students for sharing their poemsong and their voices with us.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Train Goes By

Photo by Amy LV

Passing Tiny Houses

Photo by Amy LV

People at Work

Photo by Amy LV

Parade in Train Town

Photo by Amy LV

Wee Fair at Night

Photo by Amy LV

Students - The other week, when our family visited Pittsburgh, PA, we went to the Carnegie Science Center which has a marvelous train set. We were mesmerized, and I took a few photographs of it. Something about miniatures always makes me wish that I could just shrink down and live in that dollhouse, ride that train, play with that toy dog. It is a small wish, but a wish nontheless.

We all have small recurring wishes, and they can be a good source of writing ideas. Pay attention to your mind as you go through your days. What small wishes pop up? Save one of them...until writing time.

Today's poem structure is a simply quatrains with the second and fourth lines rhyming.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 19 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Small Wish. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Singing Spices

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is all about meter. It's simply a list of spices, and as my daughter Georgia said, as a poem it really doesn't stand on it's own. But it is singable!

To find spices of varying syllables and stresses, I visited Wikipedia and kept scrolling up and down to find out which spices I'd choose from the spice rack of the Internet.

Wikipedia Spice List

I was sad to learn that salt is not a spice at all, and this fact sent me back to revision-land.

When I sang the poem, I learned that I had repeated "tarragon" a couple of times. In an earlier draft, I'd repeated "pepper" a couple of times. This was rather maddening. Back to the singing board again and again I went. This was a really good exercise...and tougher than I thought it would be. I even had to look up how to pronounce tumeric!

Just a Couple of Drafts

Photo by Amy LV

You might enjoy this writing exercise too. Think of a category: arctic animals, frozen foods, clothing, anything at all. Then, make or find a list of all of these things and see if you can sing them to a song. It's actually quite good writing practice.

To check yourself, ask someone else to sing the song. That is how you'll really know if it works.

Here, from New Iberia, Louisiana, is Margaret Gibson Simon's student Emily Genest, singing her own poemsong at Reflections on the Teche. Can you figure out the tune to Emily's funny words?

Teachers - You will not want to miss tonight's #nctechat on Twitter! Mary Lee Hahn and Janet Wong are hosting a chat all about poetry! You can read their blog post - "What is the Role of Poetry in Literacy Learning? - here. If you are new to Twitter, you can learn about getting started at Edudemic.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 20 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Spice Song. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Love Lasts

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is for all of us who have lost people. Some of us have lost loved ones to death, some to moving, some for a time to prison, some to an argument...there are many ways to lose a loved one and that feeling of wanting to be near again is one that people of all ages can understand.

The other week at a school assembly, a young boy said to me, "My mother told me that if someone you love dies or goes away, you can keep the person inside of you with your love." He is right.

Poems grow from feelings. And poems can heal feelings too.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 21 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Still. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Welcome again to Margaret Simon's students from Jefferson Island Road Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana. We can enjoy their lovely voices singing Still here below.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

My Silly Happy Feet

Photo by Amy LV

Students - For today's poemsong, I decided to match mine to the structure of the mentor song (hint!) in that this poem, like that one, includes two speakers: one asks a question, and the other answers it. This may be enough to help you figure it out. (Emily...was I inspired by your topic?)

In 2011, I wrote another poem - quite different - about mismatched socks. You can read it here - scroll down, as it is the second (red) one. Mismatched socks are clearly a weird theme of my life. What is a weird theme of your life? Make some lists of things that interest you. Do this every month or so. Then look at the lists and see - what comes up again and again? Here are a few of the themes and ideas that I return to again and again. You may have noticed.

1. Connections with Strangers

2. Mismatched Socks and Being Different

3. Saying Goodbye

4. Owls

5. Noticing Small Things in Nature

6. Objects Telling Stories

7. Normal Life Turning Magic

8. Animals Mattering to People

Don't ignore the ideas and topics and themes that come to you again and again. They want to be fed by you. How do you feed them? Well, you draw them. You write about them. You make up songs about them. These visitors have messages and secrets and ideas that will teach you about you. Love them and get to know you, weird and cool as you are.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 22 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Cool as You Are. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Welcome again to Margaret Simon's students - Emily and Kielan - from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana. Well done, you crazy singing pair!

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one. If you have been playing along all month, I imagine this is getting much easier, isn't it? I welcome all classes to send their own audio clips to me through SoundCloud (easy free app), and I will be tickled to post them here on The Poem Farm.

Earth Day Goodness

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Happy Earth Day! Today, no matter the weather, I hope that you will spend some time outside enjoying the magic and mystery of nature - in the city, in the suburbs, in the country. Look at a pigeon, listen to the peepers, sketch those gorgeous clouds. We are very lucky to live on this gorgeous, glorious planet.

For today's poemsong, I decided to really lean on the repetition of lines. I wanted this to have a very lullaby-easy-to-sing feeling, to celebrate all of the ways we can honor Earth both today and every day. As I wrote it, I imagined that this could be a fun little play...or that others might write successive verses. It is a simple tune, with a simple pattern and simple words. You can sing it below. Those words in capital letters have the strong beat, so be sure to sing those with a bit more emphasis.

If any classes do write a new verse, I welcome you to share it with me...and I will share it here!

In honor of Earth Day, I will give away three copies of my first book FOREST HAS A SONG (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013) today. One copy will go to a commenter here on today's post, one will go to a person who retweets my announcement on Twitter, and one will go to a commenter on the announcement on my Poem Farm Facebook page. If you already have the book, I will be happy to sign and mail it to someone else should you win.

Happy Earth Day!

xo, a.

Learn More About My First Book Here

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 23 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Earth Day Song. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

I was completely charmed and amazed to receive three songs yesterday! A warm welcome to these classes full of strong singers and puzzle-solvers...

Here are Lindsey Staub's fourth graders from Arcade Elementary in the Pioneer School District in Arcade, NY. They got it!

Here are Mandy Robek's second graders from Tyler Run Elementary in Powell, Ohio. They got it!

And here you can watch and listen to Stacey Goodman's second grade students from Wealthy Elementary in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. They got it!

Thank you, students, for playing along. It is fun to play a game across the country like this, and I truly appreciate your voices and feeling as if I am a little part of your classroom communities.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one. I welcome all classes to send their own audio clips to me through SoundCloud (easy free app), and I adore posting them here on The Poem Farm. (Only 8 songs left, including today's!)

Birthday Party

by Amy LV

Students - I found the idea for today's poem on Wonderopolis, a fantastic site full of all kinds of information about everything in the world. I was reading yesterday's wonder:

Wonderopolis Wonder for April 22, 2015

and the Wonder ended with the passage you see below.

From Wonderopolis Wonder for April 22, 2015

So, that's what was wheeling around in my mind. I am not sure exactly how yesterday's wonder went from polar bear pet to polar bear MOTHER... "Yet, knowing how way leads onto way," (Frost) I am not surprised. To get into the polar bear mood, thinking about the truths of polar bears, I read the pages and looked at the pictures online, especially at Polar Bears International. I had to revise line two which originally said, "She eats a seal each morning" when I read these facts at the SeaWorld website.

From the SeaWorld Website

Today I did draft (this is unusual for me) right at the computer. You can see below how I typed out the numbers of the syllables for each line to help me know how the meter should sound. You can also see one of the first ideas I had - about holding a ladybug.

I do prefer to draft longhand as ideas usually flow more easily for me with a pen in my hand. I also like to see the evidence of my work. Typing is interesting and fast, but the revisions simply disappear and later I am left to wonder exactly how the poem arrived.

We do all have secrets. And no, my mother is really not a polar bear. She is a wonderful, wise, kind woman named Debby with regular sized teeth and pretty hair.

The winner of yesterday's giveaway of my book, FOREST HAS A SONG is An Education in Books. Please drop me an e-mail with your address, and I will mail your book to you! The winners at The Poem Farm Facebook Page giveaway and the Twitter giveaway will be announced in those places.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 24 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was I Want You to Know This before My Party. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Snake Love

by Amy LV

Students - So, here is a little hint. Today's song is has a serious and pretty tune. At least I think it does. And for most of the serious and pretty tunes of this month, I have wanted to write serious and pretty words. See Blue Soul (Blowin' in the Wind), There is a Poem (You are my Sunshine), Red Kite (This Land is Your Land),and Still (Amazing Grace) if you have not been following along, and you will see what I mean.

Yesterday, though, I chose the tune for today - a serious and pretty tune - and I wanted to write something not serious or pretty to go with it. I just wanted to play with the juxtaposition of serious and silly at the same time.

With my poemsong At Night (On Top of Old Smokey), I did a bit the opposite. On Top of Old Smokey is a silly song, but my poemsong for that day is more on the comtemplative side. Today's poem has a serious tune, but the words are silly. It is fun to mix things up in both writing and life, don't you think?

I wrote much of today's poemsong in my car, as I have been doing a lot of driving lately. I sang and drove and drove and sang, writing nothing until I arrived home - tune and words stuck in my head. Then it was writing-revising time. Once again, I needed to do a little bit of research, and that's where National Geographic came in handy. You might like reading more about rattlesnakes there too.

As we have just one week of Sing That Poem left, I have also posted an extra hint for the remaining poemsongs on Twitter today, for anyone who has not been playing all month.

In non-rattlesnake news, it is a sincere pleasure to welcome teacher Debbie Feasel and her second grade writers from Plank Road South Elementary in Webster, NY today. In the slide show below, you will discover how she and her students colorfully play with line breaks and revision as they write their own poems.

Thank you very much to Debbie and her young writers for joining and sharing with us. I have a feeling that I will be pulling out my colored pencils today for my own writing.

At One Deep Drawer, Kortney Garrision is offering a giveaway this week of my book, FOREST HAS A SONG. Simply leave a comment on today's post by Wednesday, and you will be entered to win.

Today Renée is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup at No Water River! All are welcome to the weekly Poetry Friday roundups, a place where anyone who loves poetry can gather, see what others are sharing and share a poetry idea or poem too. And today you are in luck because our host Renée will teach you all about Poetry Friday, just in time for this last Friday of National Poetry Month. We're here celebrating poems all year long, not only in April, and we hope you will visit us and find and offer all manner of poems for pockets and souls.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 25 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

Yesterday's poem was Rattlesnake, Rattlesnake. Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Ms. Simon's students from Jefferson Island Road Elementary in New Iberia, Lousiana have figured it out! You can hear them singing this silly tune below.

And here, below, is today's poem. Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Great Grandma Elsa's Handprint

Handprint Taken by Edythe Toebe

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This poem is dedicated to my friends who have lost loved ones. When something sad happens, writing a poem can help you understand your own feelings.

Today's poemsong grew from a couple of places. One is the heartplace in that several of my friends have lost loved ones recently. When I was a young girl, and now too, I would think about how strange it is that in the very same moment on the very same day, one family somewhere will rejoice in a new baby when somewhere else, at that exact time, another family will mourn the loss of someone dear.

This poem also grew from admiration I have for Marie Howe's poem, My Dead Friends, which is about asking the dead for advice. This part is especially meaningful to me.

From Marie Howe's Poem, My Dead Friends

If you read many many poems, then bits and scraps of these poems will come out of you in lines of your own poetry. So, read great things. Ponder these great things, and let them become part of who you are.

If you were wondering about the photograph accompanying today's poemsong, it is an inking of my Great Grandmother Elsa's hand with a flower from our front garden. My Great Aunt, Edythe Toebe (Aunt Tom), read palms for a while, and she kept a book of inked handprints along with her readings. Most of the people were friends of hers, people I do not know, and someday I may look them up.

Would you like a hint about the remaining six tunes for Sing That Poem? Here, in this last week of Sing That Poem...is the biggest hint I've given this month.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 6 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 7 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 8 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 9 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 10 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 11 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 12 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 13 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 14 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 15 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 16 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 17 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 18 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 19 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 20 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 21 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 22 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 23 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 24 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Day 25 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!