I am leaping into Poetry Friday this week for several reasons, most importantly because my cyberspace friend Catherine Flynn of Reading to the Core (honestly, when are we going to meet IRL, Catherine?) is hosting this week’s gathering. Won’t you join us there? I’m bringing a hat trick of poems to the celebration.
Catherine threw out an International Women’s Day poetry challenge to everyone a few week ago. I love a challenge, so I turned to Wonderopolis (as one does) for a bit of text to craft a blackout poem with. I found Wonder of the Day #401: What is Suffrage? and uncovered this blackout/list poem.
If you are teaching students how to write blackout poetry, Wonderopolis is a great text source!
Next, and the reason why I am leaping is that the amazing Georgia Heard’s new collection of poetry for children, BOOM! BELOW! BLEAT! Animal Poems for Two or More Voices (WordSong/Boyds Mills Press) is about to celebrate its book birthday and I am not waiting until March 12 to talk about it. My Kindergarteners and I have been having a blast reading these fun poems together. I’m joining Georgia today for a celebration of #FrogFriday!
While many members of the animal kingdom are represented in the book, our hands-down favorites are the frog poems. Many of you know that in my district we study our campus vernal pool and the frogs that make their home there. I love taking my students out to the pool in the late winter when the spring peepers begin to let us know spring is on the way. We want to see them SO BADLY, but can only hear them. I’m pretty sure Georgia wrote “You Can’t See Us, but You Can Hear Us” just for us. Thanks, Georgia!
Aaron DeWitt’s gorgeous artwork does a great job filling us in as to what we are missing visually in the forest. I think we are going to have to add a performance of this to our spring celebration for parents. Don’t you?
And “We Don’t Say Ribbit!” is proof positive that poems are teachers. Frogs and toads most definitely don’t say Ribbit!
We love the back and forth dialogue between our amphibious friends in this poem. Another gem!
And now for the best news! Our good friends at WordSong/Boyds Mills Press have generously donated a copy of the book to give away to one lucky Poetry Friday reader. To enter, just leave me a comment referencing BOOM! BELLOW! BLEAT! I’ll let you know if you are the lucky winner! Thanks, Boyds Mills!
And lastly, to close out the hat trick, changes are starting to happen outdoors and in my classroom, and I suspect other classrooms, too. I love this time of year!
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Thanks to Catherine for hosting this week’s celebration! Happy Poetry Friday, all!
Wondering and Wandering 