NPM Day 23: Writing Poetry

There are many books about writing poetry written specifically for children and teens. Teens might also look at poetry writing books written for adults. Both age groups might also benefit from looking at general creative writing books. One of my favorite books is Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink: Everyday Creative Writing by Michael C. Smith and Suzanne Greenberg. What follows is just a selection of the books available for children and teens interested in writing poetry. 

• A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms selected by Paul B. Janeczko
• Picture Yourself Writing Poetry: Using Photos to Inspire Writing by Laura Purdie Salas
• Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher
• How to Write Haiku and Other Short Poems by Paul Janeczko
• Pick a Picture, Write a Poem! By Kristen McCurry
• Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent, & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poetic Life by Allan Wolf
• Write Your Own Haiku for Kids: See the World through “Haiku Eyes” by Patricia Donegan
• Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem by Jack Prelutsky
• What Is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems by Michel Rosen
• How to Write Poetry by Paul B. Janeczko
• The Death of a Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects selected by Paul B. Janeczko
• My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth by Patrice Vecchione
• Write Your Own Poems by Jerome Martin

Resources 

• Poetry Tips from Paul B. Janeczko from the publisher's website via TeachingBooks
• Poetry exercises on Laurie Purdie Salas' website
• Tips for Young Writers on Ralph Fletcher's website
• Poetry jokes on Allan Wolf's website
• Activities for Write Your Own Poems by Jerome Martin from the publisher's website

Links to My Reviews 

• Picture Yourself Writing Poetry: Using Photos to Inspire Writing by Laura Purdie Salas
• Pizza, Pigs, Poetry: How to Write a Poem by Jack Prelutsky

NPM Day 22: Invitation to Create - Making, Crafting, Collecting, Listing

There are poetry collections for children about origami, making, crafting, collecting, and listing. All of these titles can inspire poetry writing. 

• Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George 
• Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro 
• With My Hands: Poems about Making Things by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater
• Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections by Michelle Schaub 

If you like the idea of list poems, don't miss Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems edited by Georgia Heard. 

Resources 

• Teacher's guide for Fold Me a Poem on the author's website
• About "Things to Do" Poems on Elaine's blog Wild Rose Reader
• Poetry Picture Book Guide featuring Things to Do from the publisher's website
• Teacher Resources for With My Hands on the author's website
• Educator's guide and printables for Finding Treasure on the author's website

Links to My Reviews 

• Things to Do
• With My Hands: Poems about Making Things
• Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections
• Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems edited by Georgia Heard

NPM Day 21: Invitation to Create - Illustrated Books

Wordless picture books, like paintings and other art, offer a wonderful opportunity to inspire poetry and other creative writing. 

I especially like David Wiesner's wordless books, Aaron Becker's Journey trilogy, and the art books by Amy and Greg Newbold. What poem will you write today? 

• Journey by Aaron Becker
• Quest by Aaron Becker
• Return by Aaron Becker
• Flotsam by David Wiesner
• Tuesday by David Wiesner
• Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner
• If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy and Greg Newbold
• If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy and Greg Newbold
• If Monet Painted a Monster by Amy and Greg Newbold

Resources 

• Journey Trilogy Activity kit on the author's website
• Wordless Picture Book guide on Aaron Becker's website
• Discussion guide for Mr. Wuffles and other books from the publisher via TeachingBooks
• Activities for Kids on Amy Newbold's website

Links to My Reviews

• If Picasso Painted a Snowman
• If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur 
• If Monet Painted a Monster

NPM Day 20: Invitation to Create - Anagrams and Art

Reading poetry often leads to creating poetry. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing ways you and/or the kids and teens in your life might be inspired to create poetry. 

We'll start with anagrams. If you haven't read Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, do it now. The idea is brilliant and reminds me of those worksheets I got as a kid: How Many Words Can You Make Out of This Phrase? In his preface, Bob invites readers to try their hand at creating poems from one word. 

Art can definitely inspire poetry as seen in the two collections World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art edited by Jan Greenberg. You can find public domain images or open access art on a few websites. Here is a selection: 

• Free Images and Open Access at National Gallery of Art
• Open Access at the Met
• Open Access Images at The Art Institute of Chicago
• Public Domain Image Archive

Resources 

• Reader's guide to Lemonade on Poetry for Children blog
• Teaching Ideas for World Make Way from The Classroom Bookshelf

Links to My Reviews

• Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from One Word
• World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins

NPM Day 19: Poetry Egg Hunt

Abby the Librarian inspired me with her Poetry Egg Hunt. You can use individual words, lines, or whole poems. It can just be for fun or part of a larger poetry program. There's no right way to do a poetry egg hunt. Just have fun and engage with your chosen audience. You need plastic eggs and poems. That's all. 

I've done this with homeschool groups and like Abby I hid the words to nursery rhymes. The kids had fun finding the eggs and deciphering the rhymes. 

Poetry egg hunts are also recommended by Poetry Teatime! 

Find public domain poems on poets.org (select public domain under theme in the filters). 

NPM Day 18: More Themes for Sharing Poetry

I like sharing poetry with elementary age students when I visit their classrooms. Sometimes I just share a poem or two. Other times, I share whole collections about a specific topic. 

February is Library Lovers Month. To me, libraries equal books and books equal words. Drawing inspiration from "Word Collection" in Read! Read! Read! by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, I also shared 13 Words by Lemony Snicket, A Curious Menagerie by Carin Berger, and An Ambush of Tigers by Betsy R. Rosenthal. 

Frogs are such a fun topic. I shared poetry, picture books, and nonfiction. We also made origami jumping frogs out of paper. 

• "Polliwogs" and "The Great Frog Race" from the The Great Frog Race and Other Poems by Kristine O'Connell George 
• "Pond" from Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George 
• I Don’t Want to be a Frog by Dev Petty
• I’m a Frog! By Mo Willems
• Ah Ha! By Jeff Mack
• Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins

Kids love to answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" There are two great poetry collections about jobs: The Underwear Salesman and Other Jobs for Better or Verse by J. Patrick Lewis and Steady Hands: Poems about Work by Tracie Vaughn Zimmerman. I planned to share the librarian poem from each collection and then a selection based on the answers I received to my question. 

Resources

• Activity guide for A Curious Menagerie on the publisher's website
• Teacher's guide for The Great Frog Race on the author's website
• Teacher's guide for Fold Me a Poem on the author's website
• Activities for I Don't Want to Be a Frog on the publisher's website
• Activity for Steady Hands from the publisher via TeachingBooks

Links to My Reviews 

• Read! Read! Read!
• A Curious Menagerie 
• An Ambush of Tigers
• 13 Words
• The Great Frog Race and Other Poems 
• Ah Ha!
• I Don't Want to Be a Frog
• The Underwear Salesman and Other Jobs for Better or Verse
• Steady Hands: Poems about Work

NPM Day 17: Inspired by Eric Carle & Friends

The What's Your Favorite book series by Eric Carle and Friends are fabulous multiple author/illustrator collections that make a perfect vehicle for sharing poetry in addition to the books. You can share poems that line up with the items in the books or survey your audience about their favorite animals, bugs, and food and share poems that line up with the answers. I'm leaving out What's Your Favorite Color? It would pair well with Red Sings from the Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman and I'm sure there are other color poems. 

• What's Your Favorite Animal? by Eric Carle and Friends 
• The animals: cats, giraffes, rodents, blue carp, snail, octopus, bunnies, dog, elephant, duck, horses, cows, penguins, leopard, 
• The Beauty of the Beast selected by Jack Prelutsky
• In the Wild by David Elliott
• Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman
• Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies
• National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Squeak, Soar, and Roar! Edited by J. Patrick Lewis
• Zoobilations! Animal Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
• Flutter & Hum / Aleteo y Zumbido: Animal Poems / Poemas de Animales by Julie Paschkis
• Pug and Other Animal Poems by Valerie Worth 

• What's Your Favorite Bug? by Eric Carle and Friends 
• the bugs: caterpillars, praying mantis, moths, dragonfly, katydid, daddy longlegs, bees, ants, ladybug, firefly, peacock spiders, millipedes, worker bee, walking stick, rhino beetle 
• Nasty Bugs selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Bugs: Poems about Creeping Things by David L. Harrison
• Face Bug by J. Patrick Lewis
• Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman
• Insectlopedia by Douglas Florian

• What’s Your Favorite Food? By Eric Carle and Friends
• the food: pine honey, cheese, cake, ramen, salad, strawberry daifuku, berries, French fries, paella, chicken alfredo, pizza, pitaya, matzo ball soup, ice cream
• Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market by Michelle Schaub
• Follow the Recipe: Poems about Imagination, Celebration, & Cake by Marilyn Singer 
• Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers’ Market by Irene Latham
• Delicious: Poems Celebrating Street Food around the World by Julie Larios 

Resources 

• Activity kit for What's Your Favorite Animal? on the publisher's website
• Lesson plan for National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry by NG School Publishing via TeachingBooks
• Reader's guide for Ubiquitous on the author's website
• Reader's guide for Song of the Water Boatman on the author's website
• Educator's guide and printables for Fresh-Picked Poetry on the author's website
• Farmer's market scavenger hunt for Fresh Delicious on the author's website

Links to My Reviews 

• Red Sings from the Treetops: A Year in Colors
• What's Your Favorite Animal? 
• In the Wild
• Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors
• Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals
• National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis
• Zoobilations! Animal Poems and Paintings
• Pug and Other Animal Poems
• Songs of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems
• Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers' Market
• Follow the Recipe: Poems about Imagination, Celebration, and Cake
• Delicious! Poems Celebrating Street Food Around the World