POETRY OF SCIENCE

   I have poems in the new edition of THE POETRY OF SCIENCE: The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science.  Editors, Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell, founders of POMELO BOOKS have re-organized, reshuffled, and re-done the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (loved by teachers) to make it more kid friendly with a bright, new Children's Edition.  The new book has delightful line drawings by Frank Ramspott and Bug Wang. (This poetry anthology would make a great gift for any budding scientist.)
   I think children will read the book first in an excited rush and then come back to the poems again and again as topics interest them.  There are many great poems in this edition.  I have three poems included in this new edition and I'm well pleased to share a page with Jane Yolen.  You'll find 248 fun poems by 78 children's poets.

SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!

I need the shots,
please make it quick.
I see a needle,
think I'll be sick.
You say it is just
a little stick.
I know vaccinations
build immunity,
but getting them
takes bravery.

   Have you had a shot recently?  Have you gotten a flu shot this season?  Do you remember what it felt like?  Were you scared?  Can you try writing your own poem today about getting a shot or some time when you were brave?  Have fun writing.
     The Poetry Friday Roundup is being held over at http://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/ today.  You can go to  to find more fun children's poetry at Tabatha Yeatts' blog The Opposite of Indifference.  Thank you for hosting us,  Tabatha.

     You can be the bravest person you know. 
   

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY

Did you play any good April Fools jokes today?  I tried the oldest one in the world on my husband this morning as we were out on our walk.  I told him his zipper was down, and sure enough, it worked,  He immediately reached for his zipper to check.  I'm so naughty.  It was so much fun. It was the first joke played on him today.

April Fools comes once a year.
But as for jokes, have no fear.
All the teasing is done in fun.
I hope your day is a happy one.

Your challenge for today is to write your own April Fools poem.  What is the best April Fools joke you ever played or had played on you?  I'm going to spend some time working on my own poem.  Maybe by next year, I'll have a really good poem to share with you.  If I'm clever I can make it work as a joke too.
I checked THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong to see if there was a good April Fools poem in the book published by Pomelo Books.  The joke was on me,  I didn't find one.  Now I get to do some more research.  What fun. 

HAPPY POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     Let me share this one with you.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     It helps me when I'm blue.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     It's stuck in my heart like glue.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     I know the words are true.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     It gives me ideas I can chew.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     I know it by heart, don't need a cue.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     And its meaning grew and grew.

I keep a poem in my pocket.
                     Would you like to try it too?

Just keep a poem in your pocket.
                      That's all you need to do.

Share the poem in your pocket.
                      Toddle-oo.


     It is national Poem In Your Pocket Day where people are encouraged to keep a poem in their pocket and share it with others today.  This is a poem written for two voices.  Your poetry challenge for today is to write another stanza to go in this poem.  You can leave your couplet in the comments.  I'm off today to my local library to help the children write poems and make pockets.  I'll be reciting my poem CAPILLARY ACTION for them from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, published by Pomelo Books.

HAPPY POETRY FRIDAY

       It is Friday, time for a poetry party and time to celebrate the new Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, published by Pomelo Books. . 

      The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science is a fun way to discover science and poetry together.  The Anthology has 218 poems written by 78 children's poets. 
Each poem is a magic creation to develop a child's interest in science and poetry.

Three great children's poets have kindly agreed to help with the celebration--Laura Purdie Salas, Janet Wong, and Eileen Spinelli.



       Laura Purdie Salas, children's author and poet has allowed me to share her acrostic poem from the anthology. Thank you, Laura.

THINGS TO DO IN SCIENCE CLASS
by Laura Purdie Salas

Look at labels.
Ask advice.
Be sure to check directions twice!  Wear

Solid shoes to shield your feet,
And keep your table clean and neat.
Follow Rules that you are given.
Explore
The startling world
You live in.


©2014 Laura Purdie Salas.  Used with permission of the author, all rights reserved. (Third Grade, Week 2, Lab Safety, from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, Pomelo Books.) 

    I love acrostic poems and this one I thought was a dandy.  Do you see how it fits to spell a word in the left margin?  But this poem also rhymes, which makes it a special poem to me.  Well done, Laura.  Can you take your own science word and write an acrostic?  I used the word LAB to write mine:

Love 
All about
Biology.

   Now it's your turn.

   And while you are thinking about writing your own science poem, I want to share another fun science poem.  This one is from Janet Wong, extraordinary children's poet. Thanks, Janet.

DR. LEE
by Janet Wong

Last week
I couldn't
see the board
in any
of my classes.

Dr. Lee
saw
right away
that I needed
some glasses!

When I grow up
I want to be
a doctor
just like
Dr. Lee!



©2014 Janet Wong.  Used with permission of the author, all rights reserved. (Kindergarten, Week 34, Science Careers, from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, Pomelo Books.) 


Janet told me she envisions Dr. Lee as a woman. I think it is a delightful poem to think about all the medical, biological, scientific professions one can go into if you like science.  Young people hold the future of the world and science can help to make our lives better.


Eileen Spinelli has also given me permission to share her poem.  This poem has a special effect on me.  Every time I read it, I get a tiny little flutter in my heart as I consider all the possibilities in the world that can happen between those spaces inside the atoms. (If you click on her name above you can see another science poem of hers and all the covers of her wonderful books.)

IMAGINE SMALL
by Eileen Spinelli

Imagine something very small:
a rubber duck, a ping-pong ball.

Imagine something smaller yet:
a pebble or a violet.

Go smaller now: a silver bead
a baby's tooth, a pumpkin seed.

Keep going--
freckle, flea or gnat,
a speck of dander from the cat.
Imagine that.

And then imagine this--so cool--
a teeny-tiny molecule.
So teeny-tiny you and I 
can't see it with the naked eye.

To think of it gives me a chill.
But there is something smaller still:
the atom!

Billions fit in a fleck of foam
or on the dot at the end of this poem.

Billions.



©2014 Eileen Spinelli.  Used with permission of the author, all rights reserved. (Second Grade, Week 9, Matter, from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, Pomelo Books.)   
Gosh, I don't know why, but I really feel up-lifted when I read this poem.

Here is my poem from the anthology:

Capillary Action
by Joy Acey

 I put my stick of celery
in my cherry drink.
Three days later
the leaves turned pink!

Tell me your reaction.
Tell me what you think?
Could capillary action
happen when I drink?


If you'd like to know more about THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE you can see more sample poems at the Pomelo Books web site here.

Sylvia Vardell had a terrific post about the books on her blog Poetry for Children last week, here.

   These science poems are special to me because science plays a big part in my life.  My husband is a scientist, an immunologist to be specific.  He loves to do science experiments and find out new things.  It is exciting to find out something new no one else has ever known before and then to be able to share that information with others.  But, due to cuts of almost 25% to federal research budgets, less than one in six new grants is being funded.  Research programs across the United States are being eliminated and scientific labs are shutting down.  There are some fun student made videos titled STAND UP FOR SCIENCE, that discuss this problem on the  Federation of Societies for Experimental Biology web site.

Perhaps by reading THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE you'll discover something you never knew before, or find something about yourself  you didn't know.  I hope you do and I hope you'll be able to share your new knowledge.  Have fun with science and poetry.  Happy Friday.

    For more poetry on our Poetry Friday Roundup, hop over to Rogue Anthropologist and catch lots of other great poetry sites. 

    On Saturday at 1, Juantia Havill, Ken Slesarik and I will be reading science poems from the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science at the Science tent at the Book Festival in Tucson, on the mall at the University of Arizona.  It is all FREE and we'd love to see you.  Drop by and say HELLO.

New Books

A new book
just arrived
in the mail.
It makes
me happy
without fail.


     How do books make you feel?  Can you write a poem about that?  My contributor copies of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE, just arrived in the mail and I really like the collection compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, published by Pomelo Books.  I'm off to read some of the other poems.  Have fun reading and writing your own poems today.

WHAT IS POETRY? 

Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. --Christopher Fry 

It is finding the truth, no need to lie. 
 It's munching on watermelon and letting seeds fly.

 It's a letter that comes with a card in the mail.
 It's the lacy silver threads left by a garden snail. 

 It's daffodil trumpets covering the hill. 
It's a deer at the creek, drinking her fill. 

 It's giggling and laughing and being absurd.
 It's reading a haiku and feeling each word. 

It's a dragon who blows flames, loud and hardy. 
 It's fairies in the garden having a tea party. 

It's the sound of a truck shifting its gears.
 It's the feel of two soft puppy ears. 

 It's a bright sun rise and glowing moon shine.
 It's a Carolina wren singing in a Lob-lolly pine. 

 It's a snowman rolled on a cold winter morn. 


Each day during April, I will add a line to this poem. If you'd like to suggest lines, please leave your suggestions in the comments below.

 Next Thursday is Poem in Your Pocket Day, April 18, 2013. Last week I shared with you how I've been making poetry pockets for some of my friends. Janet Wong, editor of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY has created pockets with poems from the anthology. My poem, Keys , is one of the four. Also included are Petting Zoo by Laura Purdie Salas, Bluejay Sings Two Different Songs by Mary Lee Hahn, and Sack Lunch by Charles Waters.

And in the mail yesterday came a lovely surprise I wanted to share with you, Tabatha Yeatts sent me a FIB to carry in my pocket.

A Fibonacci Poem for Joy

 by Tabatha Yeatts

 Sneak
 A
Poem
 Into your
Pocket for those days
 When your secret self needs a friend.

Thank you, Tabatha for letting me share your poem.

 The Friday Poetry roundup is hosted this week by Diane Mayr at Random Noodling.

WAITING FOR SPRING

A little girl
ready for spring
wants to fly kites
and hear birds sing.

A little girl
ready for spring
wants to have picnics.
What should she bring?

A little girl
ready for spring
in her spring dress
she's ready to swing.

     I'm ready for spring too.  The Tucson Festival of Books is this weekend
and I'm all set with my Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School t-shirt.
I feel so honored to have one of my poems included with the other 109 poems.
Wow!  Lots of great verses from 70 other poets.  Thank you, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, editors of this great anthology.
    This is my friend Oscar, an ostrich.  Can you write a poem for him today?

     Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe.  Thanks, Heidi and Happy Birthday.

Election Day

Today is Election Day

"GET OUT AND VOTE"

the advertisements

all say.

You can vote red.

You can vote blue.

Voting is something

we all should do.

This is our freedom.

Don't throw it away.

Please go vote,

this Election Day.

      Being able to pick who governs our country is a very special privilege.  Not everyone in the world has this opportunity.  What are some of the symbols of our country and our freedom?  Our flag, the Liberty Bell, Lady Liberty, even the colors red, white and blue all stand for the USA.  Can you write a poem today about voting, freedom or one of the symbols for the United States?  Have fun.  Use your imagination. What would happen if a dog wanted to run for President?  What would she campaign on?
   If you'd like to read more about our freedoms and elections,  Janet Wong has written a poetry book, DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE Poems for an Election Year.  
   Last March, Janet Wong allowed me to share a couple of the poems from her book with you.  You can find those poems HERE.

Robyn Hood Black, Children's Poet

     All my friends know how much I love, love, love THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=poetry+friday+anthology&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=13302063981&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=345380227259911175&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_zcgwbusok_b

     So many of the poems in the book make me laugh and give me ideas for writing my own poems.  One of my favorite poems in the book is by Robyn Hood Black. 

      With Robyn's permission, I'm sharing  her poem, Snack Rules with you.

SNACK RULES

Don't talk with your mouth full--

full of peanut butter.

Anything you try to say

will cmmm out as a mmmttrr.

Copyright © 22012 by Robyn Hood Black. Used with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

     When I first read her poem SNACK RULES, my eyes played a trick on me and I read the title as SNAKE RULES and I thought it was the funniest thing to think of a snake with his mouth stuck shut with peanut butter.  When I wrote to Robyn and told her of my mis-sight, she suggested that I write the poem I thought I saw.  Or rather she said something like I always did have a thing for snakes.  (She is right, I've written about them often.)

    So I did.  But when I got done I changed the title to:

SNAKE SNACKS

My pet snake,

I call him Drake,

likes to eat my snacks.

He eats the cheese,

he eats the nuts,

he eats all my

peanut butter crackers.

My snacks,

He says

are delicious

lip-smackers.

The only problem,

it happened quick,

the peanut butter

made him sick.

They made his lips

like glue stick.

Now instead of h-i-s-s-s-s-s

my pet snake hics.

A snake with hiccups

could cause fright.

His hic-ing keeps me up

all through the night.

     I'll admit that the rhythm is off in a couple of places, and if you come back tomorrow, I'll show you a nifty way I found for working with that. (I hope.)
     Your poetry prompt for today is to think of an animal and write a poem about something that happens to it.  What happens when the birds eat lemons, or the bear uses honey on his coat, or the dog rolls in the mud, or the hamster eats all your jellybeans?  Can you find an animal that sets your imagination running?  Happy Saturday.  Have fun playing with your poem.

     Thank you, Robyn for sharing your poem with us and for stimulating my creativity.

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY

      Oh it has been an exciting week. I got my ARC (Advance Readers Copy) of a new poetry book.

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. (If you click on the title it will take you to the publisher where you can learn more about the book.)

There are 181 poems in this book – 35 for each grade level K-5, and then some extras, written by 75 poets including Jack Prelutsky, J. Patrick Lewis, Jane Yolen, X. J. Kennedy, Arnold Adoff, Linda Sue Park, Georgia Heard, Gail Carson Levine, Eileen Spinelli, David L. Harrison. For a complete listing of the poets included in the book go here. (If you would like to purchase this book, or read reviews, this link will take you to Amazon.( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937057682 ) There are a lot of the Poetry Friday crew in the book!

Can imagine the fun I'm having reading the poems by so many of my friends.

One of the poems that spoke to me from the kindergarten section was a poem by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Rebecca (  http://rebeccakaidotlich.com/  ) has kindly given me permission to share the poem with you.

MRS. BETTY

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

It's Mrs. Betty!

She brought us a pot

of homemade

spaghetti!

copyright ©2012 by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Used with permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. All rights reserved.

I admire Rebecca's poem and the rhyming of Betty with spaghetti. This got me to thinking about rhyming people's names with foods.

Earlier this week (Wednesday, August 15, 2012), I wrote my own poem that rhymed names with foods, titled MY SIX UNCLES.

Several of my friends have tried this too. Thanks to Linda Andersen  and her grandsons Travis and Jonathan and to Jeanne Poland who has posted her poem at The Vibrant Channel Creator.

Yesterday I started thinking about using the names with other things, but keeping it all in the family with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, Brothers, Sisters, Moms, Dads—any relative or friend you can think of.   Some how I tumbled to a family reunion, and there was the group photo.

FAMILY REUNION PHOTO

See Uncle Matt?

He's wearing a hat.

That's cousin Lance

in the short pants.

Auntie Grace

has a smile on her face.

Her twin sister Aunt Trace

wears diamonds and lace.

My Uncle Kurt

is without a shirt.

My Cousin Piers

is making rabbit ears.

My Sister Pearl

has all the curls.

Cousin Jed

is the red head.

And Baby Claire

with the golden hair,

slipped out of her diaper

and is running bare
footed.

      Does Baby Claire make this an X-rated poem? Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea of how much fun it is to rhyme names with some trait or activity of the person. Who else can we put into the family photo? Who have we forgotten? 
      Here is your poetry challenge for today-- write a couplet to add to our family photo. You may leave your contribution in the comments below. 
   
     Oh, I forgot the dog and the cat.  You're welcome to try that. 

      Thanks again to Rebecca Kai Dotlich for sharing her delightful poem Mrs. Betty. Thanks for the inspiration. Happy Poetry Friday and I hope that you too will read and enjoy THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core.

And the winner is....

Right now, the winner is me.  I've gotten to have fun writing poems in response to Janet Wong's poetry collection DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE.
I've gotten to read all of your brilliant poems that you posted in the "comments" yesterday.  And I've gotten to have the fun of running the contest to win the free books.  I've had so much fun doing this.  Thank you. 

Today I will put all the names into my hat and pull out  four names to receive the four autographed copies of the book.

But for right now, it is still Friday and I want to wait until after midnight to close the contest.  (See I'm really writing this on Friday night to post first thing Saturday morning.) 

So, while you patiently wait on me, lets see if I can come up with a poem for today.

tonight stars sparkle

across the bowl of dark sky

an airplane flashes

It has been a wonderfully warm day.  We hit 85 degrees, so this evening it is lovely to sit outside, drink coffee and converse while watching the night sky.

     Have a happy Saturday and enjoy the weekend.

More later

SIGNING PETITIONS

On Friday, I'll announce how you can win a free copy of Declaration of Interdependence, a poetry collection written by Janet Wong. I have four autographed books to give away that Janet Wong generously donated.

Here is another poem I have written in response to the poems in Janet Wong's collection DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE Poems for an Election Year.

Signing Petitions

At the street fair

I stopped to sign

a petition.

One for more

gun control

in our state.

Another for more

taxes

for our schools.

I wanted debate,

discussion,

discourse.

I wanted legislators

to hear my position.

I'm glad I live

in a country

where I can sign

a petition.

I can try to change

things

without sedition.

     One of the stanzas in this poem uses the poetic device of alliteration.  Can you find it?  Sedition is a big word.  Did you guess that it means rebellion, defiance, insurgency?  Have you ever signed a petition at your school?  Have you ever written your own?  Make a list of things you might change at your school, home, community?  Talk to people and ask them what they would like to change.  Now, can you take all these ideas and thoughts and make poetry?