Wallow in Wonder Day #5 - What is Fertilizer?

Welcome to Day 5 of Wallow in Wonder!  For my 2016 National Poetry Month project, I will celebrate learning and writing from learning, writing poems from each daily Wonder at Wonderopolis.  As I did with my Dictionary Hike in 2012, I am looking to surprise myself with new inspiration daily.  This year, such inspiration will show up in my inbox each morning.  I will print it and carry each Wonderopolis Wonder around all day...and in the afternoon or evening, I will write and post the poem for the next day.  

I invite anyone who wishes to take this challenge too.  Just read today's wonder over at Wonderopolis, and write a poem inspired by it for tomorrow.  Share it tomorrow at your own site, and if you wish to link in my comments for others to find (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.

My April Poems Thus Far

April 1 - So Suddenly - a poem inspired by Wonder #1659 

April 2 - Thankful Journal - a poem inspired by Wonder #1660

April 3 - The Storm Chaser - a poem inspired by Wonder #779

April 4 - A Jar of Glitter - a poem inspired by Wonder #641

And now for Day 5!

Wonder #1661 - from April 4, 2015

Composting!

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is an abecederian, a type of poem that I have only written once before - Gifts, back in 2010.  If you don't already know what an abecederian is, take a good look at today's poem and see if you can figure out what is special about this form.  I bet you can.

Got it?

If not, I will tell you. An abecederian is a poem that goes right through the alphabet, beginning each line with a successive letter, starting with the first and ending with the last.  There are variations if you wish to study abecederians, but this is a simple explanation.  It's a strange form to write, kind of fill-in-the-blank-y...which is not my usual favorite type of writing.  But somehow, the exercise of needing to use the letters stretches my imagination to say things in different ways than I might otherwise.

One resource I found helpful in writing this was an online resource - The Lerner's Dictionary.  Any dictionary will do!  When a poem takes a certain form, the writer must take extra care to ensure meaning.  The form should not interfere or distract from meaning in any way.

I first learned about compost piles from my wonderful sixth grade teacher, Mr. Joe Fron who grew a garden with my class.  I still think of him often, and I am grateful to have had him as one of my life-changing teachers.  We do not always know in the moment who will change our lives forever, but as we get older, we figure it out.  So, when I read today's wonder, "What is fertilizer?" of course I thought of compost.

If you are interested in learning more about composting, watch this video at National Geographic and too, check out How to Compost.org.

You can read another poem inspired by fertilizer if you visit Wonder Lead Ambassador, literacy advocate, teacher, and writer Paul Hankins at his Wonder Ground blog where he, too, is writing daily poems from Wonderopolis wonders.  He and I are in this together daily and some other writers are joining in on the fun sometimes too. All are welcome to wonder through poems with us.

I could not be happier to welcome middle school teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada to Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  Do not miss this post; it is full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a cool giveaway from Stefanie!

Happy Day 5 of National Poetry Month 2016!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Thrift Store - Poem #1 for April 2014

LIVE!

Happy National Poetry Month!  This April 2014, I will be writing and posting a new THRIFT STORE poem, live, each day.  You'll see the drafts as they grow, my thoughts about writing a collection, revisions, and planning.  My hope is that by month's end, I will have a collection of poems worth revising and someday, worth submitting as a book.  

Each day I will tell you how long the poemdraft took me to write, and most days the I will have written it the day before.  (Disclaimer - Due to travel and work, there may be a few variations in actual writing time.)  I do this for me, for a month of writing fun, and also with a hope that it may be interesting to a few classrooms of young writers.  I welcome your comments and invite you to join me in taking one topic to explore for several days.

AMVETS in Depew, NY

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Here are my drafts from yesterday.  This poemdraft took about one hour to write, from 2:45pm - 3:42pm on Monday, March 31, 2014.  I began by sitting on my living room couch with a copy of X.J. Kennedy's THE BEASTS OF BETHLEHEM (1992),  illustrated by Michael McCurdy.  

Truthfully, I was a wee bit nervous on the eve of National Poetry Month, having committed to such a public project on a topic that matters dearly to me. But I took refuge in Kennedy's poem - "Mouse" - relying heavily on its rhyme scheme and meter to get me started.  If you study his poem, you will see where mine differs, and you will find the two lines of my poem that only have seven syllables instead of eight.  What do you notice about the way the lines of today's verse rhyme?

You may also notice that the second stanza of today's poem is simply a list.  If you have FOREST HAS A SONG, you will be able to find a couple of other poems with such embedded lists.  I like them.

Ready to Write (Note My Thrift Store Quilt)

Photo by Amy LV

Draft #1 Page #1

Photo by Amy LV

Draft #1 Page #2

Photo by Amy LV

As you look at my drafts throughout this month, you will notice that I have little habits, things I do over and over again.  I have writing routines that help me focus.  Here are a few of them:

1.  I cross out.  A LOT.

2.  I often write the alphabet to help me find rhyming words that make sense.

3. I write all over the place, and it's pretty messy.

Some of you may be wondering why or how I chose this topic?  Well, I am a thrift store shopper.  On any given day, half of what I am wearing comes from a thrift store.  Much of my furniture was purchased at thrift stores.  I love the stories and the mysteries and the hunt of shopping in thrift stores...not to mention the prices!

One of my favorite books is THOSE SHOES, by Maribeth Boelts, a book that celebrates thrift store shopping.

Shop IndieBound

And just this winter, I had the experience of asking a six-year-old girl where she had gotten her beautiful vintage Barbie doll.  She would not tell me.  When she walked away, her teacher explained that this girl was embarrassed because her grandma had purchased the Barbie doll at a thrift store.  She did not want her classmates to know, and so kept quiet when I asked.  Later, when I shared with the class how I had built a great shoe collection thanks to my obsession with thrift stores, the young girl, all smiles, whispered in my ear, "That's where my doll came from!"

No one should feel embarrassed about shopping at thrift stores.  Thrift stores are fantastic!  So I choose to make them my April project.  Yay for reusing wonderful things!  Yay for saving money! Yay for stories!

Yesterday, I visited two thrift stores, taking many photographs to get me through at least the next week.  It was fun to look with this new eye, as usually my thrift store time is spent simply shopping.  Yesterday I looked for possibile poems, not just possible deals.

But, of course, I found some deals too.

New Old Plates, New Old Book, New Old Gloves - All Mine

Photo by Amy LV

To find all kinds of poetry happenings in the Kidlitosphere this month, visit Jama's cozy home on the web, Jama's Alphabet Soup.  She has a list!

Happy happy National Poetry Month!  May you find poems under your feet and in your heart, all month long.  

Please share a comment below if you wish.