Laura Purdie Salas | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Laura Purdie Salas’

#HaikuforHope: Raw. Art.

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged #haikuforhope, 15 Words or Less, Laura Purdie Salas on December 27, 2018| 2 Comments »

Laura Purdie Salas hosts a 15 Words or Less poetry drafting exercise every Thursday. This image is on her blog today. Join in here.

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Poetry Friday: Lion of the Sky

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Laura Purdie Salas, riddle-ku on December 6, 2018| 14 Comments »

Laura Purdie Salas is one the most clever poets I know. In 2014, she invented a new form of haiku, the riddle-ku, when she decided to write riddle+mask poems for National Poetry Month. In Spring of 2019, a new book of riddle-ku poems will be available, Lion of the Sky.

I received an advanced copy at NCTE. For reading with small children, the illustrations give pretty strong hints to the answer to the riddle, so I didn’t show my middle grade students the illustrations until they “gave up.” I was surprised both by the ones they guessed and the ones they missed. Nevertheless, they had a good time playing along.

Then, of course, we wrote our own riddle-kus. I copied lines from Laura’s book onto popsicle sticks and let the students select a stick and decide how to use the line in their own riddle-ku.

Laura shared her webpage for this book which includes a padlet for students to post their poems.

Sprite+Mentos=Explosion

(This title is a shout-out to another of Laura’s new books, Snowman-Cold=Puddle)

Exploding red hot
lava oozing out on top
Dangerous! Don’t touch!

by Chloe, 3rd grade

Endless Parched Sea

Wide, curvy, golden
I am a sea needing rain
Memories within

by Madison, 5th grade

I wrote a few, too. The one above with the picture of burning sugarcane fields, but my favorite is this one. Can you guess what it’s about?

On the waiting page,
I flow from your colored pen
Word patterns counted

In the comments, take a guess for each poem. Thanks!

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Poetry Friday: Meet My Family

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged animal poems, Laura Purdie Salas, Meet my Family blog tour, persona poems on February 23, 2018| 31 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Elizabeth Steinglass

Welcome to the first post in the Meet my Family Blog Tour. Laura Purdie Salas’s book gives an overview of 22 animal families with engaging illustrations by Stephanie Fizer Coleman.

My students were immediately engaged in questioning and learning about animals, from the tundra swan to the chinstrap penguin. Each entry is written in the voice of the baby animal telling about his family.

My two daddies feed me fish.
One is always next to me, strong
and sturdy and warm. Both of
them protect me and play with
me. I am double-daddy lucky.

From the chinstrap penguin chick, LPSalas

Whenever we encounter a new text, I invite my students to write. For this book response, we wrote persona poems. Each student chose their favorite animal and wrote in the point of view of that animal. Research was optional. I shared a colorful National Geographic Kids Ocean Animals book. Some students chose to write about ocean animals. Some searched in Google about other animals of interest. And some had stored up research in their minds to tap into. All of my students enjoyed creating poems. For more persona poems, go to Mrs. Simon’s Sea Kidblog site.

Hi I’m Peanut, Peanut the Orangutan!
My mom’s name is Walnut.
I don’t have a dad but I’m still livin’ the life.

My mom made me a new nest which is my room.
We always have fruit for dinner
but on special occasions we get juicy, delicious, BUGS!!

Well, I am happy to say that
I can be as lazy as I want,
because I’m 3 years old and my mom gets my food for me.

Right now I’m in my nest
watching the birds tell jokes trying to make others laugh.
I didn’t get the jokes but I laughed anyway.

Can I tell you that I like and don’t like those weird humans.
Some of them like to shoot us
some like to capture us.
The nice humans like to protect us and help us,
but they’re still weird.

Well that’s my story
I got to go we’re having bugs for dinner tonight YES!!!!!!

–Dawson, 4th grade

The Great White Shark

I am sleek and silent.
I never chew my meals.
My favorite snack are seals.
I’m an undeniable top dog.
I am the king of the sea.

–Jacob, 4th grade

Erik the Eagle

My name is Erik
I was just born
I was fed raw meat,
it was a delicious treat.

My name is Erik.
I learned to fly.
I love leaving home
and soaring the sky.

My name is Erik.
I am fully grown.
I have my own wife,
and my own little throne.

–Andrew, 5th grade

Next stop on March 2nd, Kirby Larson’s blog.

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Poetry Dot Day!

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged Dot Day, Laura Purdie Salas on September 15, 2017| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday posts are with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty.

dots

One of my favorite days of the school year is Dot Day. My students love it, too. Today we will be making creative dots in class. I’ll post them next week.

In preparation for our Friday celebration, I shared Laura Purdie Salas’s Dot poem.

Laura Purdie Salas

As a class, we brainstormed a list of things that were dots. I asked my students to write a rhyming couplet with one or two of the ideas we listed.

Writing a rhyming couplet seems easy, at first. I quickly discovered that rhyming doesn’t go together with making sense in kids’ writing. We had lots of a lots rhyming with dots. We even had cots and bots. We also had internal rhyme rather than end rhyme, slant rhyme, and some just plain nonsense.

One student said, “This is hard.”

I responded, “Yes, but isn’t it fun when it works?”

We persevered and created a poem everyone was happy with. I am sharing two poems from each of my ELA groups.

A Pixel on the Page

A pixel on the page is just the start
for what may become a famous work of art.

Everything is made up of matter,
even the mad hatter.

Dots are everywhere
as well as over there.

A dot is the sun. A dot is the moon
disappearing around noon.

The earth is a dot
in not just one spot.

Want to make a rhyme,
running out of time?
Who you gonna call?
The majestic, dotty, narwhal.

One dot, two dots,
three dots, four,
five dots, six dots,
seven dots,
let’s add some more.

A dot is a dot
and there are quite a lot.

All you need is a spot
to make a dot.

I’m a dot, you’re a dot, everything’s a dot.
A dot can be super hot
spilled on the floor
dots,
dots,
dots
galore.

Dot to Dot

Put an egg in a pot to boil
water bubbles, bump and coil.

My fingerprint marks a dot
leaving my dirt in a swirling spot.

A period on the end of a line
On a piece of paper ready to sign.

Potatoes, tomatoes, grapes on the vine
A salad combined for us to dine.

A seed that will grow into a tree
pollinated by a tiny little bee.

A dot…
a dot is a lens on the tip of your eye
looking for clouds high in the sky.

A dot is spot we can see
like that chocolate chip in my cookie.

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If You Were the Moon by Laura Purdie Salas

Posted in Books, Writing, tagged If You Were the Moon, Laura Purdie Salas on February 8, 2017| 10 Comments »

Before you begin to read If You Were the Moon by Laura Purdie Salas, turn this music on in the background.

Illustrated in dreamlike images by Jaime Kim, Laura takes us on a journey of discovery about the moon. In the beginning, the young girl muses on how easy the moon’s job is, but the moon explains. “If you were the moon, you would…” Along with delightful metaphor are embedded facts from how the moon was formed to Neil Armstrong’s iconic walk. Artists are inspired by the moon. Hence the musical piece, “Clair de Lune.” I remember listening to my mother play this on the grande in our living room.
A glossary and further reading section make this book teacher-friendly.

I often use picture books to lead my students to their own writing. I can imagine prompting my students with the words “If you were _________.” Students could research their favorite planet or natural disasters (my students love them!). Then they could write and illustrate their own books including interesting facts along the way. Finding a way to tie a book to writing enriches the classroom experience.

Laura sent me this amazing teacher’s guide written by Randi Miller Sonnenshine. This guide includes activities across the curriculum.

If You Were the Moon releases March 1st, 2017. Get your copy today!

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Light a Sparkler!

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged 15 Words or Less, Laura Purdie Salas on September 23, 2016| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Catherine at Reading to the Core.

I am a big fan of poet Laura Purdie Salas. Every Thursday she posts an image and invites her readers to write a poem in 15 words or less. I love this challenge. Her post yesterday reminded me of sparklers. I left the computer, made coffee, and these words came into my head. Then last night’s Good2Great chat (#G2Great) was about Dreaming Big. This is what my Big Dream is all about: lighting that fire of passion in my students.

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NPM16 #30 Final Poem of the Month

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged #NPM16, altered books, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, Irene Latham, Laura Purdie Salas, Progressive poem on April 30, 2016| 17 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

This week was state testing week. We made it through. Because I am an extra teacher, I was assigned a small group to test. The routine was changed. I stayed at one school all day.

When on Friday the test was over, I resumed my routine. My students were so excited to see me again. They truly missed me. I think they also missed the flexibility of our days. It was as though they could breathe again.

I celebrate the love I share with my students while I am sad to realize the year is quickly coming to an end. So many activities planned; end-of-the-year picnics, talent shows, and field trips will interrupt my class again and again.

I want to stay calm about it all, so I planned a creative end-of-the-year project. We are making re-purposed books. They will paint the pages of a discarded book and add art and writing to them. They are already excited, and the mess making has begun. I celebrate creativity and mess making.

I am altering a book as well. This inspires the creative side of me. No one sees it, really, so I let go of my inhibitions about my art talent and just do it. Here’s a page I’ve painted waiting for a poem.

Pass the scissors
then the glue;
I am pasting poems
in a book.

Make a mess
filling the pages
with happy words.

Anyone can make a book.
Let’s make a book today!

National Poetry Month is at the end. I thought it would never come. Writing a poem a day has been a challenge. I celebrate all the poets out there writing daily and inspiring me and my students to do the same.

I celebrate Irene Latham who blogs here. She generously Skyped with my students on Poem in your Pocket Day. She listened patiently while they shared their own poems and responded with nothing but kindness. She even answered a question about whether or not she felt haunted. (Kids say the darnedest things.) But Irene handled it like a champ. She told my students that she likes to visit graveyards and feel the presence of people who have gone before.

Irene offered excellent advice about finding new words; brainstorm a list of words about your topic. Then mark them all out and start again. This forces you to find new and unusual words.

I also want to thank Laura Purdie Salas whose putrid poetry gave my students permission to write about poop and other yucky stuff.

And what would NPM be without Amy Ludwig VanDerwater? She wondered with us all month long and inspired my students to write about their world.

Thank you to all my readers who stuck with me each day as I attempted to entertain the poetic muse. Here’s to another wonderful National Poetry Month. Do not be mistaken, though. Poetry is made for every day!

Donna has the final line to the Progressive Poem and it is just right!

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Found Poem: Porcupine for Two Voices

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged found poem, Laura Purdie Salas, Laura Shovan, porcupine, Wonder poetry, Wonderopolis on February 16, 2016| 11 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

February is not National Poetry Month. That’s in April. But Laura Shovan has a birthday, and she invites us all to play with poetry during her birthday month. I love a good word game, so when Laura Purdie Salas. posted about writing Found Moon Poems with 4th graders, I borrowed this idea to write a poem for Laura Shovan’s project. (Found Object Poem Project with Laura Shovan.)

Wonderopolis is a super-duper place to find nonfiction information. When Linda Baie sent the above picture for Laura’s project, I saw a porcupine. I quickly discovered that this was a pufferfish skeleton, not a porcupine, but too late, I had found a Wonderopolis article. Using copy, paste, and strike-through, I isolated words for a poem. When I started putting the poem together, it sounded like two voices to me. Thus a found poem for two voices.

I haven’t tried this activity with my students yet, but I will. I hope they enjoy collecting words as much as I do.

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Found Object Poetry Project Day 10

Posted in Poetry, tagged acrostic poetry, bio-poem, Carol Varsalona, Diane Mayr, Donna Smith, fibonacci poem, found object poetry, haiku, Heidi Mordhorst, Laura Purdie Salas, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Mary Lee Hahn, Molly Hogan, Patricia VanAmburg, Violet Nesdoly on February 10, 2016| 18 Comments »

Laura Shovan is a poet who shares the love. For her birthday month, February, she commits to writing poems every day and shares the experience with anyone who dares to jump in to the party. Read her introduction to the project here.

I have joined in her project every year and find the experience challenging, inspiring, and enriching. I don’t know if I get better at writing poems, but I know for sure that this is a welcoming and passionate-about-poetry group. I am honored to host today.

In preparation for this month of writing, Laura called for images of found objects. I sent her this image of lotus seed pods I picked up out of the swamp on a winter canoe trip. They sit in a pottery piece that is also reminiscent of nature.

Diane Mayr was considering skipping today. And that very thought made her write a skippy poem. You never know where the muse may hide. I love the rhythm of the flower names and of course, the final truth.

Mama Planted a Garden
(a skipping rhyme)

Mama planted a garden,
but it came up weeds.
Oh, my silly Mama!
You planted the wrong seeds.

No, my little Missy,
they were the right ones.
A flower to a father
may be a weed to the son!

Buttercup, aster, and bergamot.
Maiden pink, dandelion, forget-me-not.

Columbine, bunchberry, periwinkle.
Violet, lady slipper, honeysuckle.

Always remember this,
my little daughter:
one person’s weed
is another one’s flower!
–Diane Mayr

Patricia VanAmburg did some research on lotus pods and found out there is a disease, Trypophobia—fear of holes. So she wrote a rather empty poem about that feeling of empty nest, one I know all too well.

Empty

Of what use this pod
Without her seeds
Temporary filler for
More fruitful flowers
But every life
Returns to earth
Fragile as the cradle
In an attic corner
Brittle as mother’s ribs
After every baby has gone
–Patricia VanAmburg

Jessica Bigi sent an image of a lotus flower while she takes us back to ancient rituals.

Photo and poem by Jessica Bigi, all rights reserved.

Carol Varsalona is cross-posting her poems on her blog. I love how she is digitally playing with the image as well. I imagine sitting with Carol enjoying a warm cup of coffee and the quiet.

As I sit by the window,
the morning sun
drifts on in,
singing the praises
of yet another day.
A zen-like quality emerges.
Rays bouncing from
winter white blankets
bring outdoors in.
A hushed quiet
envelops the room.
In a corner,
upon a mat of bamboo,
cut-open pods of grace
in triad formation
adorn a desk
of muted colors.
Indoor life merges
with outdoor sights
in a seasonal burst,
reminding me that
new life is waiting
in an early spring.

©Carol Varsalona, 2016

Violet also did her research on Trypophobia and wrote an erasure poem from an article on Mental Floss. Who knew? I certainly did not. Thanks for the learning as well as the poetry.

Trypophobia

skin crawls, heart flutters
shoulders tighten, I shiver
crazy revulsion to holes, bumps
images of holes, parasites
bot flies, worms, ravages of disease
pregnant suriname toad
lotus seed head
give people trypophobic
heebie jeebies
soap bubbles trigger
nightmares

~ Violet Nesdoly

Heidi Mordhorst digs into the earth to consider how an anthropologist looks at things.

Day 10
anthropology

once thought to be
an elaborately carved musical
instrument used
only on the wedding day
of a woman born under
the eleventh moon

it is now understood to be
a deliberately culled muscular
implement used
only on the winding way
of a man burned under
the oppressive soon

context is everything

Here’s another from Heidi. This one is a child’s wonderment at the things of this world.

Making Sense

First it’s something to see–
almost black among the greens and yellows,
scalloped around the edges like
crayon clouds or flowers,
clouds full of black hailstones–
or it’s a leopard-skin jellyfish.

Next it’s something to hold–
not weighty like a microphone
or a metal shower head,
but light and hollow, not plastic
and not wood, part smooth
and part ridged and rumpled.

Now it’s something to hear–
take it by the curving handle oh!
is that a stem? and shake, shake
shake–those blackish beads or
beans or oh! they’re seeds!
they make a marvelous rattling!

~Heidi Mordhorst 2016
all rights reserved

Donna Smith makes a simple poem reveal a truth of nature. Love the alliteration, one of my favorite literary devices. I think Donna is a little bit chilly in Maine, so she has thoughts of overcoats.

PODS

Purposefully plopping pondward
Out of open overcoat
Drooping, dropping down
Swamped seeds settle, silently sprout.

©2016, Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved

And Mary Lee chimes in with this little ditty. She is a master at metaphor.

Day 10

when your plate is full —
seed ideas lined up in rows —
give thanks for fulsome seasons

–Mary Lee Hahn

Linda Baie finds the music in the lotus pod, the sound that remains after the blooming is done. Is this a metaphor for life?

A Lotus Life

I remember that delicate blossom;
You burst with all life’s colors,
and the minutes moved,
the days passed.
More beyond the hues emerged.
You nourished;
we were thankful.
You gave all you were able.
At the end, the music remained,
only the music displayed.
It was enough.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved

To write my own poem, I turned to form and tried out a Bio-poem. Laura Purdie Salas used this form with 3rd graders this week. See her post here.

Lotus
mystical, pure, beauty, enlightened
Daughter of Bodhi
Lover of muddy water, sun, and spring
Who feels spiritual, open to the light
Who gives wisdom, joy, and peace
Who fears storms, drowning, neglect
Who would like to see the ocean (Is it as blue as me?),
tomorrow (My life is fleeting.),
and world peace (Doesn’t everyone wish for world peace?)
Who lives in Atchafalaya Swamp
Who knows noble truths
Lily of the Mud.
–Margaret Simon

And here is Laura with another of my favorite forms, a Fib poem. Read more about Fib poems here.

Lotus Pod Fibonacci
By Laura Shovan

Three
brown
pods shake
rattle, roll.
Seeds fly. We stomp them
into the ground, part of the dance.

Molly Hogan was flying under the radar with her first attempt at haiku. This challenge is pushing us all to find what form fits best.

Day 10 –My first attempt at haiku.

Autumn maracas
Invite you to merengue
Shake a leg, baby!
–Molly Hogan

Catherine Flynn found the lyrics to the life cycle of a lotus at the New York Botanical Garden.

Photo and poem by Catherine Flynn, all rights reserved.

Buffy Silverman offers another haiku, which is the ultimate nature poetic form. Hard to capture a moment in few syllables.

dried lotus pods
shriveled and moored in mud
cradle tomorrow
–Buffy Silverman

What’s a poetry parade without Charles Waters? He bounced in with this sunshine.

LOTUS FLOWER (HEY BUDS)
Fuchsia covered buds
stretch out in praise of morning
revealing their sun-shined heart.

(c) Charles Waters 2016

lotus pods
seed mysteries
three days
of flowering
rebirth
an open heart

If you have a poem for today’s found object, put it in the comments and I will add it to the post. Thanks again for joining us and for reading all the way through to the end. Mardi Gras ended yesterday, but this is a joyful parade of poems to keep you passin’ a good time!

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Shadows Play with Words

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, tagged Laura Purdie Salas, student poems, writing to images on November 13, 2015| 9 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Bridget at Wee Words for Wee ones.

Photo by Laura P. Salas

If you haven’t discovered Laura Purdie Salas’s Writing the World for Kids and 15 Words or Less, you’re missing some poetry fun. I love playing with words. Every Thursday, Laura gives us a chance to “wake up our poetry brains” by writing a quick poem in response to an image.

If you are having trouble fitting poetry playtime into your schedule, this may be your answer. Earlier in the year the site was blocked by our school server, but yesterday I tried again and by some miracle (or maybe a little nudging email), the site was open for viewing. I set the timer for 7 minutes and we wrote. Sacred writing time. I am always amazed at what my kids can do in such short blasts of writing.

Not everyone followed the rules. Tobie tweaked them a bit and quickly produced a rhyming poem that has 15 words in each stanza. I told him I couldn’t post it in the comments on Laura’s site, but I would share it here.

X marks the spot of chests of gold
They who find it prove themselves bold

X marks the spot of ye treasure
As he who finds gets thee pleasure

The spot to find depends on thee
the shadow of branches of a tree

He who finds it grants one wish
Most men want an excellent dish

As one wise man steps up to thee plate
He wishes for ye wishes eight

So if ye find the sacred treasure
Be wise with your choice, others or pleasure
–Tobie

Can trees really walk
Or dance while we’re not watching?
Disco, cha cha, frozen in place.
Emily

Giver of life
Lush green leaves
Shade for the creatures
Thank you trees
For life.
Erin

Shadows copying
Shadows dark
Shadows curly
Shadows straight
A big family of shadows
Kaiden

On these writing days, Laura and other writers chime in with comments on each other’s poems. Here’s what Laura had to say about my three writer’s offerings. “I love these, Emily, Erin, and Kaiden–thanks for sharing! I like the three different moods/techniques. Emily’s is full of whimsy, Erin’s of reverence, and Kaiden’s of pattern. And all full of imagination:>)” Real feedback from a real author! So cool!

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