Merely Day By Day

It's Poetry Friday.  Today's event is hosted by Anastasia at Poet!  Poet! .  Of course, it's also a day for a Chalk-A-Bration hosted by Betsy at Teaching Young Writers .  It's been quite a winter and, while I'm trying hard not complain, I'm really done with it.  Needless to say the thought of dragging chalk into my driveway is downright frightening so today I'm joining Poetry Friday and Chalk-A-Bration thanks to my Chalk Board app .  

Today's post is part of the  Slice of Life  roundup at  Two Writing Teachers .  Stop by for links to many great slices or, better yet, join the fun by linking your own piece.  Thanks to all for hosting. "A winner is a dreamer that never gives up."  Nelson Mandela Last Saturday I had the opportunity to see Bryan Collier at the Dublin Literacy Conference .  I'm always fascinated to listen to creators talk about their work.  Bryan started out by asking the group, "How many writers are in the room?"  A few hands raised, but I'm guessing there were truly more writers in the room.  "How many of you have a story to tell?" he asked.  "How many of you hope to get something published?" "What are you doing about it?" he added, letting a long pause fall across the room. His statement found its way into my head where it swirled for awhile.  It bounced.  It rested.  It whispered.  It shouted. "What are you doing a...

It's Poetry Friday.   Karen Edminston is hosting today.  Be sure to stop by for your Friday dose of poetry.   My class has been talking about nonfiction.  We were reading a National Geographic eBook about animals in the winter.  We came across a page that inferred that frogs freeze in the winter.  Interestingly, one first grader assumed that meant they die.  Another thought it meant they froze to survive.  We decided we needed to find out more and began reading.  I thought I'd try to turn a little research into a nonfiction poem about frogs. Winter Statue Under the snowy landscape, the weathered log, the gray rock, the decaying leaves, you hide waiting on warmer days. A winter statue; long legs tucked close by. Your icy body is silent. Your heart no longer beats, waiting,  waiting. You are still. Soon warmer days  will arrive, the temperature will rise. Your heart  ...

It's Poetry Friday!  It seemed only right to dedicate today's post to Valentine's Day.  It is February 14th, after all, which makes today the perfect day for poetry.  Stop by TeacherDance where Linda Baie is hosting today's event.   Yesterday our class celebrated Valentine's Day.  I had to smile at my students as they were so excited to share Valentines with their friends.  Ah, to be six.   Valentine, Be My Friend

It's Poetry Friday.   Today's event is hosted at No Water River .   Stop by.   During the hubbub of the holidays Maureen Devlin ( @lookforsun ) began tweeting about #micropoetry .  It was busy at the time and "micro" sounded like exactly what I needed.  I clicked the link and sat for some time reading these tiny poems written on Twitter in l40 characters or less.  Of course, I had to try a few.  Here are my first #micropoems written at that time: Of course weeks passed, but I continued to stalk the #micropoetry hashtag .  If you haven't stopped by, you might want to check it out.  Today I decided to try a few #micropoems for Poetry Friday. Endless Winter White blankets the earth I try to envision  The green grass The flowers soon to fill the yard The birds fluttering again Hurry spring. Writer's Block The dark keys stare at me as if I should have something to say. I stare back as if they should help....

Today's post is part of the  Slice of Life  roundup at  Two Writing Teachers .  Stop by for links to many great slices or, better yet, join the fun by linking your own piece.  Thanks to all for hosting. For a recent party, we were asked to write one thing that was true about us and one thing that was false.  Of course, the idea is that you have something so outlandish that is true that others will think it must be false.  The request overwhelmed me a bit though it was a simple one.  What do you tell people when you live an ordinary life? Do you talk about the way you wake up each morning as the orange, red sun ascends into the sky?  You walk into the kitchen, pour a cup of coffee, and add a little creamer to make it sweet.  The smell of the coffee brings you comfort and you linger to take it in. Do you talk about the way your drive to work passing the fields of brown or green or white depending upon the time of year?  You...

Today's the Celebrate Link-up hosted by Ruth Ayres at Ruth Ayres Writes .  Stop and join the celebration! The calendar turns to February, but as I look forward I want to take a second to pause and reflect on January.  As we entered 2014, I chose my word DISCOVER to be my lens for a new year.  Today I want to take a minute to recap some of my discoveries.  Some are new to me; others I just paused long enough to enjoy them or to see them differently.  Today I celebrate January's discoveries. Mmmmm!  January discoveries: Places and moments I loved in January:   Books and blogs:   The Highlights Let's see what February will bring.