Some Things to Chew On

I have been mulling over book reviews, some topics I want to write about, and frankly, still trying to recover from the frenetic pace of posting during April. I never imagined writing a post a day would be so hard! Not only did I write 30 posts on poetry in the classroom, but posted an additional 33 entries for the month.

There is much worth reading about these days, so please forgive me for sending you on to some pieces worthy of your attention.

Yesterday on Weekend Edition, there was a story about Isamu Fukui, a teenager who has written a book called Truancy.

My friend and colleague Libby Gruner has a terrific piece up over at Literary Mama on The Arrival and The Invention of Hugo Cabret. By the way, she's also posting once a week (Tuesday, I think) over at Mama PhD.

The Summer Blog Blast Tour is underway. You can see the full schedule at Chasing Ray.

The May issue of The Edge of the Forest is out and packed with lots of thoughtful pieces.

Just down the road from me at William and Mary, Denise Johnson has started a blog entitled The Joy of Children's Literature to accompany her book of the same name. She's been posting since March, but it took me a while to find her. Welcome, Denise!

That's all for now. I'm off to bake cookies with my son. I'll be back with some real posts soon.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Ottava Rima

I'm back on my iambic pentameter kick. I have been working on a collection of poems about ancient Egypt, and have been trying out several forms in this meter. This week I thought it might be fun to try ottava rima. Ottava rima is an Italian form that consists of a stanza of eight lines with the rhyme scheme abababcc. In English, the lines are usually written in iambic pentameter. Ottava rima is generally associated with epic poems (like Don Juan), but can be used for shorter poems.

An example of ottava rima can be found in the poem Sailing to Byzantium. Here are the first two stanzas of the poem.

Sailing to Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

So, this is your challenge for this week. Write a poem in the form of ottava rima. This is a great form for storytelling, so if you have one to share, go for it! Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Meme of Five

I've seen this meme around lots of blogs in the last two weeks. I'll admit to feeling a bit left out around midweek when I hadn't been tagged yet. Yes, I was swamped with work, so what better time to wade in the mire of procrastination? I shouldn't have worried, however, because Elaine made sure I was included in the fun. Hang on because here we go!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

As per my prerogative, I'm going to change a few of these rules/questions.

What were you doing one year ago?
Last year at this time I was just beginning my trip to China, Tibet and Taiwan. It makes me very sad to see all that has happened in Tibet and China since then. I can happily relate that nearly one year after meeting Ma Ying-jeou, he will be sworn in as President of Taiwan on May 20th.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

1. Write a thank you note.
2. Rehearse the songs for mass on Sunday.
   
3. Take my son and his friend out to dinner.
4. Laundry.
5. Read today's poetry Friday entries.
   

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Chips, chips, chips (Lots of salt, no flavors)
2. Cashews
3. Olives
4. Cheese and crackers
5. Dried fruit (especially apricots and dates)
   

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Fly to see my family as often as I want or am needed.
2. Send all my nieces and nephews to college without student loans.
3. Travel extensively with William so he can learn about the world through more than just books.
4. Supply books for kids and families that can't afford their own.
   
5. Keep working, because I love what I do, though my department would never lack for anything.
   

What are five of your bad habits/traits?

1. I am stubborn, stubborn, stubborn.
2. I must always be right. (No, really.)
   
3. I drink milk from the gallon when no one is looking.
4. I like my music LOUD--in the car, the kitchen, my headphones, you name it.
5. I stick my tongue out at my husband when he annoys me. This annoys him, but makes me feel oh so much better.
   

What are five places where you have lived? (I've included places I lived while in college.)

1. Rochester, NY
2. New London, CT
3. StonyBrook, NY
4. Buffalo, NY
5. Richmond, VA
   

What are five jobs you've had?

1. Marine Science Research Assistant (I sat in a darkened room in front of an electron microscope and counted red tide cells for hours on end.)
2. Waitress (StonyBrook Catering, Andriko's Place (Flushing, NY), Miss Buffalo/Niagara Clipper)
3. Factory Worker (I assembled physics equipment, like circuit boards, Van de Graaff generators, and more.)
4. Quality Control (I tested dog biscuits for fat content. This was a job where I spent 8-hours a day doing organic chemistry. Very cool.)
5. Teacher - In all of its various forms, still my best job EVER!

I'm not tagging anyone else. If you are reading this and haven't participated yet, why not?

Poetry Friday - To Sleep

Work was crazy this week and I've had a lot on my mind, so I'm very tired and desperate for a good night's sleep. Apparently, people had this same problem in the 16th century. Here is a sonnet from that time about sleep.

To Sleep
by Sir Philip Sidney

Come, Sleep; O Sleep! the certain knot of peace,
The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man’s wealth, the prisoner’s release,
Th’ indifferent judge between the high and low;
With shield of proof, shield me from out the prease
Of those fierce darts Despair at me doth throw:
O make in me those civil wars to cease;
I will good tribute pay, if thou do so.
Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed,
A chamber deaf to noise and blind to light,
A rosy garland and a weary head:
And if these things, as being thine by right,
Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me,
Livelier than elsewhere, Stella’s image see.

I checked the old Oxford English Dictionary, but could not find an entry for prease. Any thoughts on this one?

The round up this week is being hosted by the fine ladies at Two Writing Teachers. Do stop by to read some of the wonderful poetry being shared this week. Before you go, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!

**UPDATED - Believe it or not, I was exhausted at the close of last semester (what does THAT say about me?) and posted a poem about sleep then as well. It was a sonnet by John Keats, also entitled To Sleep. Drug of choice, indeed!

Poetry Stretch Results - Six-Words

The challenge this week was to write a poem that contained the five words hole, friend, candle, ocean, and snake, as well as either bucket or scarecrow as the sixth word. Here's what people came up with.

Noah the Great shares a poem entitled Digger.

sister AE at Having Writ gives us a poem called With.

cloudscome at a wrung sponge shares a diamante.

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader makes it all look so effortless in Poetry on Demand.

My poem this week is about one of my favorite summer pastimes from childhood.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Write your own six-word poem using the guidelines above, leave me a comment, and I'll add it to the list.

Checking In - And Yes, I'm Still Here!

Sorry I've been silent this week, but it's been very busy since graduation on Sunday. Here's what I've been doing.

• Monday - faculty meeting, department meeting, strategic planning meeting/training
  
• Tuesday - strategic planning meeting, human subjects review board meeting
• Wednesday - department retreat, grants meeting

As you can see, I've been drowning in a mire of administrative work. Today, however, I had the distinct pleasure of serving on a team that reviewed nominees for Virginia's Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science in the area of elementary (K-6) science. I can't tell you how inspiring it was to read about and watch exemplary teachers at work. It was a long day, but well worth every minute.

Tomorrow it's back to the office and a more regular schedule. Thanks for checking in!

Original Poem - Six Words

I know I just posted this week's poetry stretch this morning, but I was inspired while scribbling away during a LONG meeting today. I began by doing some word association to see how I might use the seemingly six unconnected words in a poem. When I was reminded of one of my favorite childhood summer activities, the words began to spill out onto the page. These are the moments when I am reminded of just how magical writing poetry can be. (Now, don't go equating magic with ease. I've already revised five times, and it's not finished yet! The magic came in making these wonderful memories concrete.)

Here are the words: hole, friend, candle, ocean, snake, and scarecrow.
Here is the poem.

Swimming in an ocean of corn,
stalks straight and tall,
we run,
carving paths that snake
between the rows,
avoiding the gaze of
a watchful scarecrow,
defending the far end of the field.

Arriving somewhere in the middle,
we make a hole,
a circular fort where
two friends whisper secrets,
until the candles of evening
flicker and flame.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Six Words

In the book I Am Writing a Poem About . . . A Game of Poetry, Myra Cohn Livingston writes about three of the assignments she gave to students in her master class in poetry at UCLA. A while back, Elaine at Wild Rose Reader and Janet Wong, one of the students in Livingston's master class, challenged folks to write ring/drum/blanket poems. This is one of the assignments that is described in the book. The third assignment Livingston gave was to write a six-word-based poem. Here is a description from the book's introduction.

About the last assignment--a six-word-based poem--there was some debate. Everyone agreed that hole, friend, candle, ocean, bucket, and snake presented possibilities, but a few preferred the word scarecrow to bucket, so a choice was given. Hole, friend, candle, ocean, and snake were mandatory, but one could choose either bucket or scarecrow as the sixth word.

Now, that is a challenge! We are going to follow Livingston's directions, so your job this week is to write a poem that contains the five words hole, friend, candle, ocean, and snake, as well as either bucket or scarecrow as the sixth word. Leave me a comment about your poem and I will post the results here later this week.

New Learning in the Great Outdoors

The new edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is up over at 10,000 Birds. Charlie has done a magnificent job putting it all together. If you have any inclination towards learning outside (and even if you don't!), do head over and check it out.

BTW - I'm hosting next month, so get your submissions to me by June 11th!

Read/Heard Today - Our Deepest Fear

This poem was shared by our commencement speaker today.

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Write Some Science Verse

Found this in today's Guardian Unlimited blog.

Write Some Formulaic Verse

The idea that science and poetry are mutually exclusive realms is a widespread misconception. Please prove it wrong here.

There are some interesting submissions in the comments. Do take a look.

Poetry Friday - Flowers

It's raining this morning, but until now, it's been beautiful. I've been admiring the flowers. While I can't show them to you, I can share them in another way.

Flowers
by Florence Taber Holt

Not all flowers have souls,
But roses, for they are memories of lovers,
And lilies, their prayers,
Azaleas; who give themselves to the winds,
And irises, beloved of Pindar,
And the pale oenothera,
Incandescent in the twilight,
And many sweet and simple flowers—
Snowdrops and violets,
White and delicately veined—
And all shadowy wind-flowers.
But not tree blossoms,
Which are the breath of Spring,
Nor poppies, splendid and secret,
And sprung from drops of Persian blood,
Nor water-lilies, who have but their dreams,
And float, little worlds of scent and color,
Wrapt in their golden atmosphere.

The round up today is being hosted by writer2b at Findings: Threads of Revelation. Do stop by to enjoy all the great poetry being shared this week. Before you go, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Poetry Stretch Results - May Inspired Image

This week's challenge was to write a poem in response to this image.

This photograph was taken by lijojohnson and is protected under a Creative Commons license.

Here's what folks are sharing this week.

Daisybug at Things that make me say... shares a poem entitled Lessons.

Marianne Nelson at Doing the Write Thing! shares a poem entitled Mountains.

sister AE at Having Writ give us a poem entitled Sand.

My poem is entitled Two Boys Build.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Visual Literacy - Part 2

We spent some time in the later part of the morning looking at some amazing tools for examining text. The first one should be of interest to Monica.

TextArc - A TextArc is a visual representation of a text—the entire text (twice!) on a single page. A funny combination of an index, concordance, and summary; it uses the viewer's eye to help uncover meaning.

http://www.textarc.org/
Be sure to explore the Alice in Wonderland link.

US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud - This tag cloud shows the popularity, frequency, and trends in the usages of words within speeches, official documents, declarations, and letters written by the Presidents of the US between 1776 - 2007 AD. The dataset consists of over 365 documents downloaded from Encyclopedia Britannica, ThisNation.com, and WhiteHouse.Gov.

http://chir.ag/phernalia/preztags/

I'm not sure how I'll use these, but I'm going to share them with teachers and see what they think.

Thinking About Visual Literacy - Notes From a Workshop

Dear Blog Readers,

I spent the day yesterday in a series of workshop on integrating technology into undergraduate education.

Today I am spending the day in a workshop on visual literacy. I am learning a lot and finding some really interesting resources for my teaching. Here are two you may want to explore on your own.

Periodic Table of Visual Literacy
http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

WordCount - WordCount™ is an interactive presentation of the 86,800 most frequently used English words.
http://www.wordcount.org/main.php
Make your guess as to the top five words before you click.
Here's where you'll find some of the my favorite words.

• abstruse - 46,891
• gossamer - 46,065
• wanderlust - 69,638

Where do some of your favorite words rank?

Alright, back to work. Stay tuned for an update during our next break.

Original Poem - May Inspired Image

This week's poetry stretch was to write a poem inspired by the image below.

This photograph was taken by lijojohnson and is protected under a Creative Commons license.

When I saw this photo, I couldn't help but compare it to this one of my son.

I began thinking about two boys, worlds apart, engaged in the same activity. Here is the poem that resulted.

Two Boys Build
Near the Bay of Bengal
and the Chesapeake Bay,
two boys build.

Covered in sand
they dig,
scoop,
dump, pat,
repeat.

They sit back,
evaluate, and
admire their work.

Both wonder when
rolling waves
will flatten their
creations.

After destruction comes,
they build
again—more carefully,
solidly, passionately,
imaginatively.

Divided by time,
language, country
and culture,

united by this
simple childhood
pleasure,

two boys build.

Nonfiction Monday - Sea Queens

Before we begin, let's play a bit of word association. What comes to mind when you hear the word pirate? When I was younger the response probably would have been Errol Flynn or the Dread Pirate Roberts. For today's movie-goers it's probably Johnny Depp. But move beyond the movie swashbuckling for a moment and think about pirating as a profession. Now what comes to mind? Thieves? Murderers? Skull and crossbones? Black eye patch? Wooden leg? Dirty? Dastardly? Yes, I know, stereotypical all. During this little experiment in word association did the word woman come to mind--not in the damsel-in-distress connotation, but as the PIRATE?

Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World, written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Christine Joy Pratt, is a thoroughly engrossing book about women in history who joined the ranks of pirate. The first chapter, entitled Sea Queens, begins this way.

A pirate is a robber who roams the oceans of the world. He thieves and pillages and murders. Above his ship flies the skull-and-crossbones flag.

The pirate is a low-class dirty dog, a dirty down-and-outer with few teeth and a black patch on his eye. His is as often dead drunk as sober.

But wait--not all of that is true.

Some pirates did their thieving on rivers.

Some pirates, called privateers, robbed only enemies of their country. They sailed under a letter of marque--permission from their king or queen.
.
.
.
And not all pirates were men.

Not all pirates were men?

Yes, some of the greatest pirates ever known were women.

This introduction goes on to describe the "basics" of the pirate world, from flags to vocabulary, the pirate code, treasure and more.

What follows are 12 biographies of women pirates through history, beginning with Artemisia, Admiral-Queen from Persia (500-480 BC) and ending with Madame Ching from China (early nineteenth century). Accompanied by illustrations done in pen and ink on scratchboard, the biographies attempt to separate fact from fiction while providing as much solid information about the pirates as possible. The narratives are engaging and fun to read. They are accompanied by highlight boxes that provide a bit of context for the time and place, as well as interesting tidbits learned while researching the pirate. For example, the chapter on Anne Bonney and Mary Read, two pirates in the American colonies in the early eighteenth century, includes boxes on Piracy in the Carolinas, Anne's Poem (a poem said to have been written by Anne Bonney), How Anne's Story Was Told, How American Pirates Attacked, Women as Soldiers, Who Was Wood Rogers?, Who Knew They Were Women? and Captain Barnet's Attack. The biographies vary in length, with some extending only three pages, and others well beyond ten.

The book concludes with a chapter entitled Roundup, which includes a list of other women pirates about whom only a little is known. The chapter states:

Most pirates--men or women--have remained unknown to history unless captured and hanged or pardoned. Also the earlier accounts have been so compromised by folklore and legend, there are often few facts to back up the stories we do have.

This is a well researched book, as evidenced by the extensive bibliography of books and web sites. In fact, Jane Yolen includes a bibliographic note that says:

When I wrote an earlier book on women pirates, there was little easily obtained information about them. I didn't know then about Grania O'Malley, or Artemisia, or Teuta. In the over forty years since publication of that book, Pirates in Petticoats, scholars have done much work on the subject of women pirates. This book uses a lot of that new material.

If it's any indication of how much I enjoyed this book, you should know that day it arrived I sat on the couch in my office (okay, reclined!) and read it from cover to cover. It is a fascinating, well-written text that is thoroughly engaging. This may actually be one of my favorite nonfiction reads of the year to date. I highly recommend it.

Book: Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Christine Joy Pratt
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Publication Date: July 2008
Pages: 104 pages
Grades: 4-8
ISBN: 978-1580891318

Source of Book: Review copy received from Raab Associates.

This post was written for Nonfiction Monday. Head on over to Anastasia Suen’s blog and check out all the great posts highlighting nonfiction this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Inspired Image

It's the first Monday of the month, so that means this week's poetry stretch is to write a poem from an image. The poem may take any form that inspires you. Here is the image we'll be writing about.

This photograph was taken by lijojohnson and is protected under a Creative Commons license. You may include this photo with your poem as long as you include this attribution on your blog.

What does this photo say to you? What kind of poem will you write? Leave me a comment about your work and I'll post the results here later this week. Don't forget that if you like this kind of stretch, you can take it up every week with Laura Purdie Salas and her 15 words or less challenge

Poetry Friday - Love's Perjuries

I mentioned earlier this week that I am not a fan of love poetry, but I withhold any reservations for the work of Shakespeare. Today I'm sharing one of his poems.

Love's Perjuries
On a day, alack the day!
Love, whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair
Playing in the wanton air:
Through the velvet leaves the wind,
All unseen, 'gan passage find;
That the lover, sick to death,
Wish'd himself the heaven's breath.
Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow;
Air, would I might triumph so!
But, alack, my hand is sworn
Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn:
Vow, alack, for youth unmeet;
Youth so apt to pluck a sweet.
Do not call it sin in me
That I am forsworn for thee:
Thou for whom Jove would swear
Juno but an Ethiope were,
And deny himself for Jove,
Turning mortal for thy love.

The round up this week is being hosted by Kelly over at Big A little a. Do stop by and take in all the great poetry being shared this week. Before you go, don't forget to check out this week's poetry stretch results, where you'll find some yummy poetry on food. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Poetry Stretch Results - Food Poems

This week I challenged folks to write poems about food. Here are the delicious results.

Mad Kane at Mad Kane's Humor Blog is in with a limerick entitled Ode to an Ill-Tempered Felon.

Cassy at Reach for More - Aspira a más shares a salad poem entitled En busca de la ensalada perfecta. Welcome Cassy!

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader shares three poems about food.

Evelyn at Light One Small Candle is in with a series of limericks entitled A "god" called food. Welcome Evelyn!

Linda at Write Time shares two food-inspired poems.

My poem was written in haste on the back of an envelope as I watched my toothless son attempt to eat an ear of corn. I was temporarily heartbroken for him, then greedily ecstatic for myself. The poem is called Uneaten Ears.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Dash off your food poem and leave me a comment. As soon as you do, I'll add your poem to the list.