The blog of a teacher educator discussing math, science, poetry, children's literature, and issues related to teaching children and their future teachers.
Woohoo! This is me sliding the stretch in under the wire! I'm operating on about 4 hours of sleep, having spent 11 hours in the Philadelphia airport waiting and hoping to get home on Sunday. I did finally make it home in the wee hours of Monday morning.
I am tired. And longing for sleep. But there is no rest for the weary. So, today I am thinking Keats might inspire us.
To Sleepby John Keats
O soft embalmer of the still midnight!
Shutting with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleased eyes, embower'd from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine;
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the amen, ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities;
Then save me, or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes;
Save me from curious conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed casket of my soul.
I'm not sure I have a sonnet in me this week, but I think I can be persuaded to write about sleep. How about you? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results here later this week.
I'm feeling as though the Monday poetry stretch should just be renamed the Tuesday poetry stretch! Monday has become the enemy. I can't seem to get myself together early in the week, especially with class on Monday.
In any case, I may be late, but I'm still feeling poetic. (Heck, I'm always feeling poetic!)
I'm thinking about time today. Yesterday was my 18th anniversary. I don't know where the time has gone! Within two months of getting married I defended my dissertation, moved to Virginia, and began my job at the university. It truly feels like it's gone by in the blink of an eye. And don't get me started on how fast my son is growing up! He'll be moving to middle school in the fall.
While I've been musing on time passing, I have also been reading poetry. Here's one I like to use in my math class.
Time Passes
by Ilo Orleans
Sixty seconds
Pass in a minute.
Sixty minutes
Pass in an hour.
Twenty-four hours
Pass in a day--
And that's how TIME
Keeps passing away!
Are you too feeling the passage of time? Then join me this week in writing a poem about time. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results here later this week.
I've been cleaning house and found a stack of old letters my mother sent me. It seems no one writes letters anymore. My mother claims she was a terrible letter writer, always sharing the most boring tidbits, but the news from home was and is always welcome.
After spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, my mother has been in rehab for about a week. I've been writing short notes, but think a letter is long overdue. Perhaps even a poem is called for. So today I'm thinking of an epistle. An epistle is a poem read as a letter. One of my favorite epistle poems is by Elizabeth Bishop. Here's an excerpt.
Yes, I know it's Tuesday, but it's been so long since I've been here that I wanted to get this out. I hope a few of you are still out there and will stretch with me.
Back in 2008 and again in 2010 we wrote poems in the form of kyrielle. I'd like to do this again, but think we should try a different definition of the form. This one comes from the book Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry, written and illustrated by Avis Harley.
Kyrielle - a kyrielle is divided into couplets, each pair of lines ending with the same word which acts as the refrain.
Here is her example.
Birthstones
How is it the salmon know
where to bury ruby roe?
Something signals when to go;
they journey homeward, rich with roe.
To birthstones of so long ago
the fish return to lay their roe.
Under currents, just below,
the jade green streams are jeweled with roe.
Normally on Poetry Friday I peruse my bookshelves and find something I want to share. Here's what my office looks like right now.
Our building is being renovated this summer, so this means I must pack up so that carpet and windows can be replaced, walls can be painted, and much more. WHAT A PAIN!
I am in serious withdrawl without my books! What you are looking at is 26 boxes of books, and my office is only about 60% packed! Since I'm teaching math this summer, I have stubbornly refused to touch these materials. I'll need to find a home for them since I will need them for class. But alas, all my poetry has been boxed. I miss it terribly.
This means you get something a little different from me today. Here's Taylor Mali performing Undivided Attention.
The roundup today is being hosted by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem. Do stop by and take in all the wonderful poetry being shared this week. Happy poetry Friday all!
So, I've been silent for a while, dealing with family, life, and work. Graduation is this weekend, so now that my grades are done, I'm thrilled to be back with a little something my poetry sisters put together.
It started on April 24th with this nudge.
Anyone want to go for six days straight of haiku with me -- post yours on blog or facebook and I'll mention you or link to you??? OR, anyone just want to aim for a haiku Friday this Friday -- final Friday of April?
Or linked haiku for Friday? One of you guys starts, like right now, and sends it to us. Then someone else uses it as a jumping off point, writes her own, sends it to us, etc. They're just haiku so we should easily have a whole batch by Friday? Anyone want in? If so, who's ready to kick us off????
Everyone needs a nudger in their writing group, the one that gently prods or suggests something outrageous. That's Liz. She started the fire at 4:00 pm. At 4:19, here's what showed up in the inbox.
I'm in! I've been doing a haiku or senryu every day, too. So short. But just keeping up... I do mine very fast, down and dirty. No revision, so they're not polished at all. Just warning you.
Happy to just link to your blog, or if you want to do a haiku daisy chain, here's one to perhaps start us off:
fall leaf in April
wearing last season's fashions--
shunned by the green crowd
That was Laura. By 6:31 pm, every member was in, except Tanita. Now, she's across the pond, so we can forgive her the difference in time because she was right there the next morning. New pieces started coming in (isn't it wonderful to have poetry arrive in your mailbox?), and then Andi threw out this idea.
These are wonderful! I am so glad it is spring and your poems are full of green and tart. I can't remember now if we started this game based on the Japanese tradition of haikai? Maybe it wasn't mentioned yet so I will bring it up. The earliest Japanese haiku started from a poetry game the masters used to play with each other. One person wrote a three line, 17 syllable haiku. The second person added a two line verse that linked to the first but also shifted slightly to another theme/topic. Then the first, or a third person added a three line verse. On and on it went, always with a link and a shift of topic. So you had a braid of poetry that could go on for ever. Over time the three line verses stood alone and became haiku. What if we tried inserting two line verses between our haiku?
Don't you just love smart, creative people? And so, after some online collaboration, we have a lovely little daisy chain haiku/renku. Heck, I'm not sure what to call it, but it's a beauty. Here's my contribution.
white melts into green
gardens blush Crayola proud
blooming shades of spring
You can read all the contributions over at a wrung sponge or the individual blogs linked below.
Thanks to Liz, Laura, Sara, Tanita, Kelly and Andi for taking the time to do this and for once again sharing their amazing talents. Head on over to their blogs to see what they had to say.
The roundup for today is being hosted by Elaine at Wild Rose Reader. Do stop by and take in all the great poetry being shared.
We had an unexpected death in the immediate family today. All my big plans for poetry month are now on hold, as I'll be stepping away for a while. Please keep my family, and especially my husband, in your prayers.
Last week's prompt was titled "I Left My Head." Folks wrote some really wonderful poems about faulty memories and absent-mindedness. This week I want to write about where we've left our hearts, and the unusual things or places that have captured them. A few years ago I lost my heart to Tibet. Watching the news and reading about events there makes me realize I've lost my heart to a place I may never return. As a child I lost my heart to books. Each fall I lose my heart to school supplies. Yes, I love bouquets of sharpened pencils. And don't get me started on chocolate ...
So, to who, what, or where have you lost your heart? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.
Today's Monday Math Freebie is up over at Bookish Ways in Math and Science. You'll find a problem solving activity where students must determine a pattern of dominoes placed on a table. The pattern is missing the lines showing the individual dominoes. Students must use their reasoning skills to determine the arrangement of the dominoes.
I've been playing the absent-minded professor lately. I seem to be forgetting everything. In thinking about my seemingly constant state of confusion, I was reminded of this poem by Lilian Moore.
I Left My Head by Lilian Moore
I left my head
somewhere
today.
Put it down for
just
a minute.
Under the
table?
So, I'm thinking we need to write some forgetful poems this week. Will you join me? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.
Today's Monday Math Freebie is up over at Bookish Ways in Math and Science. You'll find two versions of a bingo game that allows students to practice addition with multiple addends and the associative property.
In part one of this series (over at Kidlit Celebrates Women’s History Month), I wrote about women in science who boldly went where no women had gone before. Today I want to continue this series by looking at 20th century women and their contributions to science.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Rachel Carson developed an interest in and curiosity about nature at an early age. She took long walks with her mother where she learned the names of the local flora and fauna. She became an author at the age of ten when her first work was published in a children's magazine. She studied biology in college and graduate school, eventually taking a position with the agency that would eventually become the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the years she wrote books about the ocean, nature study, and more. Her best known work is SILENT SPRING, a book that was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962, and written to raise awareness of the pesticide DDT and the impact it was having on the environment. RACHEL CARSON: PRESERVING A SENSE OF WONDER, written by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Thomas Locker, is a poetic biography that briefly presents describes her childhood, education, career and accomplishments. The back matter contains excerpts from her writings and additional biographical information, including the titles of her most notable books.
Mary Leakey is recognized by many as one of the world’s most distinguished archaeologists and fossil hunters. At the age of 17 she began auditing courses in archaeology and geology at university and was soon recognized for her knowledge of stone tools and skills in scientific illustration. She was invited join Louis Leakey on a trip to Africa to draw the stone tools he had found. Three years later they were married and her lifelong work had begun. MARY LEAKEY: ARCHAEOLOGIST WHO REALLY DUG HER WORK, written and illustrated by Mike Venezia, is a title in the quirky, humorous, informational series "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists." Combining photographs, cartoon illustrations, and easy-to-read text, Venezia tells the story of Mary's life, from birth to death with heavy emphasis on her work in Africa and her many important discoveries.
The Leakey Family site has a nice biography of Mary, as well as a photo gallery, list of books published by the Leakey's and more.
Mary Leakey: Unearthing History is a reprint of a profile of Dr. Leakey that originally appeared in the October 1994 issue of Scientific American.
Jane Goodall (1934- )
Jane Goodall was an observer, spending her childhood watching the animals in her world. She dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals. When she finally realized her dream of traveling to Africa, she met Dr. Louis Leakey within weeks of arriving. He hired her as an assistant and eventually asked her to study of a group of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, believing that knowledge about wild chimpanzees might help us to better understand our evolutionary past. Jane spent more than 25 years studying chimpanzees in what eventually became known as the Gombe Stream Research Center. Her book detailing this work, THE CHIMPANZEES OF GOMBE: PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR, was published in 1986. THE WATCHER: JANE GOODALL'S LIFE WITH THE CHIMPS, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter, highlights Goodall's life as an avid observer and focuses largely on her accomplishments with the chimpanzees. With vibrant illustrations and economical text, Winter gives readers a moving biography. In her note about the story she writes, "I wish that when I was a little girl, I could have read about someone like Jane Goodall--a brave woman who wasn't afraid to do something that had never been done before. So now I've made this book for that little girl, who still speaks to me."
Another terrific title about Goodall is ME ... JANE, written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell. This 2012 Caldecott honor book tells the story of Goodall's childhood, highlighting her love of nature, curiosity, and dreams of Africa. Ironically, Jane does it all with her beloved stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee, by her side. McDonnell's art is composed of India ink and watercolor in earth tone shades. The pages include ornamental engravings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. These images evoke Jane's love of nature, and enrich the overall design with illustrations that include a ship, elephant, zebra, chimpanzee, eggs, a leaf, tree, moons, squirrels and more. McDonnell also includes pages of Jane's childhood journal, as well as an image she drew as an adult of her life in the forest at Gombe.
Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer who has led more than 60 expeditions worldwide and spent more than 7000 hours underwater in connection with her research. In 1990 she was appointed as Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the first woman to hold such a position. Today Dr. Earle is Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. Recently she led the Google Ocean Advisory Council where she provided content and scientific oversight for the ocean components in Google Earth. LIFE IN THE OCEAN: THE STORY OF OCEANOGRAPHER SYLVIA EARLE, written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola, introduces readers to Sylvia's early life, her passion for the ocean, and her work in ocean exploration and advocacy. The gorgeous illustrations showcase the wonders of the sea. Nivola's use of quotes from Earle nicely convey the spirit of this underwater explorer.
Spend a few minutes and listen to Dr. Earle talk about the oceans.
Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)
Wangari Maathai was a scientist, environmentalist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, advocate for social justice, human rights, and democracy, and a Nobel Peace Laureate. At the urging of her brother she attended school at a time when most young women were not educated. She studied in the United States and returned to Kenya in 1966. In 1971 she became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a Ph.D. In 1976 she introduced the idea of community-based tree planting and eventually founded the Green Belt Movement (GBM), an organization focused on poverty reduction and environmental conservation. To date the GBM has assisted women in planting more than 40 million trees on community lands including farms, schools and church compounds. MAMA MITI: WANGARI MAATHAI AND THE TREES OF KENYA, written by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, is a beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated work. When a succession of village women come to Maathai for advice about how to survive with dirty water, sick cows, too little food, and other problems, the answer was always the same--"Go home and plant trees." Maathai suggested a different species to solve each of these problems. After advising each woman on a type of tree to plant, she bids them, "Thayu nyumba," or "Peace, my people." The back matter includes a Kikuyu glossary, a short biography of Maathai, additional resources, and a note from the illustrator describing the artwork.
WANGARI'S TREES OF PEACE: A TRUE STORY FROM AFRICA, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter, is a biography of Mathaai told in clear, simple text and accompanied by vibrant acrylic illustrations. Readers see the landscape of Kenya change from barren to beautiful as a result of efforts by Wangari and the women who embraced her Green Belt Movement. It is a story full of hope and beauty. The author's note in the back provides more information about Wangari and the Green Belt Movement she started in 1977.
PLANTING THE TREES OF KENYA: THE STORY OF WANGARI MATHAAI, written and illustrated by Claire Nivola, is a more detailed biography that is accompanied by intricate pen and watercolor illustrations. Nivola uses words and pictures to show Mathaai'sconnection with nature developed as a youth, and how this connection inspired her environmental practices as an adult. This one also includes an author's note with additional information on Wangari and her life.
Once again, I'm amazed at the power of women with brains, heart, determination, and passion. I hope these brief introductions motivate you to learn more about them and look for their inspiring stories.
This year is the blog’s second annual celebration. Each day this month the blog will feature a post by authors and bloggers alike. 2012 contributors include:
Selina Alko, author
Marc Aronson, author
Karen Blumenthal, author
Sylvia Carol Branzei-Velasquez, author
Shirin Yim Bridges, author
Jen Bryant, author
Gina Capaldi, author
Margarita Engle, author
Ruth Feldman, author
Marty Rhodes Figley, author
The Fourth Musketeer
A Fuse #8 Production
Monica Kulling, author
Michaela MacColl, author
Anna Malaspina, author
The Miss Rumphius Effect
Claire Rudolf Murphy, author
Donna Jo Napoli, author
Nonfiction Detectives
Peaceful Reader
Andrea Davis Pinkney, author
Practically Paradise
Trina Robbins, author
Elizabeth Rusch, author
Vicky Alvear Schecter, author
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Shana Corey, author
Shelf-employed
Twenty by Jenny
Jim Weiss, storyteller
Gretchen Woelfle, author
On March 8th you will find me there, writing about science. The post focuses on women in science prior to the 20th century and a few children's books that highlight their lives and work.
For a while now I have been encouraging my students and the teachers I work with to consider games for homework. Can you imagine what your view of math might be today if your teacher sent you home with a game instead of a worksheet with 50 problems? I'm a game player at heart and know that my problem solving skills and facility with numbers developed in part because I played board games of all kinds. With so many kids spending time on the computers, smart phones, Wii's and other electronic devices, I'm convinced they miss out on a great deal when they don't sit down with another human being and engage in simple conversation and a battle of wits over a game.
Over at my other blog, Bookish Ways in Math and Science, I've started a new feature called Monday Math Freebies. If you are a teacher, know a teacher, or just like to play games with your kids, then this is for you. Each week I'll be sharing a few math resources to help kids practice basic skills and other important math concepts. The games require few resources beyond a game board (which I provide), dice or playing cards, and some kind of marker. The game files are free and come with directions. I hope you'll try them out and let me know what you think.
Last week I was feeling Fibonacci. Since I'm still in a mathematical mood, this week I'm feeling Zeno. The Zeno is a poetic form that was invented by our esteemed Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. Here's Pat's explanation of the form.
I've invented what I had called a “hailstone," after the mathematical "hailstone sequence." It has nothing to do with Mary O'Neill's Hailstones and Halibut Bones, but it would no doubt instantly be confused with it. Hence, "hailstone" is problematic. So I call the form a "zeno," so named for Zeno, the philosopher of paradoxes, especially the dichotomy paradox, according to which getting anywhere involves first getting half way there and then again halfway there, and so on ad infinitum. I'm dividing each line in half of the previous one. Here's my description of a zeno:
A 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1.
The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd.
Here are two examples.
Sea Song
A song streaming a thousand miles
may sound like a
fairy
tale,
but it’s only
love’s bulk-
mail
coming out of
the blue...
whale.
Why Wolves Howl
Gray wolves do not howl at the moon.
Across a vast
timber
zone,
they oboe in
mono-
tone, Fur-face, I am all a- lone.
So, that's the challenge for the week. What kind of Zeno will you write? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.
If you want more, you check out Part 2, and Part 3 of Doodling in Math Class: Spirals, Fibonnaci, and Being a Plant. Oh heck, while you're there check out Vi Hart's channel where math + art = poetry!
Now that you've seen the video, I know you're itching to write a Fib (or at least I am).
Greg K. from GottaBook posted his first Fib entry on April 1st, 2006. Was it an April Fool's joke? I think not. Here is an excerpt that describes the form of a Fib.
I wanted something that required more precision. That led me to a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8 – the classic Fibonacci sequence. In short, start with 0 and 1, add them together to get your next number, then keep adding the last two numbers together for your next one.
In the post More Fibbery, Greg talks about some of the rules he follows when writing. Here are a few of them.
Since I started Fibbing to focus on word choice, the one rule I've held myself to is "no articles in the one syllable lines." I also try not to use conjunctions, though part of that is that when I use them, I start singing School House Rock and annoy the neighbors.
You can read lots more about Fibs at GottaBook. So, just a reminder, here is the sequence for your Fib. Each of these numbers represents the syllable count for that line.
1
1
2
3
5
8
You can keep going if you like, just remember to add the previous number to the current line to get the next number of syllables.
So, your challenge is to write a Fib. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.
This year I had the pleasure of serving as a judge for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. After months of reading, the committee of judges met virtually to discuss our top choices. The authors have been contacted, so we've been given the go-ahead to share the news. I am pleased to announce this year's choices.
I was given a book of love poems (Shelley) when I was a teen. My response then was ... YUCK! Thirty+ years later, my opinion hasn't changed much. I'm not a big fan of love poetry, but I am a big fan of odes. I enjoy reading about the things people obsess over. I could read poems about birds, a favorite pencil, dad's chair, and lots of other things you can name, over and over. So, while I'm not about the mushy, heartfelt, loving another human being desperately, kind of poem, I do appreciate other kinds of love.
This week let's write an ode to your favorite pair of slippers, an old t-shirt, that ticket stub collection, or anything else that floats your boat. What thing do you love? I can't wait to read your poems.
