new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Janet S.Wong, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 8 of 8
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Janet S.Wong in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 4/17/2015
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Sylvia Vardell,
holiday,
Monkey,
Eli,
National Poetry Month,
JoAnn Early Macken,
Esther Hershenhorn,
Lesson Plan,
April Halprin Wayland,
Janet S.Wong,
poetry prompt,
Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations,
Add a tag
.
Howdy, Campers! Happy Poetry Friday! (the PF link is at the end)
Authors-anthologists-publishers Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell have written an article well-worth reading (it's brief!) for National Poetry Month in the online magazine Bookology which begins:
"We are pressed for time, so we multitask. You might be eating breakfast while you’re reading Bookology, or doing laundry, or both. “Killing two birds with one stone” or “hatching two birds from the same egg”—integrated teaching—is the best way to fit everything in, especially in the K-5 classroom." (read the whole article
here)
Janet and Sylvia's
Poetry Friday Anthology series does a LOT of heavy lifting including:
1) helping pressed-for-time teachers and librarians teach poetry while meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Texas TEKS for English Language Arts (ELA)/Poetry and Science & Technology,
and
2) including a “Take 5!” mini-lesson with every poem in their collection for librarians, teachers, and parents with instructions for sharing, picture book pairings, and curriculum connections.
And in their NEW collection Janet and Sylvia have added another bonus
: each of the 156 poems in this newest book appears in both English and Spanish--WOWEE!JoAnne's recent post sang out about this book (which includes JoAnne's terrific Graduation Day poem), and
Esther's post continued, including
an interview of these two visionaries and Esther's very
green Saint Pat's Day poem.
As JoAnne writes:
I’m thrilled to be one of 115 poets (and 3 Teaching Authors!) whose poems are featured in the brand-new Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations! I'm thrilled that they've included two of my poems. This one's for National Thrift Shop Day (who knew?)
(Click to enlarge )
Have a fabulous Poetry Friday...and consider donating to a thrift shop today and then shopping in one, too ~
Remember to enter our
Book Giveaway to win an autographed copy of Paul Janeczko’s 50th book, DEATH OF A HAT, illustrated by Chris Raschka. You can enter between now and April 22 (which just happens to be our SIXTH
TeachingAuthors Blogiversary!).
And...please stop by
my poetry blog where all Poetry Month long I'm posting PPPs--Previously Published Poems--from anthologies, Cricket Magazine and
my novel in poems.
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/20/2015
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
April Halprin Wayland,
fiction,
Poetry Friday,
Nonfiction,
research,
Stem,
Sensory details,
Turning Life into Fiction,
Janet S.Wong,
Sylvia Vardell,
Poetry Friday Anthology,
science poems,
Add a tag
.
Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (the link to this week's PF host is below.)
First: welcome, welcome to our newest TeachingAuthor, Carla! I am in awe of your writer's journey, Carla, because when I learned that we would be discussing non-fiction, my legs trembled and my palms grew cold and damp. Unlike you and Mary Ann, in her wonderful first salvo on this topic, I am not, by nature, a researcher. I am NOT a "Just the facts, M'am."
 |
| Jack Webb as Joe Friday in Dragnet, from Wikipedia |
But... is this really true?
Well...I DO tell my
students that real details bring fiction to life, and have them listen to the following
short audioclip from StoryCorps. Talk about bringing a subject to life! The details Laura Greenberg shares with her daughter are priceless--not to mention hilarious.
Still, I struggled to write poems for
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (
Pomelo Books). By "struggled" I mean I read science articles and wrote tons of stinky poems about rocks, astronauts, materials science, the expiration dates on seed packages,electricity, science experiments...and on and on and on.
But...I
dread gettting facts wrong--my worst nightmare. (Confession:
writing these blog posts scares the bejeebers out of me.)
In fiction, I can fly my fairy-self to Planet Bodiddley and make up all the materials science by myself. But if I have to convey facts? And then somehow bake them into a tasty poetry pie? I get tied up in knots. My writing becomes stiff as a board. I'm afraid of...
But finally I stumbled on this fascinating fact, in a review of
The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman:"The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex."
Wow. Think of the water you drink. Think of the water you
take a BATH in!!!! Ten versions of "Space Bathtub" later (with considerable coaching from the ever-patient anthologists,
Janet Wong and
Sylvia Vardell) this fact became a poem for kindergartners:
OLD WATER
by April Halprin Wayland
I am having a soak in the tub.
Mom is giving my neck a strong scrub.
Water sloshes against the sides.
H2O's seeping into my eyes.
The wet stuff running down my face?
She says it came from outer space!
The water washing between my toes
was born a billion years ago.
from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science(c) 2014 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
If you're a K-5th grade teacher, this book is so immediately useful, you'll cry with relief when you open it. Trust me. For details, and to watch under-two minute videos of poets (Bobbi Katz, Kristy Dempsey, Mary Lee Hahn, Susan Blackaby, Buffy Silverman, Linda Sue Park and me) reciting our science poems from this anthology, go to Renee LaTulippe's
No Water River. Again, trust me. (A little foreshadowing: Pomelo Books' newest anthology,
Celebrations! comes just in time for Poetry Month this year--stay tuned!)
Here's a terrific vimeo of "Old Water" produced by
Christopher Alello:
posted safely and scientifically by April Halprin Wayland wearing safety goggles
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/6/2014
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Interview,
Poetry Friday,
Book Giveaway,
Children's Authors Network,
Myra Cohn Livingston,
April Halprin Wayland,
Janet S.Wong,
Joan Bransfield Graham,
shape poems,
Wednesday Writing Workout,
Krysten Brooker,
Add a tag
.
Howdy, Campers!
Before we get to Poetry Friday, before you enter our newest book giveaway to win a new spanking-new poetry book, I'm thrilled to announce the winner of an autographed copy of Debbie Dadey's Treasure in Trident City (Aladdin).
(Here's Carmela's guest TeachingAuthor Interview with the Debbie.)
And the winner is...drum roll, please...Catherine A!
Congratulations, Catherine!
And now onto Poetry Friday, which is hosted by Carol, of,
interestingly enough,
Carol's Corner. Thanks for hosting, Carol!
And today, we're lucky ducks. Why? Because my dear friend, poet
Joan Bransfield Graham, is stopping by for a glass of iced tea! Here she comes now ~ um...looks like I'd better bring a trough of tea...
.
The effervescent, inventive and truly original author and poet,
Joan Bransfield Graham.
In January, when her latest book of poetry
--The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices, illustrated by
Krysten Brooker--was published,
TeachingAuthors was proud to be part of Joan's blog tour. At our stop of her tour she offered a
Wednesday Writing Workout called the Olympic Writing Challenge.
Today,
Joan has agreed to be tied to a spit and grilled with our tough
TeachingAuthor interview questions. She has
also been kind enough to offer an autographed copy of
The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices to one of our lucky readers. (Here's
Miss Rumphius' fabulous interview with Joan to whet your appetite for this book.)
This book giveaway runs from midnight, June 6 to the end of the day on June 21, 2014. See below for entry details.
As I reported in January,
Joan is an award-winning poet who can't STOP writing poetry. She has files and piles of poems, which have been featured in anthologies, magazines, textbooks, and on CDs. She likes to think "outside the page" because poetry is "everywhere." Her books SPLISH SPLASH and FLICKER FLASH--shape poems about water and light--were both chosen as School Library Journal Best Books of the Year and NCTE Notables, among many other honors, and have been described as "ingenious," "wonderfully evocative," and "stunningly delicious." She loves photography, art, traveling and lives not-too-far from me in Los Angeles, CA.
Celebrating its 20th Birthday!
Celebrating its 15th Birthday!
So, Joan, how did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?
I officially became a TeachingAuthor when my teacher brain and my writer brain merged! My favorite part about teaching was helping students leap beyond knowledge into creativity, to use their imaginations to see the world in new ways.
What's a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address it?
"Does a poem have to rhyme?" Of course not. I tell students rhyme can be like a wild horse that wants to take you in the wrong direction. You have to be in charge of your poem and guide it; don't throw in any word just to make it rhyme. Expressing what you want to say is the most important thing--use the form that works best.
Lately, I've been surprised when students haven't been able to tell me what a poetry "anthology" is. The word anthology comes from the Greek word "anthologia," a "flower gathering." Isn't that a great way to think of it . . . a bouquet of voices rather than poems from only one writer.
 |
| Bouquets at the Davis, CA Farmer's Market |
Recently in an assembly, before we were going to do a poem together in sign language, I asked, "What is sign language?" A kindergarten child said, "Using your hands to communicate." Wow.
What one piece of advice do you have for teachers?
Share and enjoy poetry with your students across the curriculum--it fits everywhere! Do poems in "call and response" so that everyone can participate, be part of the poem.
Tell us about one particular school visit which stays with you.
Spending a day in the life of a school is an honor and a joy. Each school has its own personality. Between assemblies at one school, a teacher came up to me with a little boy and told me he had come to the school speaking no English and also had developmental problems. After my presentation, he went back to the classroom, picked up my book, and was singing the words he was so excited. He wanted to give me a hug to thank me. That's why we write, isn't it? To open the world for ourselves . . . and others.
And what's next on the horizon for you?
I've just had an incredibly busy May in California, which took me down to San Ysidro, up to Bakersfield for their amazing week-long Young Author Fair, down to San Clemente, and, on May 16, to my daughter Aimee's graduation from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
June 28 - 30 I'm headed to ALA in Las Vegas, where I'll be reading in the Poetry Blast. I have lots of poems due to come out in anthologies--April and I have been "flowers" in many of the same anthologies--at various times and many projects in the works. On Oct. 25 I'll be doing a Spotlight presentation at the SCBWI CenCal Writers' Day at California Lutheran University. March 7, 2015 you'll find me in Teaching Author mode conducting a workshop--REV YOUR POETRY POWER: Poetic Forms, Voices, and Choices.
And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, do you have a poem you'd like to share with our readers?
I'm torn about which poem to share. I've been having so much fun with my "Conductor" poem from THE POEM THAT WILL NOT END. I pass out my ocean drum, rain sticks, wooden frogs, thunder stick, and we have an environmental symphony. Those who don't have an instrument are part of the "wind chorus." I direct all this--"Conductor" is an Italian sonnet--with my large pencil baton as I read the poem.
But I think I'll share my haiku:
Footprints
Smooth patch of white snow,
stretched out before watchful eyes--
an invitation!
I say to students, "The next time you look at a blank sheet of white paper, think of it as a freshly-fallen field of snow, just waiting for the footprints that only you can make."
 |
| from morguefile.com |
My character Ryan O'Brian writes because he has to, he has a "Fever" (Can you hear Peggy Lee singing?). Thanks, April, for this opportunity to connect with kindred "fevered" spirits.
Thank YOU, Joan--and g'bye! (Readers, be sure to enter below for a chance to win Joan's newest book!)
Joan with her trusty camera. Behind her is one of her many fans.
Now it's time for you to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Joan's The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to TODAY'S blog post telling us what you'll do with the book should you win: save it for yourself or give it away? And please include your name in your comment, if it's not obvious from your comment "identity." (If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. )The giveaway ends on June 21st. P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address. Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.a Rafflecopter giveaway
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 4/4/2014
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Poetry Friday,
Blogiversary,
Laura Purdie Salas,
similes,
Poetry Month,
metaphors,
JoAnn Early Macken,
April Halprin Wayland,
Janet S.Wong,
Sylvia Vardell,
Blogiversary giveaway,
favorite poem project,
Add a tag
.
Howdy Campers ~ Happy Poetry Month! Happy Poetry Friday! And...
Happy 5th Blogiversary to us!
Details of our Book Bundles Giveaway below
On April 22, 2009, powered by the
dazzlingly bright solar power of Carmela Martino, we started this blog.
Five years--what a fabulous ride it's been!
Five candles. And when there are candles, someone makes a wish and blows them out. So you could say that this image represents the six active
TeachingAuthors. (We're celebrating
all TeachingAuthors who have been part of our blog biography.)
Campers, thank you from the bottom of our candles for reading, following, commenting and encouraging us. You're why we do this. You're why I'm terrified everytime a post is due. We want to add something meaningful
and merry to the party! In celebration of
You, this month's drawing is for one of FIVE "blogiversary book bundles." Each bundle is a set of five books hand-selected by a
TeachingAuthor and contains at least one autographed TA book. Yay You! (Details below.)
* * *
This month, inspired by the Chicago Favorite Poem Project, each of us will share a favorite poem. One of mine is "Liberty" by
Janet Wong, from her book,
The Declaration of Interdependence--Poems for an Election Year and also included in Caroline Kennedy's
Poems to Learn by Heart) read (and reproduced below) with Janet's kind permission:
LIBERTY by Janet Wong from DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE – Poems for an Election Year
I pledge acceptanceof the viewsso different,that make us America
To listen, to look,to think, and to learn
One peoplesharing the earthresponsiblefor libertyand justicefor all.Wow, right? So much substance packed into 12 lines.
* * *
This month is overflowing with poetry! Three TeachingAuthors are celebrating in three ways:
Also, Sylvia Vardell's Texas Women University students chose poems from the
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science: Poems for the School Year Integrating Science, Reading, and Language Arts and have made "poem movies" of them. They'll appear on
Sylvia's blog all this month. My poem "Old Water" will be featured on April 6.
And thank you, Amy, of
The Poem Farm, for hosting Poetry Friday today!
* * *
By now you're asking: "How can I enter to win a Book Bundle?
Our giveaway starts at midnight on Friday, 4/3 and ends at midnight of the day after our blogiversary, 4/23.
--You have a chance to win one of FIVE "blogiversary book bundles." Each bundle is a set of five books hand-selected by a TeachingAuthor and contains at least one autographed TA book.
--Books will be mailed directly to the winner, so winners must have a US mailing address.
--You have 3 entry options, and can enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options to increase their chances. (We DO verify that you've met all the criteria for each option. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.)
1) Tell us how you follow the blog (by "follow" we mean some sort of automated subscription service, such as via email, Facebook, Bloglovin', etc.) We have links in the sidebar to make it easy to start subscribing if you haven't already.
2) Leave a comment on THIS blog post. If you have difficulty commenting, you can submit comments via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. For this giveaway, you need to include in the comment either a) the title of a favorite poem OR b) the title of a favorite
TeachingAuthor blog post.
Please be also sure to include your name in the comment so we can verify you've fulfilled this option. [Some folks don't comment with their real name and we have no way of knowing who they are!]
3) Help spread the word. Share a link back to this blog post from your own blog, or from Twitter, Pinterest, or any other way we can verify online. You must include the URL of the link in the space provided.
And good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway posted with love by April Halprin Wayland. Monkey's on vacation.
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 9/27/2013
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Interview,
Poetry Friday,
Nonfiction,
poem,
Book Giveaway,
Teaching writing,
children's poems,
Teaching Tips,
Alexis O'Neill,
book raffle,
April Halprin Wayland,
Janet S.Wong,
Rafflecopter,
Add a tag
.
Howdy Campers and happy Poetry Friday!
See the end of this post for a link to the Poetry Friday round-up at Amy LV's and for info on our Book Giveaway.
Today we're celebrating author Alexis O'Neill's newest book with Book Giveaway! Hark! Here comes Alexis now:
Yes, that's Alexis wearing the crown--and she deserves it as the author of
THE RECESS QUEEN (Scholastic),
THE WORST BEST FRIEND (Scholastic),
LOUD EMILY (Simon and Schuster),
ESTELA'S SWAP (Lee
& Low) and her newest offspring,
THE KITE THAT BRIDGED TWO NATIONS:
Homan Walsh And The First Niagara Suspension Bridge
(Calkins Creek). She's also written fiction and nonfiction for
Cricket, Spider, Cobblestone, Calliope, Faces, and
Odyssey.
I've known Alexis since
Janet Wong founded the
Children's Authors Network (CAN!) during the classical era of the children's literature movement.
Alexis is an absolutely amazing teacher. In one memorable workshop, she taught CAN! authors how to create and present teacher inservices. It was an extraordinary presentation and it formed how I respond and present to teachers to this day.
Alexis has golden credentials in the field of education: she's a former elementary teacher with a Ph.D. in teacher education, she's an instructor for the
UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, a museum education consultant, a
Regional Advisor for SCBWI in California, and a contributor to the
SCBWI Bulletin, writing her column, “
The Truth About School Visits.” Her blog,
www.SchoolVisitExperts.com, offers practical advice to published authors and illustrators who are trying to navigate the world of public appearances.
This August, she was named
SCBWI Member of the Year --and though it was a complete surprise to her (though to no one else), she sang a sea shanty as she accepted the award.
Because that's who Alexis is--generous, original and dramatic. It's as if her goal is always to bring the classroom, the auditorium, fellow authors--whoever is around--together. As if she is a shepherd and we are the community she's teaching and keeping safe.
This is Alexis, keeping us safe.
Her new book,
THE KITE THAT BRIDGED TWO NATIONS: HOMAN WALSH AND THE FIRST NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE (Calkins Creek, September 2013) tells the true, dramatic story of how an ordinary boy earned an extraordinary place in history, using his kite to lay the first line for the first suspension bridge at Niagara Falls in the winter of 1848. Watch this 1:42 minute book trailer for a taste of the book:
So, Alexis, how did you become a TeachingAuthor?
I’ve been a
TeachingAuthor all my life! As a kid, I convinced my dad to hang a blackboard in the garage and persuaded the neighborhood kids to sit in my “class.” After school, I wrote (and sold) a neighborhood newspaper which I composed on my mom’s portable typewriter. As a grown up, I’ve taught elementary school students, teacher education candidates, and, as a published author, writers.
What's a common problem/question that teachers or students have and how do you address it?
Students of all ages are so afraid of being “wrong.” My advice to them is to just play with words! Don’t worry about what other people think of your work. Can’t find a word? Make it up! Or make a mark to come back to that spot later. Just mess around, and in that mess, you might find the seed of an idea that can sprout into a full-blown piece of writing that you will want to share later on. To address this problem when we do writing exercises, I tell students up front that no one will collect their writing – and that they can decide when and what they will share with the group.
Was there a moment in your life when you knew you were a writer?
The moment I knew I was a writer was when my sixth grade teacher read my report on Ireland out loud to the class. Instead of a dry, factual presentation, I had “pretended,” in my narrative, to be a tour guide who was taking the whole class with her on a trip. First, I was surprised that he read it out loud, then I was really surprised when, at recess, my classmates came up to me and said how much they liked what I had written. That’s when a big light bulb went on over my head. “Wow! I can write for an audience, and not just for my teacher!” I thought.
From that moment on, I made all of my reports as creative as possible. For example, my report on the Alamo was told from the point of view of the only survivor (there were none in reality, but that didn’t stop me.) Now I know I was writing historical fiction. But I kept doing this, and teachers kept reading my work out loud in my classes. The birth of a writer – writing for an audience and not just for a grade from my teachers!
And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, do you have an original poem you'd like to share with our readers?
THE FALLS
by Alexis O'Neill
I am thunder and roar
I am rain and river
Green and white magnificence.
You try to tame me
and you fail.
In barrel and boat
I spin you,
plunge you
crush you,
drown you.
A filmy fairy curtain?
Not I!
A lacy veil?
Not I!
I gnaw at rock
bite through cliffs
claw the very bed
across which I race
oceanward.
Out of my way!
I am the great Niagara
poem © 2013 Alexis O’Neill. All rights reserved
Wow--what a powerful waterfall of words! Thank you for stopping by and thank you for offering our readers a chance to win a copy of your new book (details below), Alexis!
Here's a peek at Alexis's touring schedule for A Kite that Bridged Two Nations. Be sure to visit her at AlexisONeill.com, follow her on Twitter, and friend her on FaceBook.
And now, for the Book Giveaway details:
We use Rafflecopter. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, you may want to read their info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and/or the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.
To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Kite That Bridged Two Nations log into Rafflecopter below (via either Facebook or an email address). You'll see that we've provided three different options for entering the giveaway--you can pick one or up to all three.
The more options you choose, the greater your chances of winning. While
we haven't made it a requirement for entering, we hope that everyone will WANT to subscribe to the TeachingAuthors
blog. We give you several ways of doing so in the sidebar, for example,
via email, Facebook Networked Blogs, Jacketflap, Bloglovin', etc.
If you're already a TeachingAuthors subscriber, you need only click on the first option below and tell us how you follow our blog, which will give you THREE entries in the giveaway! (If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter giveaway link below to enter.)
As it says in the "Terms and Conditions," this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
You must be 18 or older to enter. And please note: email addresses will
only be used to contact winners. The giveaway will run from now through October 9, 2013.
If you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by April Halprin Wayland with help from the Link Fairy.
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 8/3/2012
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
poetry prompt,
Poetry Friday,
writing exercise,
eBooks,
Writing Workout,
April Halprin Wayland,
poetry exercise,
Janet S.Wong,
Sylvia Vardell,
Add a tag
Howdy, Campers! And...surprise! Following the success of our first Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor which Carmela Martino posted last Friday, here's our second ever Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor (MGTA)—complete with his/her Writing Workout and a fabulous Book Giveaway! OMG. I'll bet you can barely stand the excitement. The details about the giveaway are below, but DO NOT GO THERE YET. If you do, you'll find out who our MGTA is and blow the whole deal. Here's how we play the MGTA game: I'll share our MGTA's bio before giving you his/her Writing Workout [listen...this his/her thing is getting awkward...I'll give this to you: it's a her]. You try to guess who our guest author is before I reveal the MGTA's identity at the end of the post. (And even though it's going to kill you, no fair clicking on the MGTA's book links to find out the author's name!)
Then let us know if you figured out who this most amazing lady is, either by commenting below, or an email.
Ready? Okay, let's go!
Today's MGTA is a Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman’s University and has taught graduate courses in children's and young adult literature at various universities since 1981. She has published extensively, including five books on literature for children [including—remember, no clicky-clicky—Poetry Aloud Here! Sharing Poetry with Children in the Library (ALA, 2006), Poetry People: A Practical Guide to Children's Poets (Libraries Unlimited, 2007), and Children'sLiterature in Action: A Librarians Guide (Libraries Unlimited, 2008)], as well as over 20 book chapters and 100 journal articles; she's recently co-edited several ground-breaking e-anthologies of poetry for children. In addition, she edits for Librarians' Choice. Is this woman is making you tired, just reading about her? And there's more: her blog is full of tips and news (and poems) that help spread enthusiasm for poetry, and it has become a touchstone—the go-to blog in the field of poetry for children.
Have you guessed our guest yet? No? Well,
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 10/7/2011
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
poetry forms,
April Halprin Wayland,
poetry exercise,
writing fears,
Janet S.Wong,
Sylvia Vardell,
Poetry Friday,
first drafts,
Fear,
Myra Cohn Livingston,
Add a tag
~
Howdy Campers and happy Poetry Friday! Today's poem and Writing Workout--a poetry prompt--are below.
Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Mary Ann Scheuer
over at
Great Kid Books. Thanks, Mary Ann!
(Yes, I have poems in both anthologies--but that's not why I'm jumping up and down about these two books--they are brilliant and original and poetry tag is a game you can play with other poets and your students!)
And now to today's
TeachingAuthors topic of the week. After five terrific posts on
First Drafts: Quieting the Internal Critic, it's my turn to wrap up this topic--for now. Just so you know, my internal critic is going nuts right this very minute because I am writing something that someone is going to actually read.
Like JoAnn, I enjoy first drafts. Mostly. First drafts aren't promising anyone anything. First drafts are splashing around, figuring stuff out. First drafts are swirling paint onto the page to see if I can convey what was dancing in my brain last night.
And like
Jeanne Marie, I am good at starting and not so good a
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/26/2010
Blog:
Teaching Authors
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Janet S.Wong,
Joan Bransfield Graham,
Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge,
Poetry Friday,
Writing Exercises,
Sonya Sones,
Myra Cohn Livingston,
Ann Whitford Paul,
April Halprin Wayland,
Alice Schertle,
Add a tag
Dear Followers of Teaching Authors,
Happy Poetry Friday!
I need your help.
I have been an instructor with UCLA Extension's Writing Program for ten years. I adore teaching there, love the students, love the challenges. Following the example of master teacher Myra Cohn Livingston (with whom I studied for twelve years), I am a big believer in homework for adult learners. Lots of it. I've found that the more work they do and the less dancing-on-a-table-top-in-the-front-of the-classroom I do, the better the teacher they think I am.
In Myra's Master Class, we basically shoved the rest of our lives aside for ten weeks to write poetry for children. Myra taught so many now well-known children's poets, I call her the Johnny Appleseed of children's poetry. My classmates including Monica Gunning, Janet S.Wong, Alice Schertle, Ann Whitford Paul, Tony Johnston, Joan Bransfield Graham, Madeleine Comora, Ruth Lercher Bornstein, Sonya Sones and many others.
Sometimes, though, critiquing each student's story every week wears me down. (Can you relate?) It's a fine line between thoroughly critiquing each story in order to help the author get it into shape...and spending more time critiquing it than the author spent writing it.
I don't know how you teachers with six classes a day, thirty students per class do it. I think you may be magicians.
I wanted to change my universe. I wanted the playfulness back in teaching. So I proposed a new class. It was accepted and I'll be teaching it this summer (yippee!). Here’s a draft of the course description:
Chockful of short and longer in-class writing exercises, this workshop is designed especially for children's picture book writers. By focusing on recurring subjects such as Tell the Truth, Less is More, Quote-Unquote, and The Power of Observation, you have the time and creative space to delve into a range of fresh approaches to these universal themes as you engage in stimulating writing exercises and constructive give-and-take with your instructor and peers. In addition to inspiring new work and points of view on it, this workshop loosens up your tight fists, unwrinkles your worried brow, and reminds you how satisfying and fun writing can be. All writing and critiquing is performed in class; students are given the opportunity to read their work aloud if they wish. Enrollment limit: 20 studentsNO HOMEWORK for me OR for the students! Doesn't that sound great?
Each of the six classes is three hours long, so I’m collecting fun, inspiring writing exercises.
Of course there are wonderful books that include all sorts of writing exercises. Among them:
Ann Whitford Paul's terrific
WRITING PICTURE BOOKS (s
6 Comments on Question Poems for Poetry Friday, last added: 3/1/2010
.JPG)
.JPG)
Good morning, April! I met Alexis at an SCBWI conference years ago. She's a joy to be around, and that shows in this interview! Looking forward to checking out her book. What a great topic.
Wow, April, this post is chockers! I suspected by the post's title it would be filled with good stuff... it certainly didn't disappoint. Thank you for introducing me to Alexis! I am enchanted by the trailer of her new book and humbled by the Great Falls depicted in her poem.
Hi there April, thank you for sharing this detailed interview with Alexis. I confess I haven't read any of her books yet, but your interview just makes me want to grab one of her books right away. I love teaching authors and her advice for kids to just make a mess and to find the seeds of ideas from there. Lovely! :)
After reading this post, I can see why Alexis should always wear that crown. What a multi-talented dynamo!
Enjoyed her poem and hearing about her new book. :)
Thanks for the informative post and the great giveaway. Yet another piece of history of which I was unaware. I think the kids will really enjoy this one, thanks!
Wow, what a lot of accomplishments by Alexis. Niagara Falls has a fascinating history, so I'm sure this new book will be good. Thanks!
Thanks for this great interview, April and Alexis, and for sharing the poem. I especially liked these lines:
>>I gnaw at rock
bite through cliffs
claw the very bed
across which I race
oceanward.<<
I'm looking forward to reading the book!
Way to go Alexis! I look forward to reading the book.
Kathryn Hunley
We live but 30 minutes from Niagara Falls, and this poem is true true true! So perfect. I can't wait to get the book, and man I wish I was in a class taught by Alexis too. Thank you for this rich post!
What a very fun, vibrant and accomplished person. That poem is fabulous! Thanks April and Alexis.
Thankk you for this wonderful interview - and for sharing both the book trailer (I must have tis book!), and the poem, which I can't wait to share with my students.
Wonderful post! I want to win this giveaway! My colleagues and I are leading 6th grade students in a year long enrichment project and this year's theme is bridges. We have been discussing metaphorical bridges as well as actual bridges. This book would be a great bridge for that purpose! Count me in!
Thank you for introducing me to the dynamic Alexis. Love the Niagara Falls poem and history!
It was nice to "meet" Alexis...I've always loved the story of Homan Walsh and Niagara Falls! The text and the illustrations are lovely.
I enjoy the variety of information on Teaching Authors. Thanks for sharing :)
Excited to read this nonfiction!
So true about water! It's one of the strongest forces on earth! I like the poem.
I am so looking forward to reading this book. I've been working on a historical MS myself and could definitely use this as a mentor text. Alexis is so kind to beginning writers. I remember her asking me, "What are you working on?" when she signed RECESS QUEEN for me. When she found out I write nonfiction, she gave me lots of great information. Kirsten Larson