National Poetry Month: Mentors for Young Poets

It's National Poetry Month! Those of you who know me know I'm a "poetry all year" kind of gal, but this extra emphasis on poetry in April always brings such joy. I love that National Poetry Month is celebrated in the spring. Even Mother Nature jumps into the action by creating a canvas of beauty for poets to capture with their pens. In the classroom, this celebration comes at a time our learning communities can use a little energy boost. 

In walks poetry.

For National Poetry Month, many bloggers are writing, or sharing, a poem every day for the entire month. As a classroom teacher, I have always found a little fresh poetry to liven up the classroom and inspire my writers so I thought I'd share three blogs you might want to follow with your students.

Raising Rooney at Carol's Corner:  Poetry can tell a story and Carol Wilcox is one of the masters of this. This month, Carol is sharing stories of Rooney each day in April. Rooney is a puppy in training to become a service dog. He's been with Carol since we was a wee pup. In this series, Carol shares narrative free-verse to tell the stories of Rooney's journey. Students are sure to enjoy the antics of Rooney. Additionally, her poetry makes an excellent mentor text for young poets looking for ways to share a story through poetry. 

Equation Poems with Laura Purdie Salas:  Have some math-minded learners in your community? They're sure to love the growing collection of Equation Poems written by Laura Purdie Salas. Each day in April, Laura will a share a new equation poem. These are quick and fun. Your students will enjoy each day's surprise. These poems make great mentors for careful thought in word choice. This daily challenge pairs nicely with Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book:  This Plus That.

Avian Allusions with Christine Wyman: Each day in April, Christine is sharing a poem about birds. Young writers will enjoy the images she shares alongside her daily poem. This series illustrates the way we can look at something of interest in many ways. There are many ways to write about the same thing. Young writers will also enjoy the way she digitally crafts image and poem for greater meaning. 

If you're looking for other links for National Poetry Month, click the blue image at the beginning of this post, follow #NationalPoetryMonth on Twitter, or stop by Soul Blossom Living to find other monthly collections from members of the Poetry Friday community. This month, I'm writing a poem each day at Merely Day by Day around JOY. If you know of other events of interest - and there are many - feel free to share those in the comments below. Enjoy!

Poetry Month Pleasures: Five Poetry Month Challenges Your Students Will Love

It's April and poetry is in the air.  While every day is a good day for poetry, I love the way poetry just seems to find me in April.  I've downloaded a few poetry audiobooks from the library (yep, I might have scored a few books where the poets actually are reading their own poetry), filled my living room shelf with poetry, pulled out all of my books about writing poetry, and am attempting to write a poem each day at Merely Day by Day (just a poetry playground this month, nothing like the poems you'll see linked below).

Of course, this is also the month that poets everywhere dress up their blogs and celebrate poetry with a monthly challenge.  As a teacher, if you're looking for a little inspiration, a mentor poem, or poetry your students will love, here are a few sites that might be perfect for your exploration:

The Poem Farm

Want to think about technique?

The Poem Farm:  Each day, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is sharing a poem about Orion written using a different technique.  Her poetry month challenge is to write about one subject thirty different ways.  Each day she highlights a new technique, shares her poem, and reflects on the process.

A Year of Reading

How about a golden shovel poem?  

A Year of Reading:  Mary Lee Hahn has decided to take on the challenge of writing a golden shovel poem each day this month using a student selected quote.  I've been absolutely fascinated by the process and challenge of writing a shovel poem.  A daily stop by A Year of Reading will certainly give you and your students much to ponder, and a daily dose of wondrous words.

Live Your Poem

Does art inspire you?

Live Your Poem:  For the last several years I have been following Irene Latham's April ARTSPEAK challenge.  Each day, you can stop by Irene's blog for a poem inspired by a piece of art.  This year, Irene's poetry is focused on art from the Harlem Renaissance.  I'm learning a lot as I follow her journey.

Carol's Corner

Hoping to write about a topic from a variety of angles? 

Carol's Corner:  This year, Carol has decided to write a poem each day about the life of a reader.  As teachers working to help our students build a reading life, I am enjoying looking at reading from so many angles.  What a great way to have our communities consider their reading lives.  A stop by her blog is also a smart reminder that we can take one topic and write about it in so many ways.

Check It Out

Need a mentor poem for your students?

Check It Out:  There's nothing better than student poetry.  If you find yourself in need of a mentor poem this month, you might want to stop by Jone MacCulloch's blog.  She's sharing a student poem each day during the month of April.  Oh, my heart.  I love student poetry.




Other Poetry Links:

• Jama's Alphabet Soup:  2018 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Event Roundup (more poetry month possibility)
• The Poem Farm:  Drawing into Poems (Amy's 2013 poetry challenge was one of my favorites to help students write poetry.)
• Writing the World:  A Little Haiku (if you just want a little Haiku, Laura Purdie Salas, has one each day for you.) 
• Tyler Knott Gregson:  This one is just for you.  Tyler Knott Gregson shares his poetry on Instagram and Twitter.  He has two books out, and shares is poetry almost daily on his site.  It's one of my favorite stops.  

National Poetry Month: Poetry Madness Event

I'm pretty excited about the latest idea from our reading ambassadors.  Last month our reading ambassadors promoted the March Book Madness event hosted by Scott Jones and Tony Keefer in our school.  Our building focused on the Picture Book Challenge, though some students did vote in the Middle Grade Challenge as well.  The whole school was buzzing as the book brackets started to narrow to the final match-ups.  

Yesterday I stayed after school to complete our "Poetry Madness" bulletin board.  At our March meeting we began talking about what we wanted to do for our final weeks as ambassadors M said, "April we always have poetry writing.  Maybe we could do something with poetry."

"Yes, April is National Poetry Month," I added smiling. 

There was a pause and then T spoke up, "I love poetry.  Maybe we could do something like March Madness with the poetry."  

The room started to rumble as one ambassador after another jumped on board with her idea.  Before long it was determined that we would each bring a favorite poetry book if we had one to our next meeting and choose books for a "Poetry Madness" challenge for our school.

Last week students arrived with their poetry books.  Our media specialist, Jill Merkle, had collected a stack of favorites for the ambassadors to review.  Being a poetry fan myself, I brought some of my favorites to the meeting.  The first part of the meeting was spent talking about the poetry we brought and then reviewing the other books.  Toward the end of the meeting each ambassador took six post-its and began selecting their favorites.  Each post-it was one vote and ambassadors could use more than one vote on a poetry book they really liked.  We then selected the sixteen books for the competition based upon their votes.  We seeded these books for the challenge.  

Following the model of March Book Madness, voting will begin on Tuesday.  Our board is people/life poetry vs. nature/pets poetry.  I'm a little excited that one of my favorites, Forest has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, is a number one seed in the brackets.  Let's hope my favorite does a little better in this event than my favorite did in the March Madness Picture Book Challenge.  (Yes, I'm still a little sad that Wolfie the Bunny didn't win.) 

Next week, our reading ambassadors will begin to talk about the poetry books and our event with the students in their classrooms during morning meetings.  We'll be running advertisements for voting on our school news each week.  The poetry books selected have been placed on reserve in the library for students to read as they visit the media center.  During the final weeks, the ambassadors hope to read one poem from each of the remaining books to their classrooms.  What a great way to celebrate National Poetry Month!  

DigiLit Sunday: Five Poetry Stops You'll Want to Share with Students

Shared Reading
Shared reading has evolved with the introduction of technology to our classrooms.  A big book is no longer the only way to gather students to read a text together.  Now it is possible to project small books to make the print large enough for others to see, or to project a piece of writing from the internet to read together.

As a primary teacher, I find shared reading to be one way to help bring students to a text they might otherwise be unable to read.  By making it familiar, it is possible for young readers to be able to read the text independently later.  Additionally, shared reading helps build reading vocabulary, improve fluency, and brings joy to reading.  It allows students to think deeply and discuss their reading together.

What better genre than poetry for shared reading with its rhythm, occasional rhyme, and wondrous word choices?  Poetry is perfect for these shared reading opportunities.  Reading poems together and then having them available for students to reread helps to increase the volume and complexity of reading students can accomplish independently.

There are many sites available to find poetry for students.  Since it is National Poetry Month, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

Websites for Shared Poetry Reading
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater:  The Poem Farm  If you don't know Amy's website, go there right now.  You'll be amazed.  Get a cup of coffee because you'll want to spend some time meandering around The Poem Farm.  Amy has so many poems that could be used for shared reading.  During April, she's featuring her Sing That Poem! project.  If you go to her Find a Poem tab, you can search by technique or topic for a poem to share.  In addition to the variety of poems she shares, there is often a SoundCloud link that would allow readers to listen to her read the poem.  She also shares the thinking and craft decisions behind much of her poetry, making her site useful for many focus lessons in writer's workshop.

Laura Purdie Salas:  Writing the World for Kids  For National Poetry Month, Laura is sharing a quick tip for teachers or others sharing poetry, and then a poem to read each day of the month.  Browse around for a bit to discover other poetry and interesting poetry information.

Irene Latham:  Live Your Poem  For National Poetry Month, Irene is featuring her ARTSPEAK series where she is writing about images found in the online collection from the National Gallery of Art.  Additionally, Irene shares many poems across the year and other important poetry information.  You can listen to her read her poems on SoundCloud as well, if you click SoundCloud in her sidebar.

Poetry Minute Poetry Minute is a site organized by Kenn Nesbitt.  This site is full of tiny treasures.  You can search for poetry by author or by category.  Kid-friendly, this site will provide a variety of poetry for shared reading with students.

Giggle Poetry  Looking for poems to share with your students, stop by Giggle Poetry which features Poetry Class (my favorite link as there is a bit of information about the type of poem, a little writing advice, and then some examples), Poetry Fun, Poetry Theatre, and Word Games.

Follow Cathy 's board Poetry Sites for Shared Reading on Pinterest.

Please share your favorite poetry sites for shared reading with students in the comments below.

As part of a continuous collaboration among educators interested in digital learning, Margaret Simon hosts a weekly Digital Learning round-up on her blog:  DigiLit Sunday.  Stop by Reflections on the Teche (today's link-up) to read, discover, and link.  

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater: Inspiring Young Poets

Poetry and spring just seem to go together.  There's something about a fresh outlook on the earth and a fresh look at words that helps the world to sing this time of year.  Maybe it's all the green.  Maybe it's the parade of flowers popping up here and there.  Maybe it's the change in temperatures or the way the sun feels just a little closer.  

Forest Has a Song
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

This week we had the privilege of Skyping with poet, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.  To say I was excited about the opportunity would be an understatement.  I first came to know Amy's work when she was taking on the challenge of writing a poem every day for a year.  It wasn't long until I became familiar with her website and the many resources she shares there.  At the Poem Farm you can find a gaggle of poems to read with students or use as mentor texts.  You can search by topic or poem type.  Not to mention the writing advice you can find tucked inside each post.  Now, of course, we can enjoy Amy's work in Forest has a Song.  

Advice for Young Poets

Our first graders had the privilege of talking with Amy on Tuesday.  It was a-maz-ing!  Students had written a variety of questions for Amy about writing.  She chose some to answer.  Students read their questions and she talked about her thinking as a writer.  Here are a few of the tips she gave young poets (paraphrased from my quick notes): 

• To get ideas pay attention to the world around you, consider memories, search in books, and jot ideas down where you will remember, and can grow, them.
• Talking with family, friends, and other writers can help you think more about your poem.  Have someone read your poem to you to see if sounds the way you hope it will.
• Making poems is like making other things you enjoy.  Do it with feeling.  Be a time machine.  Think about new things.  
• As a poet, work to say something in a way someone else can connect with as they read.  
• Poetry can rhyme (and Amy shared her love for writing rhyme), but it doesn't have to rhyme.  The poet decides.

Creating Energy

The best part about the time we spent together was the way Amy created energy around poetry.  Connecting with an audience via Skype can be a tricky thing, but Amy really knew how to keep the attention of these young writers.  Our first graders were spellbound for the entire conversation.  Amy was magical as she kept students engaged throughout the conversation.  

• She won them over with her puppet greeting.  
• "Think about this..."  Amy continually invited students to think beyond the conversation.  She gave them ideas to try, ways to think about the writing, and suggestions for sharing poetry.
• Poetry sharing.  How would a Skype visit be complete without sharing a poem or two with the poet?  Amy invited students to join her in poetry.  She picked poems that would allow students to participate in the sharing.  
• Invitations.  Amy continually invited students to write a poem, share a poem, try an idea, think about favorites, and publish poems in ways the world can enjoy them.
• Movement.  Amy found ways to incorporate movement in a poem and in poetry conversation in just the right places.  

Since our conversation the first grade rooms have been filled with poetry.  They've been reading poetry, sharing poetry, writing poetry --- and even singing poetry.  It's just the lift we needed for these final weeks of learning together.  

Other Places to Find Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

• Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
• Amy LV Poem Farm on SoundCloud
• Poetry:  Big Thoughts in Small Packages by Lucy Calkins, Stephanie Parsons, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Anthologies 

• Hamsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Dizzy Dinosaurs, Silly Dino Poems by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Nasty Bugs by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Lullaby and Kisses Sweet by Lee Bennett Hopkins 

Coming Soon

Everyday Birds (Scholastic, Spring 2016)

Read!  Read!  Read!  (Wordsong, Fall 2017)

  

Poetry Love

#PoetryLove
It's almost here!  April is National Poetry Month.  Now, if you're like me, there's nothing like poetry all year long, but there's something about the arrival of spring, the warmer air, the independence of the learners in my room at this point in the year that makes me shout POETRY!

Tonight's #titletalk was about poetry and has me ready for April.

Getting Started
Here are a few things to kick off our #poetrylove this month.

Community Poem
We kicked things off before spring break with a shared poem about spring.  Everyone contributed a line to our poem and then we worked to put them in an arrangement to form our community poem.

Chalk-a-Bration
Tomorrow is Betsy's Chalk-a-Bration.  The cold cold, eternally cold, bitter cold, never ending cold has kept us from getting outside to chalk.  My fingers are crossed that tomorrow we can find some time to chalk a poem.  Let's hope it will be warm enough.  Come on, Spring!  

Place a Poem
Next week we'll be adding poems around the building.  As students create poems about places and things that are a part of our school, we'll hang them right where they belong.

Poetry Resources
Poetry:  My Pinterest board of favorite poetry books for students.
Nonfiction Poetry:  My Pinterest board of favorite nonfiction poetry books for students.
I Can Read It:  Poetry Books for Primary Readers  Another Pinterest collection.
Poetry:  My Pinterest collection of electric resources and mentor poems.
Professional Books About Teaching Poetry
Poems:  Mentor Texts for Young Writers

National Poetry Month: Check These Out

What?  We're more than half way through National Poetry Month already?  Last year I told you about some of my favorite professional resources for teaching poetry.  This year, I want to share some of the events I'm following:

Where Does Poetry Come From?  
Mary Lee Hahn is featuring Common Inspiration:  Uncommon Creations at A Year of Reading.  Each day she is sharing a digital media inspiration from WikiMedia Commons.  Mary Lee is using this picture/video/media as inspiration for her daily poem and encourages others to join her by sharing their own poem inspired from the media.  Additionally, Mary Lee has been sharing useful information about copyright and courtesy when sharing the work of other artists.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is sharing Drawing Into Poems.  Each day in April Amy sketches her inspiration for poetry at The Poem Farm.  As she draws each picture she jots words, thoughts, ideas,  and short stories around the illustration.  Some of these will become the inspiration for poetry.  I have shared several of her sketches with my students as we learn to play with our ideas in our writers' notebooks before beginning to write our poems.

Getting to Know Poetry
At Gotta Book Greg Pincus shares 30 Days / 30 Poets.  I've followed this event for a couple of years now and learn so much about poets along the way.  Each day Greg shares an unpublished poem by a different poet as well as important information about their work.

Want to know more about how technology and poetry can work together?  Stop by Author Amok where you'll learn something new each day about technology and poetry.

You should probably make one more stop to No Water River.  I'm enjoying Poetry Is (poets share their thoughts on what is important poetry) and Guest Poets (Renee talks with poets and shares some of their work).  There are many surprises here to share with your students.

Teaching Poetry
Looking for examples of student work?  Ms. Mac shares 30 Days of Student Poetry at Check It Out.

Susan Brown Taylor shares her work with mentor poems.  Each day she chooses a mentor poem, talks about how she uses it with students, and creates her own poem from the mentor text.


Looking for More?  
Stop by Jama's Alphabet Soup for more National Poetry Month Kid-Lit Events.

Professional Books About Teaching Poetry

The fun of teaching poetry has begun.  I have placed collections of poetry books on the tables around our classroom and asked this question, "What is poetry?".  In the coming days we'll be working to create an understanding of poetry, and all it can be, together.  We will surround ourselves with poetry by reading it together, creating opportunities to read it independently, and perhaps a little poetry break every now and then (stopping everything to listen to a poem).  My hope is to help aspiring young poets get the rhythms of poetry in their ears, minds, and hearts so they will soon be able to create their own poetry.

When getting ready to teach poetry I like to get myself ready as well.  I am writing poetry, listening to poetry on my iPod, reading books written to help you capture your words in poetry (Heard, Wooldridge, Murray) and following National Poetry Month events.  I have always loved poetry so for me this is always a fun time.

Professional Resources
Here are a few professional resources for teaching poetry to children I always recommend.  If you have others, please leave them in the comments below:

Awakening the Heart:  Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard.  If you don't buy anything else, buy this book.  First of all, Georgia Heard has a delightful way with words on a page.  I enjoy everything I read by her.  Secondly, she takes a closer look at poetry through the eyes of a writer.  She talks about finding poems where they hide and creating an environment for poetry.  When talking about a unit of poetry study Heard reminds us our goal is to "ensure that poems will sing to our students and that they'll seek out poems even after the study of poetry has ended in the classroom."

Outspoken!  How to Improve Writing and Speaking Skills Through Poetry Performance by Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger.  This book is interesting because it looks at poetry through a different lens - performance.  How do we read poems?  Of course, there is also discussion about how to write poems that move an audience.  I especially enjoyed the chapter on memoir where the authors share suggestions for helping young poets write about what they know.  Interestingly, there is a section that demonstrates turning a story into a poem by capturing key words and phrases.

Kids' Poems by Regie Routman.  If poetry isn't your thing, this is probably the book you should buy to support young poets.  If poetry is your thing, you'll want this book for the way it looks at poetry through the eyes of the young poet.  Regie not only shares suggestions for getting started with the teaching of poetry, but she also has collected poetry written by young poets in a format ready to be shared with your students.  Regie has written a Kids' Poem book for grades K-4 (that I am aware of).

A Note Slipped Under the Door:  Teaching From the Poems We Love by Nick Flynn and Shirley McPhillips.  This book is a much deeper read about poetry.  It taught me so much about poetry itself.  It's beautifully written.  Though it is a professional text, I felt like there were lines within it that were poetically written.  The authors remind us, "Poems are mysteries and come from deep places.  We can be amazed or moved without always being able to explain why."  This book shares powerful examples of poetry, makes suggestions for writing poetry, and takes a closer look at key characteristics of mentor poems.

Poetry Matters by Ralph Fletcher is the perfect book to share snippets about writing poetry with young writers.  When I went to grab my copy for this post, it was missing again.  I tend to lend it out often as it is  useful when talking with students about writing poetry.  This book was written to hand directly to young poets.  Ralph wanted poets to have practical ideas for getting their message just the way they want it.

Poems: Mentor Texts for Young Writers

Getting Started with Poetry
Throughout the year we've been reading poetry in our classroom.  Honestly, not as much as I would like or should have accomplished, but at least a touch of poetry each week.  I'm so excited to be starting an inquiry unit about poetry with my class next week.  I'm nearly about to burst.

I've joined Mary Lee, Linda and many other Kidlit bloggers in writing a poem every day in April at Merely Day by Day.  Though I'm not a huge fan of  rhyming poetry - well I am but it is a difficult format for young writers - I find myself making silly rhymes as I work, "Cooking, cooking it's no fun / It's the cleaning when I'm done / It's the choosing what we'll eat / Is restaurant eating not a treat?"  Yes, that was really pathetic, but I do what I can.  As I said, I'm just giddy with excitement about sharing poetry with my students.

Mentor Poems
Since I like to spend time reading a lot of poems to students before I even begin to introduce poetry into our Writer's Workshop, I have been building a Listmania list at Amazon of many of my favorites.  I'm trying to remember to pin mentor poems and poetry resources I am finding on Pinterest.  I'm always looking for poems that will be good mentor poems for my young poets.  I want to share poetry with them that they can envision themselves writing.

Here are a few books I like to use as mentor poetry with the young writers in our classroom:

Wake Up House by Dee Lillegard and illustrated by Don Carter (2000).  The poems in this book, as well as her Hello School! poetry book, are perfect for young writers.  Lillegard has used short stanzas to describe common objects.  She has carefully chosen her words to describe a variety of things that can be found at home (and school).  Young writers can envision writing poems like these.  Just looking around the classroom can inspire some beginning poems to hang around the room.  One of my favorites in this book is Night Light / Gladly glows / because he knows / he makes things safe / for eyes to close.

If You Should Meet a Crocodile:  Poems About Wild Animals  by Joy Peskin and Anna Currey.  This book is a collection of animal poems written by a variety of poets.  What I like about this collection, besides the fact that it is by many poets, is that is about something young readers and writers are very interested in --- animals.  Oh, the possibilities.  I Speak, I Say, I Talk by Arnold L. Shapiro is a poem about the sounds that animals make.  It has a structure students could easily use for writing other kinds of poetry.

From the Doghouse:  Poems to Chew On by Amy E. Sklansky with illustrations by Karla Firehammer, Karen Dismukes, Sandy Koeser and Cathy McQuitty (2002).  This poetry book is written from a dogs point of view.  My favorite in this book is Doggy Nightmare in which doggy has a terrible dream that he is, of all things, a cat!  He finds himself meowing, wanting a bowl of cream, and wishing for fish.  He was happy to wake up to find he is still a dog.  This book demonstrates the possibilities for writing about one topic in many different ways.

In the Wild by David Elliott and illustrated by Holly Meade (2010).  In this poetry book, many animals of the wild are shared.  This poetry book is perfect for talking about visualization.  The poet has so carefully chosen his words to help you picture the animal and the setting.  The illustrations are bold with the animals the prominent feature on each page.  In The Wolf, wolf calls out into the night.  Will there be a reply?

I'm going to take a little leap here for another favorite resource for mentor poems.  If you haven't visited Amy LV's, The Poem Farm, you need to go right now.  I first discovered Amy's blog as she took on the challenge of writing a poem every day of the year ---- yes, 365 poems.  I couldn't believe it.  Since then I've continued to follow and find her blog to be full of information, mentor poems, and tips for young writers.  There are so many mentor poems on this site.  You have to stop by.  Amy has added a table of contents for the poems on her blog.  Mentor texts at your fingertips.


What poems do you like to read to inspire your young poets?

National Poetry Month

April showers

bring May flowers...

and poetry.

How's that for a poem?  Couldn't resist.  April began National Poetry Month.  I have loved poetry since I was in elementary school.  My fourth grade teacher, Mr. Conway, taught us how to write poetry.  It's the first time I remember thinking about poetry, and I have loved it ever since.

I've been gathering poetry books, reading poetry sites, and writing poetry in preparation of a focused study with my students.  Poetry provides opportunities to focus on visualization, figurative language, word choice, rhythms of words, and fluency among other concepts.  Most of all, it is an enjoyable way to energize the classroom community of readers and writers.

In honor of National Poetry Month I have decided to write a poem a day each day in April at Merely Day by Day.  Mary Lee at A Year of Reading has been talking about writing poetry every day for the month of April.  I decided it would be fun to join her.  Since then I have learned that other blogs have poetry events.

National Poetry Month Blog Events:

• Linda Baie is writing a poem each day at TeacherDance.  
• Laura Salas is writing a Haiku each day at Writing the World for Kids.  
• Liz Garton Scanion is also writing a Haiku each day at Liz in Ink.
• Jama is featuring a poet and a poem each day along with a recipe and a story at Jama's Alphabet Soup.
• Greg Pincus is featuring a poet each day at GottaBook.  
• Bud Hunt is posting a photo poem prompt each day at Bud the Teacher.  
• Amy LV is on a dictionary hike at The Poem Farm.  
• Donna at Mainely Write is moving through the alphabet with a poem each day.
• Author Amok is sharing writing habits and rituals at Author Amok. 
• Collection of poetry links at Eduflections
• Renee LaTulippe shares video recordings of poets reading poetry at No Water River 

If I have missed any poetry events, and I know I have, please leave a note in the comments.  I'd love to hear about them.

Other Links of Interest:
Poets.org
Scholastic 
ReadWriteThink
Choice Literacy