A book, a bin, and a box!

Head over to Tricia's Miss Rumphius Effect  for this week's
Poetry Friday Roundup and a taste of poetry love! 

A book,

I visited two sixth grade classes on Wednesday in my role as Poetry Ambassador to promote the Poetry Storybox project.   At the time the box was enroute to Washington state from California. I learned about this project from fellow blogger Julie Johnson.  As I perused the links to poets featured in the Poetry Storybox, I discovered these words at April Wayland Halprin's site:
"I am honored that one of my poems introduces the second edition of Sylvia Vardell‘s fabulous resource book, Poetry Aloud Here: Sharing Poetry with Children."  
I loved the first edition of this book and kept it the maximum time allowed each time I checked it out.  When I was selected as a poetry ambassador, I  purchased Poetry Aloud 2 as a gift to myself.  I grabbed the book to read April's poem, "How to Read a Poem Aloud."  It not only asks the reader to savor every word, but also to think about the poet. You can read more about April's process for writing the poem and listen to Carmelo Martino's reading of the poem.  Once you read and/or listen to it, you'll understand why it's a perfect introduction for the Poetry Storybox project.

a bin,

Before meeting with Ms. Moore's students, I checked out poetry anthologies from the school library and our local library.  Our first activity was a scavenger hunt - searching anthologies for poems by participating poets and putting sticky notes with the name of the poet on the note.  Yesterday I traveled to a regional library in Bellevue where I filled a blue bin with more poetry books and maxed out my library card with 100 items checked out.  I'm flooding the classroom with poetry books.  I shared Ted Kooser's advice from last week's lecture, "Read 100 poems for every one you try to write."  I challenged the students to read 100 poems before I return next week with the Poetry Storybox.

When I arrived home yesterday from an afternoon of errands, a box from California was on the front porch.  I haven't opened it yet...it's the carrot for when I get certain required obligations out of the way, it's the dessert I get to enjoy once I eat my vegetables, it's the excitement I'll savor while planning next week's adventures with the Poetry Storybox.

and a box, all part of this week's adventures with poetry!