Greetings, Poetry Friday friends. I have been absent from blogging this summer as we prepare for a big change: we are moving to a new home in a few weeks! More details to come, but I hear that there is a resident tortoise living in the back garden. Meanwhile, I’d like to invite you all […]
Laura's Blog
Thursday, 29 August 2019
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Hi, Poetry Friday friends. Today, is my anniversary, but I’m not celebrating a wedding. More like a milestone. One year ago today, I posted my first robot doodle on Instagram. Much like the annual poetry project that I run each February, sharing my almost-daily robot doodles is an exercise in being creative without judging the […]
Thursday, 13 June 2019
Welcome, Poetry Friday bloggers and fans. I’m excited to host Poetry Friday this week because it’s a special day. The third graders at Northfield Elementary, where I am poet-in-residence each spring, have their poetry celebration this afternoon! Thanks to everyone who has been following this residency and reading the kids’ poems. I have a few […]
Thursday, 13 June 2019
It’s the Northfield Elementary Poetry Celebration this week! I’m looking forward to seeing the third grade poets. This is their chance to show off all of their hard work during the residency. The poems I share with you here are first drafts. Tomorrow is my first opportunity to see the revised poems. The students will […]
Thursday, 30 May 2019
Happy Poetry Friday! I hope you brought your appetite. The Northfield E. S. third graders have more food poems to share with you today. But before we feast on lemonade, bubble gum, ice cream, pizza, and chocolate chip pancakes, I’d like to share a favorite poem by Naomi Shihab […]
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Welcome back to Northfield Elementary School! The third grade poems started our residency with list poems. (You’ll find a link to those poems at the bottom of this page.) Now that we’ve spent some time thinking about word choice and playing with rhythm, we are moving on to one of my favorite poetry workshops: food […]
Tuesday, 28 May 2019
You know how there are friends in your life who you’re fond of, but who drift away for one reason or another? And then, years later, serendipity intervenes. You reconnect and that friend becomes an important person in your life. For me, that person is debut author Naomi Milliner. We’ve known each other for more […]
Thursday, 16 May 2019
Welcome back to Northfied Elementary, Poetry Friday readers. This is my thirteenth year working with third graders at this local school. It’s a special occasion that I look forward to all year. The residency is sponsored by the school PTA’s cultural arts committee, and by an Artist-in-Residence grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. Thank you! […]
Thursday, 9 May 2019
Greetings, Poetry Friday friends. This month, I am back at Northfield Elementary for my annual poetry residency. Each year, I spend about a month working with the entire third grade. The residency is sponsored by the school PTA’s cultural arts committee, and by an Artist-in-Residence grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. Thank you! Our […]
Tuesday, 16 April 2019
April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. From “The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot (Read the poem at the Poetry Foundation) Ever wondered why we celebrate National Poetry Month in April? It is the cruellest month, according to T. […]
Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.
