Hi, friends and poets. Happy Poetry Friday! A few weeks ago I went to a friend’s book launch. I’ve blogged about YA author Kathy MacMillan before, when her debut novel SWORD AND VERSE published. (Read my post about SWORD AND VERSE here.) Kathy’s latest book is something completely different: A board book story that teaches […]
Poetry Friday
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Happy Poetry Friday and welcome back to Northfield Elementary School. Today, the third grade poets are working on odes. I’ve been doing an elementary school workshop on odes for many years. Usually, my model poem is “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes,” by Gary Soto. When it’s time to write, I have the kids take off […]
Thursday, 24 May 2018
Welcome back to Northfield Elementary School, Poetry Friday friends. This is my twelfth year as Northfield’s poet-in-residence, working with the third grade team. The annual poetry 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! This has been a great teaching partnership […]
Thursday, 12 April 2018
Shh! Welcome, but come in quietly. It’s a Poetry Friday surprise birthday party. The guest of honor? Lee Bennett Hopkins! (Whoops — no exclamation points. We’re trying to keep this party a secret.) Lee is not only a wonderful children’s poet and Guinness World Record holding anthologist (really — the citation is here), he has […]
Thursday, 15 February 2018
Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks for visiting the Poe House with me last week. I pulled a random name from the comments and Jama Rattigan is the winner of the Poe Keepsake Journal. Congratulations, Jama! Before I get to this week’s post, I want to thank Arnold Adoff and the Virginia Hamilton Conference. Last week, I […]
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Poets, do you have a bucket list? A list of things you want to do before you — for example — turn 49? My family and I have lived in the Baltimore suburbs for over 18 years. And for 18 years, we’ve talked about going to visit the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in […]
Thursday, 25 January 2018
Happy Poetry Friday! January is hobbling to its frigid, icy end. It’s been a cold month in Maryland, as the blue hues of my temperature scarf will attest. The annual February Poetry Project members are warming up for our month of daily writing. This year’s project theme is “Ekphrastic at Home.” Each day, a member of […]
Thursday, 11 January 2018
This is a year of big transitions for my family. Our youngest turns 18 this week and is preparing to make the leap from high school to college. Shortly after that, Mr. S turns 50 and our eldest celebrates his 21st birthday. (All of our birthdays, including Sam the dog’s, fall within five weeks. Mine […]
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Happy 2018, poets and poetry lovers. Before you know it, February will be here. That’s right. It’s almost time for our annual daily writing workout. A little history: For four years, my blog hosted a community poetry project. In 2013, I celebrated my birthday month by writing every day in response to vintage postcards. I mailed the […]
Thursday, 14 December 2017
Happy Poetry Friday! I recently added a line to my email signature. Along with my title (poet in the schools) and the titles of my children’s novels (The Last Fifth Grade, Takedown), you will now see “Currently reading: —” listed under my name. Publicly sharing what I’m reading is a practice I learned from educator […]
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.
