A visit from Paul Janeczko

There could not be a more perfect way to wrap up Poetry month than with a visit from a published poet. On Tuesday we were fortunate enough to have Paul Janeczko visit our school. Impressively he has written 50 books ranging from adult fiction to non-fiction, from reference books for teachers to his well known anthologies of poems for children. One of his newest books, Firefly July, was recognized with a Caldecott Honor medal. Mr. Janeczko shared the process of having the book published. It was fascinating to see the rough print of the book that the author and illustrator must then edit. I loved the story he told about how the illustrator, Melissa Sweet, found a spot in one of the illustration that was missing something, and how she added to the picture. 

The students listen enthralled as Mr. Janeczko read some poems from his collection of anthologies. It was so fun to hear background stories of the poems and listen to the expert manner he recited the poetry. 

Poetry Club

Here at Dike Newell we have been celebrating Poetry Month with sharing poems each morning and putting poems in our pockets. I had the pleasure of working with two groups of first and second graders in poetry club after school each Wednesday this month. We shared poems, explored different types of poetry, wrote poems and tried out different ways to perform poems.

 Here is a sampling of some of the poems we created: 

 Mud 

 Muddy, Muddy, Mud 

Squished between my toes

 mud slippery mud 

 Spring

 spring is magical 

bright, sunny green grass smells fresh

 rain brings mud to play

 Books 

information, adventure

 looking, reading, dreaming 

let’s go to the library

 books

 If I were a bug, 
i run away 
I am busy, busy, can’t stop
 fizzling 
fate in every step 

 by Tenny 

 If I were a bug,
 I would give your hair a tug. 
 Tug with some help
 from another bug.. 
 And I’d say 
hay, hay 
I just got a tug
 from a bug. 

 by Noah