The Poetry Friday Anthology: December 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

"Get a Life" by Eileen Spinelli

The Poetry Friday Anthology continues to reach new readers. At the National Council of Teachers of English conference, poet Eileen Spinelli read a poem from the book and we managed to capture it on film here. It's "Get a Life" featured in the Fifth Grade section, Week 16: Holidays, page 242.

Enjoy!

Newsflash!

"My principal and I wrote a grant for a poetry project with the main focus being the use of The Poetry Friday Anthology in our school. We were just notified that we will get enough money to purchase the book for every teacher in grades K - 2 and every Reading teacher in grades 3 - 5. This is a district grant awarded to our school, in particular. Isn't that wonderful? Our hope is that our students will be exposed to poetry year round beginning in the Fall of this year (2013)."
Zulema Bewley, Librarian
Harry Shimotsu Elementary (Mission, TX)

Another PFA Success Story

Dr. Vida Zuljevic, Doctor of Literacy Education and Library Media Specialist, shares this story:

I held a "Snuggle with Your Favorite Book at Your Library" week with hot chocolate and cookies served to each student (870 students). I announced it a week before and asked them to bring their snuggies or they could take a puppet or stuffed animal that I have plenty of in the library. Then, after checking out books, I served hot chocolate and cookies, and the students were allowed to read wherever they wanted to sit, with a friend or alone, at the table or on the floor... I grabbed my favorite book, The Poetry Friday Anthology, of course, and read along with them. At some point I'd ask my students to excuse me for the interruption, and I'd read a poem to all.

When reading the poem, "Watching Football," by Janet Wong, the first-grade class shouted "Woohoo" and "Touchdown" so loudly that the teacher who happened to be in the work room next door peeked in asking what we were watching. "No, we are not watching anything, we are helping Mrs. Zuljevic read the poem 'Watching Football' by Janet Wong," the students answered laughing. :) "Oh...," we heard her say. We invited her to stay for a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie and to hear us recite the poem once more. So she did. She said that it was the most wonderful poetry experience for her.

P.S. Our Annual Poetry Contest ended, and I have 358 poems turned in... WOW! It feels great to see that the seed I planted is yielding more and more fruit every year. I recruited several of my bilingual colleagues, our principal, and a reading recovery teacher to help me with evaluation. As you can tell, our "poetry army" is growing here in Pasco, WA. :)

Poetry Friday Ambassadors

We are proud to announce that we now have Poetry Friday Ambassadors in 16 states, plus Ontario, Canada.

Collins, Patricia NH
Decker, Suzan PA
Flynn, Lisa VT
Grant, Sherry AZ
Horn, Monica MN
Hunt, Jeannie MA
Kaegi, Stacy NY
Kanas, Jamie IL
Lobenstine, Heather MA
Matos, Elizabeth CA
Miller, Shana MI
Newlove, Lindsay OH
Sorrentino, Marisa NY
Zuljevic, Vida WA
Walsh, Lauren CANADA

Abdur-Razzaaq, Elaine TX
Bennett, Pam TX
Bewley, S. Zulema TX
Carter, Regina TX
Conley, Paige TX
Cushing, Marnie TX
Harkey, Terri TX
Herrera, Lucinda TX
Hill, Noel TX
Lynn, Michelle TX
Moreno, Leah TX
Ripstra, Jennifer Heath TX
Robinson, Christine TX
Simon, Lee Ann TX
Storrie, Karen TX
Wallis, Lori TX

These teachers, librarians, parents, and writers are recipients of our first mini-grant competition and will be helping to spread the joy of Poetry Friday. Stay tuned for future success stories!

The Poetry Friday Anthology

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

"Get a Life" by Eileen Spinelli

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