Podcasts about your pocket day

EP223: Sharing poetry with children captivates their imaginations, builds connections and empathy, and fosters language development necessary for literacy. In honor of National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day, I bring you this episode all about the lively art of poetry. Listen in for ideas about collecting poetry, writing found poems, sharing seasonal poetry with your children, using poetry related to your current topic of study or main lesson block, and studying individual poets. Sharing poetry with children is an inspiring way to weave the lively arts into your homeschooling, and so simple, too! Hope you enjoy this episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast!Find the Show Notes here  https://artofhomeschooling.com/episode223/Join the Inspired at Home CommunityCome to the Taproot Teacher TrainingSend Jean a text message.Support the showThanks for listening!

Episode 147: Is That a Poem in Your Pocket is about Poem in Your Pocket Day and so much more. We discuss binary thinking, haiku, the cathartic nature of poetry therapy (“let it bleed”), and so much more. A few jokes. A new way of looking at poetry.

Here's another Edna St. Vincent Millay poem turned into a short spell-song for Spring and Poem in Your Pocket Day. The Parlando Project combines various words (mostly literary poetry) with original music in differing styles. We've done over 800 of these combinations, and you can hear any of them and read about our encounters with the words at our blog and archives located at frankhudson.org

Kew Gardens Celebrates Poem in Your Pocket Day by Uptown Radio

After today, there are only two more days in April. After today, there are 247 days left in 2022. But for now, it is still April 28 and this is the appropriate Charlottesville Community Engagement. After this installment, is it my hope that you will know slightly more than you did before. I cannot quantify precisely. I am Sean Tubbs, the host and producer.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts in your email, become a free subscriber. To keep them coming, become a paid one! On today’s program:The Jefferson Madison Regional Library is celebrating National Poetry Month today with a series of scrolls The General Assembly takes action on Governor Youngkin’s vetoes and recommendations More documents filed in the Goldman v. Brink case to force a 2022 House of Delegates electionThe Virginia Film Festival is taking submissions and Virginians get a breakCharlottesville City Council approves a rezoning for 170 units in the Fry’s Spring areaAn update on the elevators at Midway ManorFirst-shout is for the Saturday premiere of Raised/RazedIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, Preservation Piedmont wants you to know about this Saturday’s premiere of Raised/Razed, a film by filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson and Jordy Yager about the life and destruction of Vinegar Hill, one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in Charlottesville. The Maupintown Media production charts the lives of residents over nearly a century as they built prosperity in the face of racially discriminatory policies at every level. The film will be willl be shown outdoors at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center at 8 p.m. Tickets are available on the center’s website with donations to be divided between seven Black-led organizations. Visit https://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/ to learn more. General Assembly convenes for veto session Virginia legislators returned to Richmond yesterday to continue the 2022 regular session of the General Assembly by responding to vetoes and recommendations from Governor Glenn Youngkin. Before both the House of Delegates and Senate convened at noon, the House Democratic Caucus met and ousted minority leader Eileen Filler-Corn. Brandon Jarvis of the Virginia Political Newsletter reports a secret ballot motion to remove Filler-Corn passed with 25 votes. That’s the minimum required by caucus by-laws. There are 48 Democrats in the 100-member House of Delegates. Jarvis reports a motion to remove Delegate Charniele Herring failed. There was no vote for a new leader. In total, Youngkin had vetoed 26 bills and made recommended changes to 117 others. David Blount, legislative liaison for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, reports in his update to area officials that none of the vetoes were overridden. Blount reports that no action was taken on the state budget, but the chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee had an update. “We’re working to resolve our differences while also maintaining the Senate position as it relates to the importance of funding core services, especially in the areas of education and health and human services,” said Senator Janet Howell. For a full recap of the action on the vetoes and recommendations, check out the Virginia Mercury’s coverage.We’ll hear more from Howell in tomorrow’s installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Attorney General’s office files briefs in 2022 House race caseThe final round of briefs in a federal case to force a House of Delegates race this November may have been filed this week. Richmond Attorney Paul Goldman filed suit against the Board of Elections last year claiming the certification of winning candidates in the 2021 race was not valid because the districts are outdated because they are based on the 2010 Census.In March. the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to the Eastern District of Virginia to answer the question of whether Goldman has the right to have filed the suit. In a new brief filed on Monday, Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson argues Goldman does not have standing. “Goldman’s brief is long on rhetoric but falls short on standing—the only question the Fourth Circuit authorized this Court to answer,” reads the motion. “He offers no explanation of how he has suffered the sort of particularized injury-in-fact that Article III requires for any plaintiff who wants to invoke federal jurisdiction.”The brief goes on to argue that the action by the Virginia Supreme Court to adopt new legislative boundaries in late December did nothing to invalidate the elections of 2021. “The Supreme Court merely drew the maps for the next election,” the motion continues. “The Commonwealth of Virginia’s conduct of the 2021 election did not violate the United States Constitution.”The brief also argues that a federal judicial order to hold a state election this year would be intrusive and would lead to “judicially created confusion.”  The state also argues that oral argument on this question is not necessary.In response, Goldman filed a surrebuttal arguing that the state’s latest motion introduced new matters that he deserves to have the right to respond to. On Tuesday, Judge David Novak issued an order supporting Goldman’s request to consider a case called Avery v. Midland County as he reviews how to proceed with the case. JMRL celebrating Poem in Your Pocket DayIf you happen to be on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall today, you may have someone approach you with a small scroll. If so, take it, and rejoice that you have been handed an item of poetry. The Jefferson Madison Regional Library is once again celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day at several locations throughout the area.“On this annual international day honoring the power of poetry to inspire and delight, children, teens and adults are invited to stop by any JMRL library branch to pick out a poem scroll tied with a bow,” reads the information release for the day. “Unwrap it, and possibilities unfold: read it to yourself, share it with someone close (or even a stranger), or just tuck it in your pocket for a rainy day.” The library system has teamed up with local businesses and other organizations for this occasion. Partners include: 2nd Act Books, Botanical Fare, Chaps, Mudhouse (Downtown), Splendora’s Gelato (Shops at Stonefield), UVA Medical Center, and Virginia Discovery Museum.There’s also a virtual program at 2 p.m. with “An Afternoon with Laura Shovan.”  The poet and children’s author will discuss her work with Supervising Children’s Librarian Tasha Birckhead. Shovan is the author of The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Tonight at 7 p.m. there will a Poetry in the Park at Market Street Park next to the library. Everyone is to read their favorite poem at an open mic event. That goes through 8:30 p.m. Virginia Film Festival waiving fees for Virginia filmmakersThe Virginia Film Festival is six months away but time is running shorter to enter your submission. If you live within the Commonwealth or attend a school here, you can send in your work without having to pay a fee. “The VAFF showcases celebrated new narrative and documentary features, independent and international projects, fresh perspectives on timeless classics, and local filmmakers from throughout Virginia,” reads the submission webpage.For those outside Virginia, the Early Bird Deadline is June 6, 2022 and you can submit a feature for $30 or a short for $10. For reference, features are anything over 31 minutes. The regular deadline is June 27, 2022 and those fees go up to $50 and $25 respectively. Students from all over the world can submit their work, regardless of length, for $10. The 2022 Virginia Film Festival begins November 2 and runs through November 6. Second shout-out is for the Rivanna River Fest and an E-Bike demoIn today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out, did you know we are now in the middle of the Rivanna River Fest? A host of partners including the Rivanna Conservation Alliance and the Nature Conservancy are holding a series of events this week to celebrate that waterway that helps define urban Albemarle and Charlottesville. This all culminates in the main event this Sunday, May 1, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rivanna River Company on the banks of the Rivanna. This includes the Rivanna River Paddle Race, the virtual Fix a Leak Family 5K, There will also be Water Quality Monitoring Demonstrations, City Nature Challenge, Pop-up Environmental Education Activities, and a Guided Bird Walk at Riverview Park. Learn more at rivannariver.org!In the same area on the same day, there will be an ebike demo day at Meade Park this Sunday, May 1, from 2:00-4:00. A pair of interested ebike owners in town will be bringing their bikes, and anybody who's interested can stop by, ask questions, and take test rides. They will have some ebikes with seats for children. If you’re going, drop them a line in this form. Council considering amendment of Friendship Court agreementThe current Charlottesville City Council had the chance this month to check in with the redevelopment of Friendship Court. The Piedmont Housing Alliance came before Council on April 18 with a request to amend an agreement that governs a $6 million forgivable loan granted in November 2020 for the first phase. The amendment is a technical one because the full amount had not been allocated by Council in a subsequent budget cycle. Brenda Kelley is the redevelopment manager for the city of Charlottesville, a position currently housed in the Office of Community Solutions. “This request is not asking for additional funding,” Kelley said. “This funding is already approved in this current budget.” Council had no issue with the amendment. “This was kind of staggered mostly because of COVID,” said City Councilor Sena Magill. “Friendship Court was really trying to help ease some of the potential future unknown burden that we might be facing with COVID.” The item will require a second reading and it will be on the consent agenda for the May 2 meeting. Construction of the first phase of Friendship Court is now underway. See also: Council approves agreement for Friendship Court funding, October 30, 2020 Council approves rezoning for 240 Stribling, new agreement to pay for sidewalksCharlottesville City Council has voted to rezone nearly 12 acres of land in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood in order for Southern Development to build 170 units. They also voted for the first time on a proposal that would tie a specific infrastructure project to increased revenues that will be generated by higher property taxes. “This is going to allow us to get infrastructure that we need in that part of the city that we would not have otherwise done,” said Councilor Brian Pinkston. Approval came at the April 18, 2022 meeting. Last year, the City Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning but only if Stribling Avenue would be upgraded as part of the development.Southern Development agreed to loan the city $2.9 million to pay for sidewalks and drainage on Stribling Avenue. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers recommended against the agreement as it was written at Council’s first reading on March 21. “We did have discussions with the developer, [Charlie] Armstrong, and we did come to agreement, a funding agreement,” Rogers said The amended agreement would keep the loan at $2.9 million. The idea has always been that Southern Development would be paid back through the tax revenue generated by higher assessments based on the new development. The initial agreement would have given Southern Development 100 percent of the new tax revenue, but that would have been against the city’s policy to allocate a percentage of new real estate tax funds towards education. “We negotiated that it would be 60 / 40 and 60 percent would go to repay the loan,” Rogers said. “And we agreed for that arrangement, it would be a longer financing agreement.” The city will also allocate $1.3 million funding in the Capital Improvement Program for the project as well to cover the costs and possible overruns. “And from discussions with the engineer, that should be enough to cover the project,” Rogers said. Armstrong said the $2.9 million will be available to the city shortly.“The agreement stipulates that we would have those funds available and drawable by the city before we can pull a land disturbing permit,” Armstrong said. City engineer Jack Dawson said he did not have a timeline when the roadway would be upgraded, but said planning work on Stribling would commence on July 1 if not before. “Which means finding a consultant, doing the planning, community outreach, all of the things that go into development of a project of this size,” Dawson said. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook was persuaded to proceed. “If the neighbors’ concern is that somehow the developer is going to withhold the construction of the community assets until everything else is done, that’s not going to be happening,” Snook said. Armstrong said he is hoping to be under construction within 12 to 18 months. The project will be constructed in 20 phases. Snook said the intersection of Stribling and Jefferson Park Avenue Extended also needs to be improved. “That’s the kind of thing it strikes me as a manageable problem and one that we can continue to work toward for solutions,” Snook said. “It doesn’t seem to me to be an insurmountable problem.” Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders said Council would get an update in the future on how Stribling would be maintained at a time when construction of both 240 Stribling and the upgrade to the street are underway.“We will bring back to you more details on how we will manage this project unlike maybe how we’ve done other projects in the past because this one is such a significantly complicated and somewhat controversial project,” Sanders said. Councilor Michael Payne said the city should be able to better analyze how much economic value a developer gets for lots that are rezoned. “So that we can understand our position vis-a-vis the developer in a situation like this when we are in a way going to be informally negotiating,” Payne said. “I will say I don’t think that we were perhaps were careful in our analysis in setting ourselves up for this.” Payne voted in favor of the rezoning and the agreement, which passed unanimously. Midway Manor Elevator updateFinally today, in Tuesday’s program, there was a section on Council’s approval of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s approval of $23 million in tax-exempt bonds to cover the costs of purchasing and renovating Midway Manor. Councilor Michael Payne had expressed concern about a faulty elevator. I checked in with Standard Communities and received this statement yesterday.“We continue to plan for a comprehensive renovation and upgrade of Midway Manor, which is expected to begin later this year in conjunction with the implementation of extended affordability protections for the property. Recognizing that the elevators were in need of more immediate attention, we have accelerated the modernization of both elevators at the property, with on-site work currently underway. In efforts to minimize disruption to residents, one elevator car is being worked on at a time, with the entire project expected to be complete within the next 8 weeks.” - Steven Kahn, Director, Standard CommunitiesTing will match your initial paid subscription to this newsletter!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has a promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today Is International Dance Day, Day of Remembrance of All Victims of Chemical Warfare,  "Peace" Rose Day, National Shrimp Scampi Day,  Poem in Your Pocket Day,  Walk at Lunch Day, Thank You Thursday,  World Wish Day, Viral Video Day, We Jump the World Day, Poem in Your Pocket Day,  and Zipper DaySupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Itstoday)

Today is National Poem in Your Pocket Day! In today's Shower Thoughts segment, Andie, Dave, Donnie and Kara go around the room sharing their original Haikus. Listeners take to our socials to share their creative poems and one even calls out Donnie. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As National Poetry Month rolls to a close, author Joy E. Rancatore considers Poetry’s Creative Effects on her life and the lives of others. She dives into some of her earliest memories that made her fall in love with the medium and analyzes some ways poetry has influenced her author life. To round out the month’s poetic emphasis, Joy reads a few of her poems. If you haven’t watched a QWERTY episode on YouTube, this would be a great one for a switch. Joy will be sharing graphics with her poetry. While you’re there, subscribe to the QWERTY Writing Life channel and never miss an episode! Check out these important links mentioned in the episode: National Poetry Month: https://poets.org/national-poetry-month Mea’s website where you can subscribe to her newsletter and be the first to know when her poetry book, Grief Like a River, will be available: https://storyswell.net Last episode about Mea’s poetry book: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/a-poetic-arc-the-birth-of-a-poetry-book/ Poetry 101: Masterclass article about 15 types of poetry: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-learn-about-poetry-different-types-of-poems-and-poetic-devices-with-examples Poem in Your Pocket Day: https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/poem-your-pocket-day Find information about Joy’s speaking and teaching topics for kids, teens and adults or to book her for your co-op, school, library or other group or event: https://joyerancatore.com/speaking/ Stay in the know about episodes, our speaking engagements and what goes on behind the microphones with our monthly QWERTY Writing Life Newsletter. You’ll also get the chance to influence our show’s content and be the first to know about big events! Here’s the link: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Please share our podcast with your friends! We’d love for them to be our new friends, too! Questions? Comments? You know what to do! Continue this week’s chat with us via email at editorial [at] logosandmythospress [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to www.logosandmythospress.com/qwerty-writing-life. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Can’t get enough of Mea? Head over to her online home at www.measmith.com. Want to know more about Joy? Check out her site, www.joyerancatore.com.

This week on The St. Andrews Jezebel Podcast host Ashley Feller shares the weekend music and community events for the upcoming weekend of April 23rd-25th. Rain and high speed winds are in the current forecast but any kind of weather pattern is possible in Florida. Salty Cat Day was originally scheduled for this Saturday April 24th but has been postponed for May 15th. Please follow The Market At St. Andrews on social media for all updates regarding the market and this event. Ever wonder what the annual cost of beer would buy you? You can do the math for the present day but in 1917 it would buy you quite a food supply. Listen as Ashley reads "Temperance Notes" which was featured in The St. Andrews Bay News April 24 in 1917. April is National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day is April The 30th. To celebrate our local poets this episode includes a bonus segment featuring poetry written and read by Sara Heath and another poem called "Heritage" written by last week's guest Jason Hedden and read by Ashley. Special Thanks to local music archivist Ken Shaffer for providing the local music schedules. Please follow Salty Sounds in St. Andrews and Oh Boy Music on Facebook. Thank you so much Ken for everything you do.

In this episode, viewers and poetry lovers alike share their voices and favorite poems in an attempt to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day from afar! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sincerelybluejaypoetry/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sincerelybluejaypoetry/support

This episode is a celebration of Poem In Your Pocket Day! Katie read Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky Abby read Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez In celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day, several JMRL staff read the following poems . All of the poems are either in the public domain or were written by … Continue reading S.3 Ep.14 – Poem In Your Pocket Day →

Meet Raj - the bookstore tiger, who loves to patrol the storerooms and greet the customers with his hearty meow. But when another cat, Snowball, arrives on the scene, and causes Raj to doubt his tigerness, his owner knows just what to do to help him regain his confidence - she reads him a poem.  Perfect for celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day! (written by Kathleen T. Pelley and published by Charlesbridge publishing)  (duration - 12 minutes) An episode from Journey with Story, a storytelling podcast for kids.

Today I learned how botanists used to say "hello" to each other.   In the 1800's and 1900's, a common way for botanists to introduce themselves, often from the other side of the world, was to send each other plant specimens as the foundation for developing a relationship.   When it comes to friendship, plants are icebreakers, communicators, and binding ties all rolled into one.   Brevities There are many delightful anniversaries today.   Today is National Zucchini Bread Day.    Zucchini was discovered in the Americas. Explorers brought it back to Europe where, in Italy, was called "zucchino".   #OTD  On this day in 1958, President Truman planted a sugar maple in New York in honor of Arbor Day.   #OTD  On this day in 1981, The Native Plant Society of Texas(NPSOT) was founded at Texas Women’s University.   #OTD  On this day in 2007 Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota held its second Linnaeus Symposium.  The event, titled “Linnaeus @ 300,” honored the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist for whom the Gustavus arboretum is named.    #OTD  On this day in 1852, botanist Marcus Jones was born.    His mom loved plants and sent Marcus to gather fresh flowers every day to display on the family's mantle. This daily chore was the beginning of his passion for botany.   He won national recognition for his work as a prominent botanist of the American West and in 1923 he sold his personal herbarium for $25,000 - an impressive amount at the time.  His collection represents the largest archive of plants from Utah.   Jones died in 1934 in San Bernardino, California. He was returning from a plant collecting trip to Lake Arrowhead at the age of 81 when his car was hit by another driver. Seatbelts had wouldn't be invented for another 25 years; Jones was ejected from his vehicle and died from a skull fracture.   Jones columbine, Aquilegia jonesii, is named for Marcus Jones. It is rare and does not transplant well. Plants and seeds are sold by select nurseries.     #OTD  On this day in 1912, author and botanist Julia Francis McHugh Morton was born.  A Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Julia Morton was a popular expert and lecturer on plants and especially plant medicine and toxicity. Known as the poison-plant lady, Morton worked to education the public through letters and phone calls, lectures and posters designed for hospital emergency rooms.    Among the many ER calls she received was one from a doctor in Scotland. A patient, back from a Jamaican holiday was gravely ill. Morton deduced that a noxious castor bean from a souvenir necklace had been ingested.   Over the years Morton has been the subject of many newspaper articles. Clever headlines showcase Morton's expertise, "She gets to the root of problems" and "She leaves no leaf unturned".   In 1988, the Miami News published an article about Morton's help with a murder case of a teen-age girl. The girl's car was found in the Dadeland Mall parking lot, after the girl had disappeared. Police brought Morton a half-Inch blade of grass that was stuck to the door handle of the car, and some pieces of leaves that were wedged inside the door. Morton Identified the grass as Giant Burma Reed. Then, she spread the leaves out in water and determined that they were the undeveloped leaflets of Spanish Needles. Morton's conclusion was that somewhere a short distance from the Dadeland Mall, (perhaps off Galloway Road near a nursery in a tall patch of Burma Reed) police might find the body of the girl. And, she predicted that there were two killers. Morton correctly assumed that one had wet hands and had left Burma Reed on the driver's door; while the other had closed the passenger door so quickly that it caught the Spanish Needles in the frame. The next morning, policemen found an area that matched Morton's description and solved their case.   It was Julia Morton who said, "Plants are always up to something. So I don't take a vacation. I operate on solar energy. I can only stay indoors a certain length of time." Like Marcus E. Jones, Julia Morton died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1996. She was 84.     #OTD  On this day in 1949, botanical illustrator Alice R. Tangerini was born.    Tangerini was hired as a staff illustrator for the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History by American botanist Lyman Bradford Smithin 1972.    As of March 9, 2017, Tangerini remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by the Smithsonian.    In 2005, Tangerini lost sight in her right eye due to an injury, and she has diplopiadue to a subsequent surgery. She has received the "Distinguished Service Award" from Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and the "Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art" award from the American Society of Botanical Artists.      Unearthed Words It's National Poem in Your Pocket Day. Today you can share the joy that poems bring by carrying one in your pocket and sharing it throughout the day with others.     Here's a brief one from Agnes Falconercalled Windflowers. (Windflowers is the common name for anemones)   "So frail are we, pale are we, Mist-thin, ghost-white — Hark o'er us, spring's chorus Trills all life's delight!   And no leaf stirs in all the wood Yet see! our blossoms quiver! Dance these not in thy solitude — For ever!"    Today's book recommendation  A Region of Astonishing Beauty: The Botanical Exploration of the Rocky Mountains by Roger L. Williams  Williams follows the expeditions of over a dozen explorers who "botanized" the Rocky Mountains. These intrepid explores felt Western Flora was special and unique. The title of the book comes from a quote by botanist Edwin James who said in 1820 as he emerged above timberline in Colorado to come upon "a region of astonishing beauty."   Today's Garden Chore Today’s garden chore is a great indoors project; replace the montage of labels in your garden by making new ones to give your garden a unified and cleanup look.       Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart   If you're a lover of daffodils, you will get a kick out of this story. Today is the birthday of Reverend George Herbert Engleheart.  Back in 1889, Engleheart began breeding daffodils - some 700 varieties in his lifetime. Fans of ‘Beersheba’, ‘Lucifer’, or ‘White Lady’, owe a debt of gratitude to Reverend Engleheart. Engleheart spent every spare moment breeding and his parishioners would often find a note tacked to the church door saying, “No service today, working with daffodils.”     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Our Poetry Bonanza has arrived! In this episode --titled to pay homage to Frank's favorite Emily Dickinson stanza-- he and Gwen get to read and hear poetry recommendations from their listeners. Listener Poetry Recommendations: "My Mother Says I am Sickening" in The New Kid On the Block: Poems by Jack Prelutsky “Good Hot Dogs” by Sandra Cisneros in A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poems for Children by Caroline Kennedy "Why I Am Not a Good Kisser" in Selected Poem by Mary Ruefle "Kal" in  If They Come for Us by Fatima Asghar The title poem in What the Living Do: Poems  by Marie Howe "What Resembles the Grave But Isn't" by Anne Boyer IRL by Tommy Pico The title poem in Inventory by Dionne Brand "I want a dyke for president" by Zoe Leonard  "Girls of the Wild" in Wild Embers  by Nakita Gill "Fold" in You & Yours by Naomi Shihab Nye "Scientific Romance" by Tim Pratt "Where the Mind is Without Fear" from Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore Also mentioned: NYPL's Poem in Your Pocket Day

We kick-off National Poetry Month by visiting with poet and teacher Jack Powers, celebrating the publication of his new book, Everybody’s Vaguely Familiar. We'll also discuss his successful career in teaching writing as a National Writing Project fellow and ways to celebrate National Poetry Month throughout April. Guests Jack Powers, Poet; Teacher at Joel Barlow High School Tanya Baker (Host), Director of National Programs, National Writing Project Bryan Ripley Crandall (Co-Host), Director, Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield Related Links Everybody's Vaguely Familiar "Fairfield Author Publishes First Poetry Collection" National Poetry Month Poem in Your Pocket Day Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield

Rebecca Hubbard teaches middle and high school English and Creative Writing at Frankfort High School. Together with several of her students, she describes the Pocket Poetry idea they developed to bring life to poetry in new and innovative ways. For more about the original idea, search "Poem in Your Pocket Day." Continue the conversation with one of our instructional and technology coaches by visiting cbdconsulting.com/elevateedu.

This week features three poems by two authors: “Gala Dali Speaks Broken French” and “What Can Happen to Women and Men” by Wendy Cannella and “Nightmare” by Jana-Lee Germaine.  Wendy Cannella once fronted a rock band in Boston, back when everyone fronted a rock band in Boston… This week’s episode of Slush Pile features three poems by two authors: “Gala Dali Speaks Broken French” and “What Can Happen to Women and Men” by Wendy Cannella and “Nightmare” by Jana-Lee Germaine.  Wendy Canella Wendy Cannella once fronted a rock band in Boston, back when everyone fronted a rock band in Boston. She is an avid supporter of the local arts and leads writing workshops, runs a reading series or two, serves on the board of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Project, and generally embarrasses her children by volunteering in the classroom on Poem in Your Pocket Day (what, didn’t your mom ever hide poems in your jean jacket?). You can find her work in various places including Fogged Clarity, Houseguest, Mid-American Review, Salamander, and Solstice. She continues to play the same few guitar chords, sing off-key, and speak many languages brokenly.   Jana-Lee Germaine Jana-Lee Germaine recently moved from Massachusetts to a small village in the English countryside where she lives in the old post office, homeschools her 4 children, and has thoroughly embraced the idea of beans for breakfast.  She is an avid runner and cyclist (will it ever stop raining?) and has recently taken up weightlifting, despite the fact that her mother thinks it will make her look weird. Her favorite holiday is the 4th of July (not celebrated in the UK, for obvious reasons). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Potomac Review and Naugatuck River Review. Share you thoughts about this episode on Facebook and Twitter using #donorcycle     Present at the Editorial Table: Kathleen Volk Miller Tim Fitts Marion Wrenn Sharee DeVose Jason Schneiderman   Engineering Producer: Amber Ferreira ----------------------------      Wendy Cannella Gala Dali Speaks Broken French Of the spinning wheels—trés vite and straight   from the States of the United to Montréal City. Of the heavy   traffic—bumper to bumper—and us, look at us, full to the brim, a clown car   of activists, caravan of aerialists,   and suddenly I pull my black hat down lower over my forehead, telling each of you   which lines are yours to sing, wanting it all so badly   to lead into the poem— turning   up Footloose, snapping back the door handles to escape like Smurfs   into the congested highway —and this takes us nowhere, egotism of drawing attention, egotism of dwelling on   those swaying hips—between stopped cars—   but this is it, this is where we dance the good   little dancing, I mean some excellent shaking—will you make it meaningful in the end? Will you   make out with me? For the moment will you hold the wheel—I’m taking my sweater off and the stars seem so agitated up there   trembling in their deep space and that is just the sort of dramatic gesture we’ve come to expect   from the stars and one after another our sweaters are cast off.  The traffic starting to move again, the drivers left   with the unsettling ache of knowing they have teeth inside their tender mouths—strangeness of the body, and of living—through them the breath of words. I think. Je pense. I believe.   Je crois. I feel. Je sens. The neck and the shoulders. Le visage. I never thought   I had power to hurt anybody. I can barely make sense. But why else would I coerce the entire universe   into bowing before my imagination, bestowing a corny nickname on each of us. You’re Mama and I’m La Bamba—let’s cover   the world with our America, yeah let’s take it   with us to the Jazz Festival—where all of us—my Papa, my Painter, my Smurfette—my friends all of us my friends made wreaths   of our foolishness and I made a nice wreath I wear it around my face   all night, the prayer for you to touch me. Symphatique, symphatique. This is nice. It feels good.   You want to hear something else, something sophisticated   in French but I’m far too young to know what it is you want. I know only one phrase.   It tells us when the music moves you will hold my hand and eat from my hand—it tells me the whole bright blue   night is a crown. So here is my stupid, unstoppable tongue. If you misunderstand,you misunderstand.   Wendy Cannella What Can Happen to Women and Men                                            Honey honey the call is for war                                            And it’s wild wild wild wild                                         —Patti Smith “Ask the Angels” I never met an angel I didn’t like.   The one who knits hats for newborns,   the one humming delusions to the broken world,   forlorn angels pacing the room,   pulling out their own wings,   feather by feather,   stone angels crumbling beneath   the pure arch of love,   even the worst angel there ever was,   I liked him especially, with his motorcycle   and stolen jewelry, his murderous thugs.   I rode with him down the fiery path,   never asking for more   than the opposite of what we had,   the good reasons, and the master plan—   which he failed to fully envision.   Once, he gave me Patti Smith   and Lou Reed as examples   of what can happen to women and men   who believe deeply in upheaval—   transcendence, a new form.   He made me think I even liked   the idea of betrayal, and for awhile   I sangthose kind of songs.   Jana-Lee Germaine Nightmare My son wakes to creaks and thumps like boots on his bedroom floor. They are here for him, they’ve found his room, the demon with the hedge clippers who stands against the wall, or the man with the muddy shovel waiting to tangle him in sheets and bury him, still breathing, out in the yard. Night moves around his room, grinning. What he fears is pain he cannot handle – us, dead in the other room – and hands, not those attached to wrists, but the kind that fingercreep along the floor. He kicks the covers back, brushes past the thumbs, the clippers, the raised shovel, he’s down the hall to our bedroom, where we are still alive. When he says, crawling between us, I needed to know you were OK, I kiss his head, and the dark sits like a stone on my tongue. What can I say to him tonight? These things are real, but not here. My own dreamer sits sniggering on my shoulders, elbows digging into my skull.  

Intro   Hi everyone! Welcome to Episode 21 of Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who loves middle grade books!  I am Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom, and a big podcast fan.  And I’ll tell you - I have been absolutely sucked into the new STown podcast for the past week! And have probably spend too much time and stayed up far too late looking at pictures of hedge mazes, sundials, and antique clocks. So, I know you like podcasts - definitely go listen to STown.   Since April is National Poetry month, our show today is all about celebrating the power of poetry! I’ll share with you a couple poetry resources to help you enjoy poetry more with your students and kids, and then chat about some fabulous books - from picture books to poetry anthologies to novels in verse.     Main Topic - Celebrating the Power of Poetry   I will straight up tell you that I was slow to appreciate poetry in the way it really deserves. I was always a voracious reader even as a kid, but I rarely ever picked up any poetry when left to my own devices.  I guess I always thought of it as a complicated puzzle or containing some secret message that I was just too obtuse to figure out.  I even had this ridiculous idea that all poetry was romantic.  Yeah - I know - WRONG!   So, I have been on a mission lately to shed my own misconceptions and make SURE that I am not passing those along to my own children or my own students. It is still very much a work in progress for me, but I thought today I’d share with you a few ideas about how to include more poetry in the lives of your kids - not only during National Poetry Month, but all year long.   Rethinking Poetry First off, I think that rethinking reading poetry is the biggest step. Helping kids understand that poetry can be about ANYTHING (not just love) is a major step. The best way to to do this? Start by reading lots of varieties of poetry with them. I know we are all pressed for time, but reading a short poem every day (or even start with every week!) would take less than a minute and can often be done in those “gap times” like waiting in the hallway or waiting for the bus to arrive. (And later on, I’ll share with you some places to get those poems.)  Also, I used to think that as a teacher, I would have to hammer the heck out of a poem and make sure my students had yanked that thing apart and knew the theme, the rhyme pattern, the symbols, the point of view of the author and on and on and on until… well, it just wasn’t enjoyable anymore. For me or my students!   The event that recently cemented for me the fact that teaching poetry doesn’t have to be like that was Laura Shovan’s live Facebook Event hosted by The Nerdy Book Club. It was called “It’s National Poetry Month: Let’s Teach Poetry!” and you can find an archive of that event through their facebook page and I’ll also include a direct link to it in our show transcript. So anyway - Laura Shovan is a poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council’s Artist-in-Education program and the author of the novel in verse The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. In this video, she walks through how to teach the poem “Weather” by Eve Merriam. The whole thing is worth checking out, but I just wanted to share with you a few highlights: Read the poem aloud and ask students what THEY notice, what stands out to them, what got them thinking or feeling. And every time I have done this over the past week, my students will catch aspects of the poem I would never have considered.  I love the advice of having students take the conversational lead. Reinforce the vocabulary of poetry naturally through the conversation around the poems, rather than a separate stand alone lesson. Incorporating terms like “couplet” and “stanza” into the discussion can save time and solidify their meaning for kids. The idea of poetry as layers - layers of sound, of story, of point of view. And how reading a poem several times allows you (and your kids!) to discover more within those multiple readings.   And Laura Shovan makes this wonderful analogy of a poem as a waterfall - some students are going to want to jump into the water and experience it with all their senses, some are science minded and might want to take samples to examine and pick apart under a microscope, and some students want to stand back admire the beauty of that waterfall with awe and wonder.  And all of those responses are are just fine. And we don’t have to do every single one of them every time we read a poem together. If you want to learn more, check out Laura’s website at www.LauraShovan.com -   Another fantastic resource that links reading and writing poetry is Kwame Alexander’s Page-to-Stage Writing Workshop. And I highly recommend this if you want to harness the power of poetry to boost the level of writing excitement with your kids. This is a teacher’s guide that will get your kids writing, publishing, and presenting their poetry - and the best part is that it’s not JUST another book on teaching poetry. It includes videos of Kwame Alexander - both for teachers and for your students to watch. And if you’ve ever had the chance to hear  him speak, you know the energy he brings.  It’s like having a Newbery-Award winning author right in your classroom giving you a mini-lesson on poetry. Actually it’s not LIKE that, it actually IS that!  Absolutely check that out!   I’ll close by quoting a bit from Kylene Beers’ forward of Page-to-Stage, “Poetry - what I’ll call the neglected genre - draws us into ourselves as it simultaneously lets us give back to the world a fresh understanding , a new vision, a re-vision of one moment. Kwame puts it better when he explains that poetry lets us ‘write our own journeys, find our own voices.’”     So I’m excited and inspired to include more poetry in my classroom and get kids writing more.  As always, I would love to hear what you are doing to foster a love of poetry  with your students and kids.  You can tag me on Twitter, Instagram, and now Facebook - our handle is @books_between or email me at booksbetween@gmail.com and I’d love to hear and share your ideas.   Book Talk - Fabulous Poetry Books & Novels in Verse   In this part of the show, I chat about books centered around a theme and of course this week is all about fantastic poetry books, anthologies, and novels in verse for middle grade readers. And - since National Poem in Your Pocket Day is Thursday, April 27th - this will give you some awesome options for you and your students to tuck in those pockets.   Poetry Books Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics by author Margarita Engle with illustrations by Rafael Lopez. I really love this book - the drawings are fantastic and bold and each poem is from the point of view of the person being featured so it really feels personal.   One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance the latest by Nikki Grimes which is a collection of her original poetry interspersed with classic poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. Grimes is amazing - just go ahead and get all the Nikki Grimes - you can’t go wrong with her work! Speaking of can’t go wrong poets, Kwame Alexander has two new poetry picture book collections out.  The first is called Animal Ark: Celebrating our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures and features photographs of endangered species. This one good for young readers as well as older kids. Then he’s also collaborated with some other poets  (Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth along with artist Ekua Holmes to put together a beautiful collection of poems celebrating poets called Out of Wonder.   Another poet to look for is  Lee Bennett Hopkins - his work is simply outstanding. I love his general collections but his themed books are really cool. Check out My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States - a collection of fifty poems celebrating various regions in the country. Or Marvelous Math - a collection of math themed poems, or Spectacular Science - a book full of poems on all sorts of science topics. What is cool about these books is that if you have them on hand, you can easily flip and find a poem that relates to a subject you are studying in class. A poetry break during Math or Science?  Yes, please!   And if you are looking for something clever and funny, take a look at Keep a Pocket in Your Poem by J. Patrick Lewis. They take classic poems and pair them with a parody poem. So for example, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is paired with “Stopping by Fridge on a Hungry Evening” . It’s cute, funny, and may even inspire some of your kids to give a parody poem a try!   And if you want to enjoy some excellent poetry with a jazzy, hip hop flair - please, please go snag a copy of Hip Hop Speaks to Children: a celebration of poetry with a beat. It’s edited by Nikki Giovanni and includes a CD with many of the authors reading their poems - including Eloise Greenfield, Gary Soto, Langston Hughes, James Berry - and so, so many more. A couple things I really loved - one, they make the explicit connection between music, lyrics, and poetry and include lots of poems that we might originally view simply as songs.  Like “Rapper’s Delight”! And Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First”! It’s so, so good! And secondly, some of the tracks include the authors introducing their poem and giving you a little background. For instance, before Pedro Pietri reads “Love Poem for My People”, I was really stuck by how he mentioned that he wrote it many years ago and is STILL working on it.  Powerful, powerful messages for kids - you definitely want this one on hand! Novels in Verse:   Well, you can’t talk about novels in verse without mentioning the amazing Sharon Creech. There are of course Love That Dog  and Hate That Cat - perennial classics in any classroom or library. But, I want to give a plug for her latest novel, called Moo. It’s the story of twelve -year-old Reena and her seven-year-old brother, Luke who are suddenly uprooted from their life in New York City and wind up moving to very rural Maine, and reluctantly trying to bond with a super ornery cow. There were certain aspects that reminded me a bit of Home of the Brave. I think those two would make a great novel-in-verse pairing.   And of course, I would be remiss If I didn’t mention Kwame Alexander’s two novels in verse - The Crossover and Booked. I feel like I have gushed so much about those two books on this podcast and how much students love them that I am almost risking overdoing it. So, you already know they are amazing, right?   Also previously mentioned on the podcast, but definitely need to be included on this list are Ellie Terry’s Forget Me Not, which is a novel that is half verse / half prose from two points of view.  If you want to know more about that novel, I went into more depth in the last show which was Episode 20.  And in Episode #8, I featuring Laura Shovan’s The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, which is fantastic not only for the story but because it has dozens of poetry prompts right in the back. LOVE it!   Another author that writes poetry for kids across a wide range of ages is Nikki Grimes. I already mentioned her picture book work, but her novels Words With Wings and Garvey’s Choice are phenomenal. And accessible to kids who might find the brief poems and open space of each page really appealing. They are quick but powerful reads. A short poem, a short story, can pack a lot of punch.   And of course, Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming and her earlier book Locomotion and so many others are written with such passion and love that they stay with you, long, long after you’ve set aside those books.   A couple novels in verse that I haven’t read yet but have been bubbling up are The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. I keep bumping into rave reviews and reflections on these two books - argh - I think I just need to take a reading sabbatical and work through my To Be Read pile. Wouldn’t that be nice?     Well - I could go on and on - and I know I’ve missed a lot on this list, but I do need to cut myself off at some point. But, that leaves the door open for YOU!  What poetry books or novels in verse are your favorites and why do you love them? I’ll open some threads on our various social media sites and let’s continue the conversation there!   Closing   Okay  - that wraps up our show this week.  If you have topic or a book you think we should cover, please let us know. You can email me at booksbetween@gmail.com or message me on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.   Thanks again for joining me this week. You can get a full transcript of this show and all of our previous episodes at AlltheWonders.com including links to every book and every resource I talked about today. And, if you’re enjoying the show and finding some value in what you hear, please help others find us too by telling a friend, sharing on social media, or leaving a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks again and see you in two weeks!  Bye!     https://www.facebook.com/nerdybookclub/videos/1501455839895985/?pnref=story   http://laurashovan.com/2017/04/its-national-poetry-month-lets-teach-poetry/   https://shop.scholastic.com/teachers-ecommerce/books/kwame-alexanders-page-to-stage-writing-workshop-9781338026818.html  

In celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day, this NWP Radio episode featured Joshua Mitchell, a youth poet at Figment.com and Katie Robbins, Director of Educational Programming at Figment; Bud Hunt, teacher-consultant with the Colorado State University Writing Project; Chris Tsang and students from his Boston middle school; and Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of the Office of Letters and Light.