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Friday, April 4, 2014

Happy 5th Blogiversary to us! Book Bundles Giveaway! Poetry Month! And Poetry Friday!

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Howdy Campers ~  Happy Poetry Month!  Happy Poetry Friday!  And...

Happy 5th Blogiversary to us!

Details of our Book Bundles Giveaway below

On April 22, 2009, powered by the dazzlingly bright solar power of Carmela Martino, we started this blog.

Five years--what a fabulous ride it's been!

Five candles.  And when there are candles, someone makes a wish and blows them out. So you could say that this image represents the six active TeachingAuthors. (We're celebrating all TeachingAuthors who have been part of our blog biography.)

Campers, thank you from the bottom of our candles for reading, following, commenting and encouraging us. You're why we do this. You're why I'm terrified everytime a post is due. We want to add something meaningful and merry to the party! In celebration of You, this month's drawing is for one of FIVE "blogiversary book bundles." Each bundle is a set of five books hand-selected by a TeachingAuthor and contains at least one autographed TA book. Yay You! (Details below.)

* * * 
This month, inspired by the Chicago Favorite Poem Project, each of us will share a favorite poem. One of mine is "Liberty" by Janet Wong, from her book, The Declaration of Interdependence--Poems for an Election Year and also included in Caroline Kennedy's Poems to Learn by Heart) read (and reproduced below) with Janet's kind permission:



LIBERTY
by Janet Wong from DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE – Poems for an Election Year

I pledge acceptance
of the views
so different,
that make us America

To listen, to look,
to think, and to learn

One people
sharing the earth
responsible
for liberty
and justice
for all.

Wow, right?  So much substance packed into 12 lines.

* * * 
This month is overflowing with poetry!  Three TeachingAuthors are celebrating in three ways:

Also, Sylvia Vardell's Texas Women University students chose poems from the The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science: Poems for the School Year Integrating Science, Reading, and Language Arts and have made "poem movies" of them.  They'll appear on Sylvia's blog all this month. My poem "Old Water" will be featured on April 6.

And thank you, Amy, of The Poem Farm, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

* * *

By now you're asking: "How can I enter to win a Book Bundle?

Our giveaway starts at midnight on Friday, 4/3 and ends at midnight of the day after our blogiversary, 4/23.

--You have a chance to win one of FIVE "blogiversary book bundles." Each bundle is a set of five books hand-selected by a TeachingAuthor and contains at least one autographed TA book.

--Books will be mailed directly to the winner, so winners must have a US mailing address.

--You have 3 entry options, and can enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options to increase their chances. (We DO verify that you've met all the criteria for each option. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.)

1) Tell us how you follow the blog (by "follow" we mean some sort of automated subscription service, such as via email, Facebook, Bloglovin', etc.) We have links in the sidebar to make it easy to start subscribing if you haven't already.

2) Leave a comment on THIS blog post. If you have difficulty commenting, you can submit comments via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. For this giveaway, you need to include in the comment either a) the title of a favorite poem OR b) the title of a favorite TeachingAuthor blog post.

Please be also sure to include your name in the comment so we can verify you've fulfilled this option. [Some folks don't comment with their real name and we have no way of knowing who they are!]

3) Help spread the word. Share a link back to this blog post from your own blog, or from Twitter, Pinterest, or any other way we can verify online. You must include the URL of the link in the space provided.

And good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

posted with love by April Halprin Wayland.  Monkey's on vacation.

41 comments:

  1. Happy Happy Blogaversary to all of the Teaching Authors! What a generous way to celebrate. Janet's poem rings true to me during these weeks of standardized testing and speaking/opting out here in NYS. How lucky we are to live in a country where we can state and act on our views. Happy Poetry Friday! I am so glad this blog is here and wish you a beautiful next five!

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  2. April, I love SO MUCH your voice reading Janet's poem!! And, of course, Janet's poem IS sublime. Thank you, and happy 5 years to all the Teaching Authors. xo

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  3. Also, April, be sure to add Janet's poem to the Soundcloud Poetry Friday group!

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  4. Happy Blogaversary! Thanks for the treat of listening to you read Janet's powerful poem.

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  5. Happy Blogaversary! Thanks for the treat of listening to you read Janet's powerful poem.

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  6. These five years (can it really be?) have indeed been a fabulous ride, April! I do hope posting is getting less terrifying for you as time goes on. :-)
    Thanks for sharing Janet's wonderful poem, and for reading it so beautifully. Now I'm off to see if I can figure out how to use SoundCloud. :-)

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  7. Happy Blogaversary - and thank you for janet's poem, too - LOVE that first stanza!

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  8. Happy Blogiversary!
    And wow, you keep adding resources to my writer's world. I wasn't aware of the Chicago Favorite Poem Project or the Soundcloud Poetry Friday group. Thanks!

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  9. It feels like serendipity to read & hear Janet's poem because I just discovered the good things Honeymaid has done lately in commercials, & then in reply to those who were vehement in their disagreement to including "all" kinds of families. Terrific poem with an awesome message!
    Happy Blogiversary to you all. I love your posts, always learn from you!

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  10. Five years! Wow... that's some achievement. Happy Blogaversary and THANK YOU for all you generous, thought-generating, fun and fascinating posts. Janet's poem is spot on, isn't it! Just wonderful.

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  11. Irene--thank you! I am a SoundCloud novice and had to search around about to figure out how to add that poem to the Poetry Friday group. Got it! Merci beaucoup!

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  12. Buffy, Tara, Patricia, Linda,and Michelle it's been SUCH a treat getting to know you this way. Who knew I'd fall in love with friends I've never met?

    Carmela ~ many days it's a breeze to post, I'm in the zone, it's one among many things I do that day. But sometimes it becomes the HUGE BIG THING I do and scares the bejeebers out of me. Much as writing a poem on assignment, on deadline... and I keep coming back for more! <3

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  13. Five Fabulous Years! Congratulations!

    That was the first time I had read "Liberty," and I agree with your assessment--it packs a punch in just 12 lines. A masterful poem.

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  14. Happy Happy 5th Blogiversary! What an amazing (and occasionally terrifying) book blogging journey it must have been for you all. I love Janet Wong's poetry. Just beautiful. You're right, so much packed in 12 lines!

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  15. Sarah--so glad you stopped by--and THANK YOU for posting our link on your blog!

    Diane and Myra ~ more longtime friends coming by for our blogiversary open house...it means so much to us--thank you <3

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  16. Happy Blogiversary to you!Rosi Hollinbeck here. My favorite poem is Invitation to Lost Things by Joyce Sidman. I tweeted.

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  17. Dear Rosi, Thank you for introducing me to Joyce Sidman's poem,"Invitation to Lost Things"...I found it here, for those who'd like to read it:
    http://new.schoolnotes.com/files/dstegemiller/Poem.pdf

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  18. You are older than us by six months. Our 5th Blogaversary will be in October
    Happy Blogaversary to all of you. I am so grateful for your posts.
    Here's a Poem by John Lennon form In His Own Write.

    I WANDERED

    On balmy seas and pernie schooners
    On strivers and warming things
    In a peanut coalshed clad
    I wandered happy as a jew
    To meet good Doris Fing.

    Past grisby trees and hulky builds
    Past ratters and bradder sheep
    In a resus baby stooped
    I wandered hairy as a dog
    To get a goobites sleep

    Down hovey lanes and stoney claves
    Down ricketts and sticklys myth
    In a fatty hebrew gurth
    I wandered humply as a sock
    To meet bad Bernie Smith
    Rock on, ladies.
    Susan at Pen and Ink

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  19. Happy 5th Blogiversary and thanks for all the info packed blogs, links and writing! Picking one favorite poem is quite a challenge, however Shel Silverstein's "Invitation" would be at the top of my list. I follow your blog via my email and I also tweeted about your Blogiversary. Many Thanks, Michelle Kogan

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  20. Happy BlogaVERSEory!

    Thank you for reminding me about Janet's book. I have so many poetry books at school that I need to find a way to get each and every one of them in the hand of children at least once every year!

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  21. Happy blogiversary! I'm especially excited because it appears I found you shortly after you launched. It was about five years ago that I began following blogs, and yours was the first in my now lengthy list. I often get a blog feed and check out the topic, then move on, but that never happens with Teaching Authors. Each and every post is worth taking the time to read, even when I need to come back and catch it up later.
    Congratulations, and the scheduled posts promise even more to come.

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  22. Congrats on this major milestone! I always find inspiration here.

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  23. Happy Bloiversary! I've been a follower since the beginning and have enjoyed every post! I have Janet's book, and this is one of many that I love! I look forward to future posts! : )

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  24. I want to print this poem to say every day after the actual pledge. Such a great reminder that our differences are what makes us American. I have to say my favorite blog posts here are the Wednesday Work-outs. I like to have a prompt to get me writing and yours are always doable and fun. Congratulations on 5 years! Great!

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  25. Mary Lee, "BlogaVERSEory" is the perfect description for this year's anniversary. Wish I'd thought of it.
    Thanks so much to everyone for all your affirmations--I'm not replying to each of your comments because this wasn't my blog post, but I want you to know that I'm reading them, too, and I am so happy to know how much you appreciate our blog.

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  26. Five years! Congratulations! How exciting! Here's to five times five more years!

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  27. Happy Blogaversary!!! What a great source for information and inspiration!

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  28. Beautiful poem--thanks for sharing this!

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  29. How great to be celebrating 5 years. That's a long time to run a blog, your dedication is showing. Here's a toast to many many more. Thanks.

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  30. My all time favorite poem had always been "The Road Not Taken." Thanks for the chance to win a book bundle. Kristi Veitenheimer

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  31. My all time favorite poem had always been "The Road Not Taken." Thanks for the chance to win a book bundle. Kristi Veitenheimer

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  32. Now that we've met, April, I can SEE you reading this. :) Very nice!

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  33. Congratulations on your Five Year Anniversary! That's so great. I follow along through twitter and have signed up to receive your posts. Also shared this on Twitter and Facebook! Congratulations again!
    Kim

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  34. One of my favorite poems is "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about how different he felt from other children. Here's a link to read it: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175776

    Cool contest!

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  35. Happy anniversary!

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  36. Love the LIBERTY poem posted today! Happy Blogiversary!

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  37. My absolutely favorite poem in the whole wide world is: Every Time I Climbe a Tree.
    Happy Anniversary!

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  38. I have to say I like "Liberty" a lot. Very powerful. But my favorite poem of all time, one I feel speaks the truth about life and writing is TS Eliot's "Little Gidding." Here's an excerpt: And what you thought you came for
    Is only a shell, a husk of meaning
    From which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled
    If at all. Either you had no purpose
    Or the purpose is beyond the end you figured
    And is altered in fulfilment.

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  39. Has it been five years already? I love that you're giving as a way of celebrating your contributions to the kidlit community. I am grateful to you and all the hard work you all do. I subscribe to your blog and totally enjoy the Wednesday work outs. Keep providing quality information and I'll keep following. By the way, how amazing and wonderful is Janet Wong's poem? Love it.

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  40. Happy Blogversary!! I love your blog and especially love Poetry Friday! My favorite of all time: Poetry Friday Roundup and a Couple of Dog Poems! Thank you!!

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