My Word of the Year for 2024

Happy Poetry Friday! I share a poem by James Stephens at the end of this post along with a link to this week's roundup. 

Today, I kick off our first TeachingAuthors' topic for 2024: our one word (or short phrase) theme for the year. Three weeks into January, I'm still getting used to my word: LIGHTER. 

I've been feeling a bit burdened lately and wanted a word that would help me feel lighter physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I hope that, in turn, I'll bring more light to those I encounter. 

To help remember my word, I write it at the top of my to-do list every morning. Since I'm a visual learner, I like to also draw an image that helps me keep my word in mind throughout the day. Unfortunately, my drawing skills are quite limited, so the image needs to be something simple. I ended up choosing a kite.

Photo by Charlotte Harrison on Unsplash

It's amazing how one little word can shift your perspective. Thanks to my newfound focus on LIGHTER, I recently noticed that it's no longer dark at 5:00 pm. Given the frigid temperatures and the piles of snow all around, if not for my word, I don't think I would have realized that the days here in the Northern Hemisphere are already lengthening. 

One way I'm lightening my mood and outlook is by reading humorous poetry, such as Animals in Pants written by Suzy Levinson and illustrated by Kristin & Kevin Howdeshell (Abrams) and My Head Has a Bellyache and More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups written by Chris Harris and illustrated by Andrea Tsurmi (Little Brown).

And this month I'm especially excited about a new Think Poetry class I'll be taking with the amazing team of Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell--I'll be learning ways to add humor to my own poetry! My heart is flying at the mere thought. 🪁

I'm also reading poetry that isn't necessarily humorous, but still uplifting. For the last few months, I've been savoring the poems in the beautiful anthology Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Candlewick).

When I read the poem for yesterday, January 18, "White Fields," the imagery really hit home—here in northern Illinois the fields are indeed covered in snow. And since the poem is in the public domain, I decided to share it today:

          White Fields
          by James Stephens

     In the winter time we go
     Walking in the fields of snow;

     Where there is no grass at all;
     Where the top of every wall,

     Every fence, and every tree,
     Is as white as white can be.

     Pointing out the way we came—
     Every one of them the same—

     All across the fields there be
     Prints in silver filigree;

     And our mothers always know,
     By the footprints in the snow,

     Where it is the children go. 

There's one more thing helping me feel LIGHTER these days: Two of my math-based poems appear in the STEM edition of Tyger Tyger Magazine. I feel especially honored because the editor created a terrific Teaching Resource to go with my poems. You can see all the poems and Teaching Resources in the issue by following the links on the Tyger Tyger website here. I'd love to know what you think of my poems!

Poetry Friday logo by Linda Mitchell

I hope this post has left you feeling a bit LIGHTER. Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Robin Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge.


Carmela 🪁

Wednesday Writing Workout: Combining Poetry and Nonfiction, and a Book Giveaway!

Today I'm happy to bring you a Wednesday Writing Workout from nonfiction author and poet extraordinaire, Kimberly Hutmacher.

Kimberly is the author of 32 nonfiction books for children and 150+ articles, stories, and poems for magazines! Her latest is a series of three books on musical instruments, French Horn, Harp, and Djembe, to be released by Weigl AV2 Publishing in  2020. When Kimberly isn't working on a book project, she blogs for Poetry Friday at Kimberly Hutmacher Writes. She also contributes activities, crafts, and book recommendations to S.T.E.A.M. Powered Poetry, a site featuring inspiring STEAM-themed poetry videos for grades K-8.

To celebrate her appearance here on TeachingAuthors, Kimberly is giving away a copy of her book Your Nose Never Stops Growing and Other Cool Human Body Facts (Capstone Press) to one lucky TeachingAuthors reader.

Did you know the smallest muscle in the human body is located inside the ear? Did you know the average American shoe size has increased 2 sizes since 1970? Did you know tooth enamel is the hardest part of the body? Your Nose Never Stops Growing and Other Cool Human Body Facts is brimming with interesting and unusual human body trivia. The book is part of Capstone's Mind Blowing Facts Series. See the end of this post for instructions on how to enter to win your own copy! But first, here's Kim's Wednesday Writing Workout.

Wednesday Writing Workout:
Combining Poetry and Nonfiction

My two favorite writing genres are poetry and nonfiction. In my work, the two forms often collide. My nonfiction picture book, Paws, Claws, Hands, and Feet (Arbordale 2009) and my nonfiction series of books on time for Capstone Press are written in rhyme. Sometimes, I’m asked to write STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) poems for a curriculum or a testing company. Once in a while, I’ll write a STEAM-themed poem for a magazine. I contribute accompanying activities, crafts, and book recommendations to Heidi Bee Roemer’s S.T.E.A.M. Powered Poetry Vlog. Today’s Wednesday Writing Workout lets us stretch both our nonfiction and our poetry writing muscles. 

Step 1: Find and read a STEAM-themed article that interests you. Here are a few online publications you might find helpful:

• ScienceNews
• Scientific American
• Discover Magazine
• Science Daily

Step 2: Read the article again, and jot down some notes: key points, interesting words, descriptions of images that come to mind, questions you have about the topic and/or anything you might want to research further, etc.

Step 3: Write a poem based on what you’ve read. Your poem can be a feast for readers covering an entire process (Example: water cycle) or introduce readers to just a small taste of your topic (Example: evaporation). Your poem can be as long or as short as you like and it can be written in any form.

The following poem is an example of how I used this process for a Today’s Little Ditty Challenge at Michelle Heidenrich’s blog. Linda Mitchell challenged us to write a found haiku from any article on any subject that fascinated us. For this particular challenge, our haiku had to be made up of all words/phrases from the article. The article about spiders that inspired my poem can be found here on the News&Observer site.
And here's my haiku:

               Half as strong as steel
          Silk produced from spinnerets
               All done by instinct

       Copyright 2019 Kimberly M. Hutmacher

Remember, for this exercise,  there are no word, phrase, or form requirements. Just try to keep it on a STEAM topic.

Magazine publishers are looking more and more for STEAM-related content. Once you’ve written your poem and revised it to the best of your ability, you might consider submitting it to a children’s magazine for consideration. Click here for a list of possible markets.

Be sure to stop by the S.T.E.A.M. Powered Poetry Vlog to view inspiring STEAM-themed poetry videos. New videos and content are added every month. Be sure to follow and subscribe!

-----------------

A big THANK YOU to Kimberly for today's Wednesday Writing Workout and for providing a book for today's giveaway.

Readers, before you leave, be sure to enter our giveaway for a chance to win her book Your Nose Never Stops Growing and Other Cool Human Body Facts (Capstone Press).

To enter our drawing, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options. (Note: if the widget doesn't appear, click on the link at the end of this post that says "a Rafflecopter giveaway" to enter.)

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today!

In your comment, we'd love if you would share a STEAM-related topic you enjoy reading.

If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA RAFFLECOPTER BELOW. The giveaway ends December 18, 2019 and is open to U.S. residents only.

Posted by Carmela 

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mentor Texts, Guest TA Interview, and Hedy Lamarr Book Giveaway with Laurie Wallmark

Hello everyone!
Today I'm thrilled to bring you a guest TeachingAuthor interview with award-winning picture book author Laurie Wallmark. See the end of this post for details on how you can enter to win a copy of her newest book, Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor, which was released from Sterling Children's Books just last week! And, in honor of Poetry Friday, I'll also be sharing a poem from Laurie's book Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code.

This post kicks off a new topic: how we TeachingAuthors use "mentor texts" as part of our writing and revision process. In case you're not familiar with the term, mentor texts are published books we study to learn how to become better writers. To elaborate, I'd like to share a definition from Lynne Dorfman, co-author of several books on using mentor texts, including Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6 (Stenhouse) In an interview for the National Writing Project, Dorfman said:

"Mentor texts are pieces of literature that you—both teacher and student—can return to and reread for many different purposes. They are texts to be studied and imitated...Mentor texts help students to take risks and be different writers tomorrow than they are today. It helps them to try out new strategies and formats."

Although Dorfman is referring to using mentor texts in the classroom, adult writers can experience the same benefits by studying published works on their own, whether they're writing fiction or nonfiction. For example, while working on Playing by Heart, I read and studied numerous historical novels set in the 18th-century, especially those featuring musicians and composers. Now that I'm working on a nonfiction picture book biography, I'm studying recently published picture book biographies. That's how I discovered Laurie Wallmark's books. When I learned she had a new book coming out this month, Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor, illustrated by Katy Wu (Sterling Children's Books), I invited Laurie to do a guest TeachingAuthor interview. (If you'd like to read more about how writers can use picture books as mentor texts, check out the Reading for Research Month (ReFoReMo) Challenge.)

Before I get to the interview with Laurie, here's a bit about her: Laurie Wallmark, author of Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life (Sterling Children's Books), writes picture book biographies of women scientists and mathematicians. Her books Grace Hopper Queen of Computer Code (Sterling Children's Books) and Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine (Creston Books), have together received five starred reviews and several national awards. Laurie has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts as well as degrees in biochemistry and information systems. When she's not writing, she teaches computer science at Raritan Valley Community College. She also teaches courses on writing for children. Find out more about Laurie on her website and follow her on Twitter here.

Laurie's newest book, Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor, tells the story of the actress’s hidden life—movie star by day, inventor by night. She co-invented the technology that helps keep our electronic devices safe from hacking. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books says of Hedy Lamarr's Double Life:

"Many STEM-for-girls biographies fan excitement over women's achievements, but this title actually brings the central scientific concept within middle-grade reach."

See the end of this post for details on how you can enter to win a copy of this terrific new book!

But first, be sure to read this interview with Laurie:

Laurie, you're so busy as a TeachingAuthor, teaching computer classes and courses in writing for children while writing and researching your own books. How do you balance your writing and teaching?

All writers have other responsibilities, whether they are related to work, family, or themselves. Writers need to take advantage of those interstitial opportunities in our lives. You can think about your story while: standing in line; washing in the shower; exercising, etc. You can write while: on hold on the telephone; waiting for your flight at the airport; between meetings on a business trip. You get the idea.

Today we’re celebrating your latest release, the picture book biography Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor illustrated by Katy Wu (Sterling Books). I’ve seen some of Hedy Lamarr’s movies but never knew about her “double life.” Please tell our readers about the book and how you came to write it.

I like to shine a spotlight on women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) whose achievements have been overlooked. Hedy co-invented a technology known as spread-spectrum frequency hopping. This discovery is used in our Wi-Fi, phones, Bluetooth, and other technologies to help prevent people from listening in on our private communications. (For more on how this book came to be, and a sneak peek at some of the illustrations, see Laurie's interview with Kathy Temean.)

Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life is a great follow-up to your two other picture book biographies: Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, also illustrated by Katy Wu (Sterling Books), and Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine illustrated by April Chu (Creston Books). What drew you to writing these biographies as picture books? 

Growing up, I experienced several instances where I was discouraged from pursuing my interest in math and science. The most infamous of these was when the principal of my high school told my mother she didn’t have to worry about the availability of advanced math classes, since I was a girl and wouldn’t take them. I want girls (and boys!) to realize that careers in STEM are open to everyone. (Laurie shares more on her path to writing these books in this essay.)

Wow! I'm glad you didn't let your principal's comments keep you away from math and science, since that ultimately led to your writing these great biographies.  How did you sell your first book?

Several years ago, I had an editorial critique at a New Jersey SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference with agent Ginger Harris-Dontzin of the Liza Royce Agency. She loved my manuscript and shared it with her partner, Liza Fleissig. They had a particular editor, Marissa Moss of Creston Books, whom they thought would be interested. She was. Marissa bought my Ada Lovelace book, and Liza and Ginger are now my agents. Anyone who is interested in writing books for children needs to join the international organization, SCBWI.

What advice do you have for other writers working on picture book biographies?

Research. Research. Research. For me, research is part of the fun of writing biographies. Often you find out that something everyone knew about the person isn’t really true. The challenge in doing research is when sources differ.

What’s next for you?

I have a picture book biography, Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Mathematician (Creston Books) about a women mathematician coming out in 2020. After that, I have another woman in STEM biography, but it hasn’t been announced yet. Even as we speak, I’m writing another picture book biography.

Your productivity is inspiring, Laurie! In studying your books as mentor texts, I've noticed that they're recommended for grades Kindergarten-3 even though they’re at a fourth-grade reading level. Do you write your biographies with a particular age student in mind? In what grades do you see your books being used? 

The publisher always says K-5. I actually think grades 3-5 is the sweet spot for them, but I just write. The Hedy Lamarr book skews higher because it has more science in it.

Readers, if you're a classroom teacher, you'll want to check out the Curriculum Guides for Laurie's books on this page of her website, where you'll also find links to STEM activities. 

Laurie, thanks so much for taking time from your busy schedule for this interview. Thanks, also, for giving our readers a chance to win a copy of your new book. 

Readers, below I've listed some resources for finding and using mentor texts, followed by the book giveaway instructions. But first, I want to share a poem from Laurie's book Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, as I promised at the beginning of this post. This poem appears on the front end pages, before the book's title page. On Wednesday, February 20, Laurie will be back to share a writing exercise related to the poem.

I chose the clock background above because in Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, young Grace tinkered with clocks until she "understood what made them tick." Explaining how the moth is tied to the book would be a "spoiler" for those who haven't read it yet, so you'll have to get a copy to see for yourself.

Before I provide the giveaway instructions and a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup, here are some additional resources for those of you looking for advice on writing picture book biographies and/or for more on mentor texts:

• Horn Book article: What Makes a Good Picture Book Biography?
• Horn Book article:  Today’s Picture Book Biographies: Back Matter Matters
• School Library Journal's Fuse#8 blog by Elizabeth Bird: 2018 Unique Biographies
• Nancy Churnin article: Tips & Tricks for Writing a Picture Book Biography
• NF 4 NF Nonfiction Children's Writers Facebook group: great discussions and information about writing nonfiction for children
• Reading for Research Month (ReFoReMo) Challenge, which was founded in 2015 to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching mentor texts in the month of March.

Now, at last, are the Book Giveaway Instructions:
To enter our drawing for a chance to win Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today!

In your comment, we'd love you would share either the title of a picture book biography you'd like to recommend or the name of a person who would make a good subject for a picture book biography.

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA THE WIDGET BELOW. The giveaway ends March 1 and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

Don't forget to visit today's Poetry Friday hosted by Jone at Check It Out. 

Finally, remember to always Write with Joy!

Carmela

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Just the Facts, M'am"--fiction vs non-fiction on Poetry Friday

.
Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (the link to this week's PF host is below.)

First: welcome, welcome to our newest TeachingAuthor, Carla!  I am in awe of your writer's journey, Carla, because when I learned that we would be discussing non-fiction, my legs trembled and my palms grew cold and damp.  Unlike you and Mary Ann, in her wonderful first salvo on this topic, I am not, by nature, a researcher.  I am NOT a "Just the facts, M'am."

Jack Webb as Joe Friday in Dragnet, from Wikipedia

But... is this really true?

Well...I DO tell my students that real details bring fiction to life, and have them listen to the following short audioclip from StoryCorps.  Talk about bringing a subject to life! The details Laura Greenberg shares with her daughter are priceless--not to mention hilarious.

Still, I struggled to write poems for The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (Pomelo Books).  By "struggled" I mean I read science articles and wrote tons of stinky poems about rocks, astronauts, materials science, the expiration dates on seed packages,electricity, science experiments...and on and on and on.

But...I dread gettting facts wrong--my worst nightmare. (Confession: writing these blog posts scares the bejeebers out of me.)

In fiction, I can fly my fairy-self to Planet Bodiddley and make up all the materials science by myself.  But if I have to convey facts?  And then somehow bake them into a tasty poetry pie?  I get tied up in knots.  My writing becomes stiff as a board.  I'm afraid of...

But finally I stumbled on this fascinating fact, in a review of The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman:"The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex."

Wow. Think of the water you drink.  Think of the water you take a BATH in!!!! Ten versions of "Space Bathtub" later (with considerable coaching from the ever-patient anthologists, Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell) this fact became a poem for kindergartners:

OLD WATER
by April Halprin Wayland

I am having a soak in the tub.
Mom is giving my neck a strong scrub.

Water sloshes against the sides.
H2O's seeping into my eyes.

The wet stuff running down my face?
She says it came from outer space!

The water washing between my toes
was born a billion years ago.

from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science
(c) 2014 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved

If you're a K-5th grade teacher, this science/poetry anthology is so immediately useful, you'll cry with relief when you open it. Trust me. For details, and to watch under-two minute videos of poets (Bobbi Katz, Kristy Dempsey, Mary Lee Hahn, Susan Blackaby, Buffy Silverman, Linda Sue Park and me) reciting our science poems from this anthology, go to Renee LaTulippe's No Water River.  Again, trust me. (A little foreshadowing: Pomelo Books' newest anthology, Celebrations! comes just in time for Poetry Month this year--stay tuned!)

Here's a terrific vimeo of "Old Water" produced by Christopher Alello:

And thank you, Linda Baie, fabulous friend of TeachingAuthors, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

posted safely and scientifically by April Halprin Wayland wearing safety goggles