Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Children's writer and poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater leads us on an adventure through poetry, pointing out craft elements along the way that students can use to improve all their writing, from idea finding to language play. "Poems wake us up, keep us company, and remind us that our world is big and small," Amy explains. "And, too, poems teach us how to write. Anything." This is a practical book designed for every classroom teacher. Each lesson exploration includes three poems, one by a contemporary adult poet and two by students in grades 2 through 8, which serve as models to illustrate how poetry teaches writers to: find ideas, choose perspective and point of view, structure texts, play with language, craft beginnings and endings, choose titles. Students will learn how to replicate the craft techniques found in poetry to strengthen all writing, from fiction to opinion, from personal narrative to information. "Poets arrange words and phrases just as prose writers do, simply in tighter spaces," Amy argues. "In the tight space of poetry, readers can identify writing techniques after reading one page, not thirty pages."

How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres

Poems are Teachers

Teresa Martínez

Sound of Kindness

Mia’s life feels split in two after her parents get divorced – even her cat and dog now live in two separate places. When she’s at her dad’s house, Mia misses her mom’s jokes and singing. And when she’s at her mom’s house, she misses her dad’s laugh and cooking. Mia just can’t quite shake that missing feeling. Sometimes that missing feeling makes her angry. And sometimes it makes her sad. One day when Mia visits her Grandpa, he gives her a little blue notebook saying, “When I write about Grandma, I am sad but I am happy too. She is gone, but you are here. Life changes, and writing helps me think about these changes. My notebook is a home for my heart.” Mia keeps her notebook wherever she goes, writing about happy and sad memories. And soon her notebook becomes a way to balance that missing feeling. And also a home for her heart.

That Missing Feeling

This heartwarming book touches on the themes of kindness and socio-emotional resonance, and the idea that our words matter. Follow an adult and child as they explore their neighborhood, listening for the sounds of kindness. Words of friendship, gratitude, support, generosity, and love...we can see and hear them if we try. What will you hear if you take a kindness walk? Kindness is all around us everyday, if we know where to look--and listen!--for it. This book is a gentle and encouraging acknowledgment of how much it matters to be kind...in our families, friendships, and communities.

The Sound of Kindness

Young readers get an introduction to twenty different types of birds, with breathtaking paper-cuts by newcomer Dylan Metrano! "Chickadee wears a wee black cap. Jay is loud and bold. Nuthatch perches upside-down. Finch is clothed in gold." Young readers are fascinated with birds in their world. Every Day Birds helps children identify and learn about common birds. After reading Every Day Birds, families can look out their windows with curiosity--recognizing birds and nests and celebrating the beauty of these creatures! Every Day Birds focuses on twenty North American birds, with a poem and descriptions written by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and beautiful paper-cuttings by first-time picture book illustrator Dylan Metrano. Interesting facts about each bird are featured in the back of the book.

Every Day Birds

Lucy Calkins

Stephanie Parsons

Big Thoughts in Small Packages

Poetry

Explores the question, When animals sleep, what do they see in their dreams?

Dreaming of You

A collection of 26 lighthearted poems about the forest and its animals, plants and seasonal changes includes entries about a spinning spider, an enamored frog and the musical sounds of nature and is complemented by abundant watercolor illustrations. 10,000 first printing.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Books

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