spoken word poetry favorites

It's National Poetry month, and in celebration of that, I bring you some of my favorite Spoken Word Poems!

All time fave - Poet Breathe Now by Adam Gottlieb. Part of Louder than a Bomb here in Chicago, here's a great reason to write, and share, poetry.

Touchscreen, by Marshall Davis Jones. While technology is wonderful in many regards, we mustn't forget those personal, face-to-face connections.

Knock Knock, by Daniel Beaty. Just heard this one for the first time today and it's powerful. Family connections and loss. Making the world a better place, and sometimes having to do that on your own.

What Teachers Make - a classic, a favorite since my first years of teaching. I'm sure students would love it too! Discusses what teachers make, and not necessarily money. And if you like Taylor Mali, check out this link for more of his work.

If I Should Have a Daughter, by Sarah Kay. Wishes from a mother, to her future daughter.

Three Ways to Speak English, by Jamila Lyiscott, a "trilingual orator." If you've ever been around someone who says with a negative connotation, "Oh, that's just how *they* speak..." this poem is for you. Code switching, and pride for all the ways we do that.

Complainers, by Rudy Francisco. You're having a bad day? Let's put that in perspective. Thanks Gorz for sharing this one :-)

Somewhere in America, by Brave New Voices. (Explicit language and mature content.) Three girls discuss the ironies of America.

I am not black, you are not white, by Prince Ea. Racism, or labels? Listen and you decide.

Lift Off, by Donovan Livingston. "Our stories are the ladders that make it easier for us to touch the stars." What are students meant to do? Donovan explores that in his address at Harvard's Graduation ceremony.

Trigger Warning, from four girls from Hinsdale Central High School. This poem is a dedication to the shooting in Parkland, Florida, performed in Chicago at the March for our Lives Rally. 

Just a few of my favorites, what about you? Leave me a comment with yours!

sol #12: off balance

I don't like when I'm
off balance
because then, I'm not as patient, when
I'm off balance
Kids do normal stuff, which any other day is fine, but today it's not because
I'm off balance
I need to recharge because tomorrow I don't want
to be off balance
The people in my life deserve it, and most importantly I deserve
to not be off balance
So I will rest and relax tonight, so tomorrow I can be
rebalanced

sol17 #20: ode to the Shamrock Shake

Oh Shamrock Shake how I

love thee, minty green goodness

topped with fluffy whipped cream and

sprinkled with sparkly sweet crystals

so cool and refreshing

available for a limited time only.

Lucky for you, Shamrock Shake, I

gave up drinking for Lent and so I

indulged in you - the toxic cocktail - 

on just one occasion this season: St. Patrick's day

I celebrated

with an American tradition

also know as

the tasty green goodness that is

deliciously minty,

festively green,

dazzlingly delightful;

the one and only

Shamrock Shake

Kiddos! Do you look forward to holidays for any special food-related reasons? Share about those today!

And you can check out more ideas on the padlet or leave comments for other bloggers at Two Writing Teachers.

butterfly project

This year, as part of our Holocaust unit, students are reading poems from children at the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (referred to also as Terezin). They are then making a butterfly to represent the poem, using ThingLink to annotate their creation, and sharing with the class (and all of our readers!) via their blogs. Students will also find out the fate of the child who wrote their poem, as that is revealed in the appendix of the I never saw another butterfly book, which was used to create the project. Huge thanks to Sarah Larson for her helping me enhance the way I had done this project in the past!

Here's my version of the project. 

The Butterfly, click here to listen to me read the poem.
by Pavel Friedmann

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
      against a white stone...

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
      kiss the world goodbye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live here,
     in the ghetto.



I like this project for many reasons. First, it's art, and we have so many artistic students, so it's great see learning happen in new ways! Also, this project has meaning. Each day, as students find out the fate of the child who created their poem, they are so happy to find out if they survived, but can be so devastated to find they perished. The strings hanging in the room is a good visual for all the deaths that happened as a result of the Holocaust. While the whole thing is such a tragedy in our world's history, studying it is so important so that we can work to stand up for everyone in our lives who needs a friend.

sol17 #10: ha ha ha ha haiku

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

Coffee with a friend 

funny stories do not end

ha ha ha ha ha

Do you remember how to write a haiku? It's a three lined poem with syllable counts of 5-7-5. Now, I know I told you 100 words a slice, but when you're stuck, you can do a haiku. Probably should save this for one or two times in the month when you're really on the struggle bus though! Struggle bus! There's another idea! Here's a frame:

A time I was on the Struggle Bus bigtime was...

Here's the padlet with ideas! and Here's some the other student bloggers (look in the comments) if you want to share the love outside our classroom.

Excited to see we've got some dedicated writers blooming!

sol17 #9: see the extraordinary

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

Just an average day, yet extraordinary

Pairs of kids building background for a Holocaust Unit

together

Engaged in conversation

Distracted by nothing else

Just an average day, yet extraordinary

Pairs of kids with heads together

close reading pictures

and together

thoughtful conversations ensue

Just an average day, yet extraordinary

Pairs of kids looking, listening, wondering

and together

trying to wrap their young minds around an atrocity

that not many can explain

Just an average day, yet extraordinary

Pairs of kids who don't always exchange ideas

yet today are drawn to content, together,

and in some cases

whole new levels of engagement awake from hibernation

Just an average day, yet extrordinary

For when the two with giggles just can't stop

A third interrupts and says,

"Come on. Look at what we're studying."

And so we continue. Together.

Need ideas? Check the padlet! 

Feel like leaving some comment love? Check out TWT Blog!

Still not inspired to write? Look back in your old Quick Writes for ideas!

why I teach

Hey all y'all! It's the BigTime Blogging Challenge. I'm writing every day in July to celebrate my blog's three year anniversary! Join me - write your post, link it up with mine, leave some love for blogging friends in the form of comments!

Today we're writing about why we teach. I'm still on a poetry kick, so here we go :-)

As a young kid

in my basement playing

with extra worksheets from school, I stood

in front of the "class"

Without much thought, I knew

before most of my friends, that one day I would stand

in front of a real class

for each school day of my life.

Over the past 13 years, I've been lucky to work

among kids of all ages, mostly reading and writing

with them,

but sometimes math, too.

Because of the kids, I've been blessed

with relationships beyond measure.

As for me, I teach

for this reason, almost solely.... however

Underneath the relationships are stories

about friends, and families and good times and bad.

In addition to relationships, I get

to write with kids and see them

for the people they are and hope

to become.

Do you like this style? I learned about it with Illinois Writing Project last summer - just start every line with a preposition!

Excited to hear your stories today!

An InLinkz Link-up

poetry day!

Hey all y'all! It's the BigTime Blogging Challenge. I'm writing every day in July to celebrate my blog's three year anniversary! Join me - write your post, link it up with mine, leave some love for blogging friends in the form of comments!

It's poetry day and I'm so late! Friends, I love writing, but I'm tired. So apologies for not getting this posted until now, but I am here!

I ordered this book for the blog post today:

I didn't finish it, and I don't love it, but I found a few things I like. It's the first time I've read (tried to) an anthology of poems all by the same author, so maybe that's why it was a little more difficult. I guess I'm used to reading poetry, but a lot of different poems by different authors. Anyways, just some reflection there, but here's some of ideas I was inspired by.

a song in the front yard

I've stayed in the front yard all my life.
I want a peek at the back.
Where it's rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.

I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley, 
To where the charity children play.
I want a good time today.

They do some wonderful things. 
They have some wonderful fun.
My mother sneers, but I say it's fine
How they don't have to go in at quarter to nine.
My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae
Will grow up to be a bad woman.
That George'll be taken to Jail soon or late
(On account of last winter he sold our back gate.)

But I say it's fine. Honest, I do.
And I'd like to be a bad woman, too,
And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace
And strut down the streets with paint on my face.

There's so much in this poem. Seems like the mother wants to protect her little girl from unbecoming experiences, have her stay in the front yard, with it's beauty and away from experiences that could lead her in the wrong direction. I love the comparisons to the front yard, the back yard, alleys. I've always hated alleys, especially at night, especially after dark in the city where there's too many people and not enough space. So I understand the mother's preoccupation with all of that the alley would bring (both figurative and literally), but everyone is curious, so I get why the little one wants to have some adventure too.

love note

I: Surely

Surely you stay my certain own, you stay
My you. All honest, lofty as a cloud.
Surely I could come home now and find you high,
As mine as you ever were; should not be awed.
Surely your word would pop as insolent
As always: "Why, of course I love you, dear."
Your gaze, surely, unguazed as I could want.
Your touches, that never were careful, that they were.
Surely - But I am very off from that.
From surely. From indeed. From the decent arrow
That was my clean naiveté and my faith.
This morning men deliver wounds and death.
They will deliver death and wounds tomorrow.
And I doubt all. You. Or a violet.

Okay so I don't even understand all of this, but I wanted to share it because I could see myself mentoring my own poem from the Surely that she used repeatedly - mostly in the same spot, and then not. I love how her words (unguazed, lofty as a cloud, insolent) create images (had to use some dictionary.com most definitely on some of these, good lesson as I think about using poetry with kids.) I totally don't get the last part about the violet. Maybe there was more reference to that in other poems that I may have skipped? anyone have an idea? Totally confuses me!

Beverly Hills, Chicago

"and the people live till they have white hair"

-E. M. Price

The dry brown coughing beneath their feet.
(Only a while, for the handyman is on his way)
These people walk their golden gardens.
We say ourselves fortunate to be driving by today.

That we may look at them, in their gardens where
The summer ripeness rots. But not raggedly.
Even the leaves fall down in lovlier patterns here.
And the refuse, the refuse is a neat brilliancy.

When they flow sweetly into their houses
With softness and slowness touched by that everlasting gold,
We know what they go to. To tea. But that does not mean
They will throw some little black dots into some water and add
     sugar and the juice of the cheapest lemons that are sold....

I love Chicago. Like love, so much. But I know there are two - mine, here on the North side, mostly safe, and another Chicago, in neighborhoods on the South and West sides that are underfunded, that are without hope and opportunity, and with a lot of crime.

What's above is just an excerpt from this poem, but it really had me thinking about two Chicagos, and wishing it was just one world class city where everyone on all sides could enjoy golden gardens and safety on their neighborhood blocks.

and the poem you've probably read, one that I remembered when I got to the page...

We Real Cool

The pool Players.

Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Pretty sure I heard of this first via Young Chicago Authors and/or Louder Than a Bomb. Obviously it's dark, but I love what she has done with the line breaks and alliteration and rhymes. Check her out on You Tube talking about this poem, which she also says she's most famous for.

Did you read any poetry this month? Share it and your thoughts!

(Or anything else you'd like!)

An InLinkz Link-up

home in D100

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

In D100, students choose
     their Just Right books
     the pens they compose with
     the clubs they join

Just like home where we choose
     what to cook for dinner
     Saturday afternoon plans
     which friends we spend time with

In D100, our classrooms are outfitted to Workshop with
     beautiful rugs
     spaces to confer
     an easel from which to teach

Just like home ---
     beautiful art adorns the walls
     personal spaces to sleep and think
     a flat screen to entertain

In D100 teachers work side-by-side
     planning curriculum
     tweeting to our favorite hashtags
     by saying, "Come back and visit our class again soon!"

Just like home --
     Cooking meals together
     when lending an egg to the neighbor
     when greeting with, "I love you!"

In D100 Responsive Classroom rules
     Every child says hello in hallways
     friends say sorry and show empathy
     everyone is included

Just like home ---
     a hug when you arrive from work or school
     conflicts on the table for resolution
     big family parties to celebrate life's events

In D100 we're connected
     sharing our stories in Workshop
     blogging or tweeting beyond our four walls
     opening our doors at iEngage

Just like home...
     friends visit from CA and AZ  in July
     christmas cards cover the fridge in December
     facebook keeps us connected in the meantime

But we remember, best practice takes on many forms
     each child learns in their own time
     with a balance of advanced and vintage tools
     by preparing for the future with the knowledge of the past

Just like home where we do what's best
     sleep in or wake up early
     looking ahead to our family's future but remembering our past
     with current photos on our phones but Grandma's wedding picture on the           mantle

Hey all y'all! It's the BigTime Blogging Challenge. I'm writing every day in July to celebrate my blog's three year anniversary! Join me - write your post, link it up with mine, leave some love for blogging friends in the form of comments!

An InLinkz Link-up

currently april

I'm late, but it's go time! Thanks to Farley for hosting this partay!

Listening to Taylor Swift

'Cause, baby, I could build a castle
Out of all the bricks they threw at me
And every day is like a battle
But every night with us is like a dream

I'm in love with Taylor's new song. Looked for the Vevo to no avail, but check it out on iTunes!

Please take my hand and

Please take me dancing and

please leave me stranded

It's so romantic

Loving Spring Break
I've been on spring break this past week, had parents in town, was confirmed Catholic at an amazing church, have had time to just chill and relax, and will be going to Lake Geneva this weekend (went already) to the spa. The breaks we get were meant for teachers - we need to get away and have time to recoup so we can be our best selves at work. I am so thankful for this much-needed time to myself!

Thinking about my friends at Two Writing Teachers
Have you been to their blog? Well, in March, there's a writing challenge and everyone writes every day for the whole month. It was my third year participating, and this year, even more students and teachers joined from my school. Although I didn't write every day, I did half the time, and also welcomes a fresh new crop of teachers and students to the challenge. Then, yesterday as we ended, Kathleen Sokolowski wrote an awesome poem about her experience, and I've taken a stanza to share with you:

Here's to us. 
Who teach from a place

of authenticity,

Who don't require of students

what we won't try ourselves.

Who know writing isn't

really about rubrics and grades

but communicating and creating,

Who know writing is life-work.

Here's to us who've 

walked the walk 

each day

in March.

So so good. I know I write about a lot of nonsense here, but it's because I love writing so much, and want to walk the walk I expect my students to. (And also, the blogs I love the most are the blogs where I get to know the writer, personally!)

Wanting to go to the Outer Banks this summer
When I moved to Chicago in '09, I would occasionally see stickers on the backs of cars with "OBX" on them. I had no idea what this was. Fast forward to now, and I have a few friends there right now (last week) and another friend who goes every summer. I want to go there, where those little beach fences stand, and tall grasses grow beside them and blow in the wind, and waves crash on the shore. I actually want to go there with my writing friends and spend a week tanning and writing. So, who's in?

Yes, this.

Needing summer weather
Dear Chicago,
I'm over your moodiness. Snow then sun then cold and hail. Enough already. Spring, it's time for you to make your grand entrance!
Love, Michelle

Whatever: I'm moderating a Twitter Chat!
Are you guys on Twitter? Well, if you are, save the date: Tuesday, April 19th @ 8pm CST. Together with my AP, Jean Suchy, we will be moderating a discussion on Content Area Literacy! We tweet under the #D100chat, check out the feed and we have a twitter chat tonight, too. It's all about ELL strategies!

That's it! Much love, friends!

blink blink blink {sol 3.8.16}

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

Cursor blinking.

blink. blink. blink.

Nothing to say.

blink. blink. blink.

Cell phone chimes.

blink. blink. blink

A welcome distraction.

blink. blink. blink.

Return a text to a friend.

(check email)

(surf on Twitter)

(stare off in space)

(get a drink of water)

(talk to a colleague)

(return to desk)

(back to blog)

Blink. blink. blink.

Still no ideas.

blink. blink. blink.

If I don't write now, it won't get done.

blink. blink. blink.

This flicker of an idea will have to do.

Save and quit.

just one look {sol 3.2.16}

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

Just one look.

It can do so much.

It can say,

You're so funny.

I'm so thankful for you.

You mean the world to me.

Just one look.

It can say,

You better get back on task.

No! Don't head-butt your friend!

Stop chasing each other around the room!

Just one look.

It says,

You're going to love what I just did.

That's absolute perfection!

I couldn't be happier to be in your company.

Just one look.

It sometimes says,

Are you sure that's what you wrote?

Make a better choice.

I wish I knew sooner, so I could have helped.

Just one look.

They can build someone up.

They can tear someone down.

Just one look.

It can do so much.

Just one look.

Make yours count.

tmi via an i am poem + a freebie

During Summer Leadership Institute at Illinois Writing Project, one of our group leaders shared an I Am poem as a structure we could use for writing. Now, I've heard of poems like this before, but never how Jan has used them, because she rewrites her poem every year, and has been doing so for two decades or longer. Seriously, so amazing! I decided in July I wanted to start this tradition, and I'm finally getting around to it now, so here's my first one.

and...it's super personal and really reflects how I've been feeling lately so there's that. I wrote it and screened it through my writing friends at work and they said to publish even though it's intense. So I'm sharing, but hesitantly because it's kinda:

But here goes anyways...

I am so many different things: friend, daughter, sister, Literacy Coach, Social Media enthusiast...and
I wonder when I'm going to add happily married to that list.
I hear that everything happens for a reason.
I see that people don't love the way they say they do.
I want a great guy who will cherish me and
I am not settling.

I pretend like this holiday season is merry and bright, but
I feel kinda grey inside.
I worry that people will feel sorry for me, and
I cry... but not as often as you would think because
I am still pretty angry.

I understand that this will pass.
I say that everything is okay, because mostly it is. 
I dream about a blissfully happy future and
I try to keep my negative thoughts at bay.
I hope this is the last single holiday season, but it might not be because
I am not settling :-)

Okay so seriously don't freak out, I'm totally fine but stuff like this is usually swimming around in my head when I have time to think. Obviously it's pretty hard to hit the Publish button today, but the writer in me longs to be transparent and share what I'm really thinking. And guess what? When I had my writing besties read this, they looked at me and their eyes told me to hit the Publish button. So I'm trusting them today.

Enough of my ramblings. I have a treat for you! A copy of the I Am poem template, in English and Spanish. Head on over to my TpT to grab a copy!

Have a great night, and start a tradition with the I Am poem - write one every year!

new presentation available!

Hey friends, hope all is well! I'm officially back from all travels so should be more consistent here on the blog. Last Friday I did a presentation for our middle school teachers about how to organize a block schedule, and as promised, here it is! You can click the picture to see the full presentation.

The focus of this presentation was Nancie Atwell's third edition of In the Middle. We spent a lot of time talking about scheduling, with some time saved for long term unit planning, but really, just an outline of that.

So that's really all for that presentation. I'm slowly getting back to work. Mentors met their new mentees today at a luncheon, so it was great to meet mine, she's awesome! I know I am going to learn so much collaborating with her this year!

The rest of this week I'll be back at school. I need to get some before shots of the space I'm sharing with my new team. That will be coming soon, and then the set up pics, too, later on. Stay tuned for all of that.

And, I still haven't forgot that I need to do my first periscope, so make sure you follow my Instagram to see when that's happening. I'm hoping sometime this week! Exciting!

What are you up to? Leave me a note!

quiet your mind

BigTime Blogging Challenge, day 17! We've come so far! Today we're trying our hands at poetry. Write a poem, share one of your favorites, share a poetry lesson... the choice is yours, writers!

How often do you stop

in the moments

to listen

to the world around you,

to make that buzzing

in your mind

halt?

How often do you investigate noises

in nature, take in a full breath

of fresh air

away from the noise

of the city?

Here.... there are

no sirens

no fire trucks

no trains rushing overhead.

No one argues

outside your yoga class

where you go

to quiet your mind.

Instead,

huge sticks take up new residence

on the forest floor, and

birds dive

into bushes, and

a baby dogwood reaches

for the sky.

Rocks crunch

under your feet, and

a daddy long legs runs

for cover.

Raindrops unite

in a spider's web, and there

they glisten.

It's so much easier

to quiet your mind,

to be absorbed by your surroundings,

to hear the squirrel chatter,

to catch that pesky mosquito,

to dodge raindrops that

fall from leaves overhead,

without all the distractions

of the big, beautiful, bustling city

that

I

love

so much.

Yesterday I spent the day at Cantigny Park and Gardens. Part of the Illinois Writing Project Summer Leadership Institute involves one day of Marathon Writing, where writers leave their classrooms for places of great inspiration. We write all through the day, building stamina as we progress. This poem was written there.

Get the details for this challenge here!

An InLinkz Link-up

poetry blog hop 2015: the power of the mini-lesson

Credits: Edu-Clips, Hello Fonts, & Epiphanous Owl

Super excited! It's National Poetry Month and you've reached the end of an amazing Blog Hop. Thank you to Carla over at Comprehension Connection for organizing everything and for the super cute images! Did you pick up some great freebies along the way? Well, you're right in time for one more, here at BigTime Literacy! 

I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite parts of teaching literacy under a Workshop philosophy - the mini-lesson! (I promise, I will get back to the poetry momentarily!)

Some people might think that mini-lessons aren't important because they're mini. I beg to differ! Mini-Lessons are the universal curriculum when you teach with workshop. They pack a powerful punch quickly, and then set students off to do the hard work of literacy learning. In a mini-lesson, there are four parts: Link, Teaching Point, Active Involvement, and Connection. 

Here is a quick review of the parts of the mini-lesson, and then after, you can find my freebie, which is a set of lesson plans for the beginning of an intermediate poetry unit!

Link: Students access their prior learning to set them up for new learning. For example: "We've been talking a lot about poetry, and how poets use emotion and imagery to enhance their poems."

Teaching Point (& Explicit Teaching): Here, the teacher names exactly what students will do and explicitly demonstrates what it looks like. For example: "Readers, today we will learn another technique that poets use: rhythm. You probably already know about rhythm...I'm sure in previous grades you learned about alliteration, onomatopoeia, and repetition of lines within poetry. There are a few more ways poets use rhythm in their poems! One way is with rhyming poetry, which gives the poem rhythm. (Use Casey at the Bat to share an example of rhyming lines.) If the poet counts syllables and makes patterns for where the stress of the syllables lie, they are tending to the meter of the poem. (Illuminate with example.) If the poem has no rhyming words and there isn't a pattern with syllables, that is a free-verse poem."

Active Involvement: In this part of the mini-lesson, student have a brief opportunity to think through the teaching point with a partner. It's important to keep this brief, so that the mini-lesson stays mini! Remember, in a Reading Workshop, students get the bulk of their time to think about what they're learning, and share back at the end of workshop. For example, "We've been reading and studying Casey at the Bat, and I'd like you to listen to a few stanzas from that poem. Now, listen as I read First Baseball Glove by Donald Graves. (Project the poem for so students can follow along.) Now it's your turn: Turn and talk with your partner about the similarities and/or differences in rhythm between these two poems. Students share out briefly at conclusion of share."

Connection: In this final part of the mini-lesson, you set purpose for the work students will do during their independent workshop time. For example, "As you read poems today during workshop, be thinking about whether or not the author used rhythm as a device to engage you with their poetry. Also, we will share about this: Do you prefer poems with emotion, imagery, or rhythm most? Be thinking about that today as you continue your poetry study."

With that background, you are ready for my freebie! I've been working on a poetry unit for the fifth grade teachers in my district, and I'm making the first week of those plans available to you!

In my freebie, you will get five days of plans, each with the four parts of the mini-lesson. The teaching points in these first five lessons are...

1. Poetry is different than prose.
2. Poets use emotion as an element to create engaging poems.
3. Poets use imagery to draw their readers into their poetry.
4. Poets use the devices of simile and metaphor to enhance imagery in their poems.
5. Poets use rhythm to make their poems 'musical'.

So here it is, a week's worth of lesson plans for poetry! Download my freebie by clicking here.

And, if you're interested enough for the full unit, you can download that here. The complete unit includes three weeks of lesson plans, standards alignment, key vocabulary, a list of mentor texts, teacher notes page, and four graphic organizers your students will love to use!

If you like what you've read here, please follow me! I love to write, I love to create curriculum, I love to share ideas with everyone, and really, I love this community of bloggers I've found - they teach me new things and collaborate with me on great projects like this blog hop!

And now you've reached the end of the Hop, but you can jump right back to the beginning by clicking the image below. I know my friend Carla will be happy you stopped by Comprehension Connection!

Before you go...since you made it this far, enter my raffle for a chance to win the complete Peel the Onion Unit!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy National Poetry Month!