Possibilities and Pen Pals Today marked 7 more school days until the end of year. It’s a bittersweet time of year. I can’t wait for summer, the way my schedule changes, spaces for some travel, time for family, wa…

So much to love about the last days of school. #sliceoflife #writing #zines #penpals

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How Many Poems? #NPM25 Day 30 A poem a day for 30 days, which also means I have read poem upon poem upon poem for 30 days. I’ve read poems to my students, poems written by my students, poems offered as invitations, poems …

30 poems in 30 days. Thanks #npm25 for a great month of #writing #poetry. #verselove #reflection

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If: NPM25 Day 29 Last week I came across a list of someone’s favorite children’s books of 2025 and was immediately drawn to If I Could Choose a Best Day. It’s a collection of poems that all begin …

Writing under the influence of If. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove #sliceoflife

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A Change in the Schedule: NPM25 Day 28 Ducks in a row meetings planned appointments pointed and then POP the crown detaches quickly pushed back into place but the damage is done to the dental work to the schedule to the planning to the …

Expect the unexpected #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Ode to the Sea: NPM25 Day 27 Traffic crawls lot’s full secret parking is not so secret today a sea wall of humanity lines my beach (I’m not mad, everyone should have a relationship with the sea) As I walk, the sea …

An ode for Sunday. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove #ode

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Irritating Eyes: NPM25 Day 26 Scott’s prompt to write a poem about a minor ailment made finding a subject easy, but figuring out how to make a poem of it was much harder today. And as often happens, I had to find a struct…

Write about a minor ailment. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Stop Motion Blob Animation

Room of Ordinary Things: NPM25 Day 25 For today’s poetry inspiration in our first grade classroom, I pulled out Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s Welcome to the Wonder House and we read a poem or two from each “…

A #poem from the room of #ordinarythings. #npm25 #writing #dandelion #haiku

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Springtime Haibun: NPM25 Day 24 Spring is a time for bees and buds and blossoms. It seems that everything is in motion, including my students. We’ve passed the time of settled in and are now in the time of change. Plants ar…

Capturing some classroom springtime in a #haibun. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Things to Do: NPM25 Day 23 There is a certain kind of overwhelm that enters the classroom when the number of remaining school days drops below 30. Student learning skyrockets with confidence at its maximum–these should…

When there are too many things to do, #write a poem. #npm25 #poetry #verselove #spring

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An Earth Day Prose Poem: NPM25 Day 22 Sometimes Ocean roars in like a dragon, frothing and swirling, energy radiating from every salty drop, tossing boats, leveling cliffs, chasing swimmers to shore. Every scale and feather ripples in …

What poem will you write for #earthday? #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Five Things I Did Last Week: NPM25 Day 21 Five things I did last week: Rolled with an earthquake on a Monday morning in my classroom while my students were out at their music class. It was not THE big one, but it was a big one. Realized I …

When a listicle becomes a poem. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Life’s Lines: NPM25 Day 20 Some days a prompt is meant to be reinterpreted. That was today for me. Susan at Verselove offered a prompt called Lingering Lines that was born of lines from plays, movies, music… Those line…

Today's poem is all about #lines. #npm35 #poetry #writing #photography

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Sunday Swearing Lessons: NPM25 Day 19 Today Jordan at Verselove invited us to write food poems. As soon as I read that invitation my mind took a trip back in time to those occasional Sundays spent with my dad’s Uncle Bob (maybe m…

Today is for food #poetry. #npm25 #writing #memories

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Random Words: NPM25 Day 18 What happens when a list of random words become the inspiration for poetry? Today’s Verselove prompt was to generate some random words and use them to write a poem. I googled words for purple…

Some random words to inspire today's poem. #npm25 #poetry #writing #randomwords

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Some Hay(na)ku for the Earth: NPM25 Day 17 A couple of weeks ago I learned a new poetry form. Related to Haiku (3 lines, 17 syllables), Hai(na)ku consists of three lines, the first line with one word, the second with two words, and the thir…

Playing with form. #npm25 #poetry #writing #6wordsfortheenvironment

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This is the World: NPM25 Day 16 Some days writing opportunities mesh, with one complementing another. Verselove offered a form today: an etheree. I’ve written to this form before (you can see an etheree about poppies here).…

Today...an #etheree. #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Dreaming in Color: NPM25 Day 15 Last night I woke up in a dream reaching for color. I could see it, just beyond my fingertips. Words pushed and pulled in my brain, like poetry chewing gum, stretching to capture the colors in that…

Do you dream in color? #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove #color #prosepoem #photography

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Safe Harbor: NPM25 Day 14 I’ve been reading a memoir called The Salt Path by Raynor Winn–and while I’m not yet halfway through–I’m struck by the way the relationship between the couple sustains…

Where's your safe harbor? #npm25 #poetry #writing #verselove

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Latte Love, a Haiku: NPM25 Day 13 Espresso stamped with deliciously heart-shaped foam that’s a latte love

A Haiku for today. #npm25 #haiku #writing #love #poetry

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I’m Addicted to Bookstores: NPM25 Day 12 I can’t resist a great bookstore or even a not so great bookstore. Wherever I travel, bookstores are always on my list of places to visit. I’ve been trying hard to stop buying books and…

Can you really have too many books? #npm25 #poetry #writing #books #verselove

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I Don’t Remember–A Photo Essay: NPM25 Day 11 I don’t remember when I fell in love with wildflowers Maybe it was when I danced to the music of wild mustard forehead to forehead with great blue heron clapping the beat Maybe it was when th…

A #poem that is a #photoessay. #npm25 #wildflowers #photography #writing #verselove

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Slow Down: NPM25 Day 10 Today’s Verselove prompt was an invitation to look closely–something I find that my camera helps me do. So after a stroll through my camera roll, I found my inspiration. Slow Motion Fir…

An invitation to look closely. #npm25 #poetry #verselove #writing #photographychallenge

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Poetry Play: NPM25 Day 9 During the pandemic I accidentally discovered the power of poetry dice.  Not the pre-made ones that you purchase.  Those are great, but when my students weren’t in my classroom, I figured…

Today was all about some poetry #play. #npm25 #poetry #writing #firstgrade #game

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Poetry Ecosystem: NPM25 Day 8 Some days it’s the unplanned lessons that have the best results. A few weeks back I came across a picture book that looked interesting. I ordered it, it arrived, and I set it aside. Then yest…

Building an ecosystem. #npm25 #writing #poetry #firstgrade #sliceoflife

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Poppy Love: NPM25 Day 7 When Erica over at Verselove offered an invitation to write about flowers, I knew immediately that I would write about the California state flower: the golden poppy. Poppy’s feel like my alte…

A little #poppy love on day 7! #npm25 #poetry #verselove #writing #photography

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Where I’m From: NPM25 Day 6 Where I’m from poems are tried and true in the writing project circles where I spend my time. So when Stacey at Verselove shared Where I’m From, Again as today’s post, it felt fam…

Can you express where you are from in just 17 syllables? #npm25 #poetry #verselove #haiku #photography

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Scarred: NPM25 Day 5 I’ve written scar stories, I’ve had my students write their own scar stories, but when Bryan’s scar prompt came up this morning at Verselove, I just kept thinking about my good fo…

Scar and shadorma. #npm25 #poetry #verselove #writing #form

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Roadtrip: NPM25 Day 4 Dave’s prompt over at Verselove about travel is actual lived experience at the moment. And as often does when travel is involved, the day got away from me. Here is my small offering…a p…

Just a short poem for today. #npm25 #verselove #travel #poetry #writing

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Hope Unfeathered: NPM25 Day 3 Today’s Verselove prompt comes from Denise. She encouraged us to borrow some rhyming words to craft a poem of our choice. Rhyme is one of those techniques I mostly stay far away from. Rhythm,…

Challenged to use some borrowed rhyme today. #verselove #poetry #npm25 #ocean #photography

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