The Noble Fish
Listen to Elizabeth Bishop reading her poem, “The Fish,” as you read along. Being raised by grandparents and great-grandparents, I was fortunate to spend summers at Lake Arrowhead. Before we had a boat of our own, we would rent…
The Wonder of Collective Nouns
Collective nouns name a group of people or things. Whoever came up with the concept of collective nouns had some serious fun! From an army of frogs to a zeal of zebras, these aren’t ordinary-performing nouns. For each group of…
Safety in Numbers
In the case of collective nouns, we might more aptly title this post Wonderment in Numbers! Believe it or not, collective nouns are rooted in medieval sport! It all began with the hunt, the animals encountered, and a woman named…
Ars Poetica for April
A poem about “what-is-a-poem” is an Ars Poetica. Sometimes a poem is as small as a list. Sometimes it encompasses all the words we need. Sometimes a poem is restless buttons in a jar. But always, a l w…
Month of Poetry Giveaway
A lexicon is a collection of words. One of my favorite elementary memories is my Word Box, where I organized the many wonderful words I collected as I read. This month, as we celebrate National Month of Poetry, we will…
Let’s Celebrate Poetry
Poetry begins with the utterance of a single word, but not just any word, a singular word. Think bevelled. Toothsome. Quintessential and Zenith. This month, we will explore a vast array of wonderful words and ways you might inspire your…
Spring into Writing Wrap-Up
As we teach students to write, we aren’t just mentors; we’re writing architects. Instead of rulers we use the Writer’s Checklist, in place of a drafting table we pen rough drafts, and where architects create art out of concrete and…
Last Call to Enter our Giveaway!
We are down to the close of our Giveaway! It’s NOT too late to submit. Enlist your students to choose a favorite polished draft from this year’s work utilizing Blackbird & Company curriculum, submit the work to our journal of student…
What’s an ABCeDarian?
Of course how I stumbled upon this concept is poetry. The ABCeDarian is actually a very, very old form where every line, or each stanza starts with the first letter of the alphabet, depending on which alphabet is being followed—obviously…
Sentences that Shift Gears
To shift gears in a car, you need to press down on the clutch. To go from room to room, you walk through a doorway. To travel from floor to floor, you take the stairs. To get from one place…