April is Poetry Month

 

http://www.blackclassicbooks.com/black-classic-press-blog/happy-poem-in-your-pocket-day/

Happy Spring Stonehedge!

Raindrops are in the forecast for today and everyone here at Stonehedge knows that “April showers bring…Poetry!” April is National Poetry Month and we will be celebrating the written and spoken word all month. 

If that’s not cool enough, Thursday, April 29^th is National “Poem in Your Pocket Day”. On that day, it’s our tradition at Stonehedge to encourage everyone, students and staff, to find a poem they like (or even write an original), carry it in a pocket, and share it with as many people as possible.

To find some great poems for school from two of our favorite poets check out kallidakos.com and poetry4kids.com.

Another poetry tradition we have at Stonehedge is Poetrypalooza, our open mic poetry night. We couldn’t have it last year and we can’t do it the usual way this year, but we are going to have a special Covid edition “PoetrypalooZoom” at 6:30pm on April 29^th. Anyone who joins the zoom will have a chance to share a poem or two with the group. If you just want to tune and listen, you can do that too. It won’t be the same as having a stage in the cafeteria, but it will still be lots of fun. If you are interested in participating or just watching the zoom, email Mrs. Abbott at dabbott@westgenesee.org to get the zoom link.

Keep a poem in your pocket and a song in your heart…and don’t forget to READ4FUN!

Mrs. Abbott

 

Just a reminder that the “Flora and Ulysses Book to Movie Club” will meet on zoom Tuesday, March 2nd at 6:30pm. Anyone who has read the book OR watched the movie is welcome to join us. If you need the Google Classroom code in order to access the zoom link please email Mrs. Abbott at dabbott@westgenesee.org.

 

Holy Bagumba! I have great news! I just found out that one of my favorite Kate DiCamillo stories, Flora and Ulysses, has been made into a movie and will be streaming on Disney+ starting February 19^th. You know what that means…it’s time for a book club. Just like we did for Artemis Fowl and The One and Only Ivan, we’re going to offer a zoom book club. I’ll read the story in installments on zoom. If you have your own copy of the book, you can read along, if not, you can just listen in. Then we’ll have a final zoom meeting once people have had a chance to see the movie on Disney+ so that we can discuss it. The club is open to all grades, but Kate DiCamillo does love to use higher-level vocabulary, so it might be a more challenging listen for our younger friends.

Flora and Ulysses was awarded the Newbery Medal for the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” in 2014. It’s a quirky story of a comic book-loving girl (who says things like “Holy Bagumba!”) and a squirrel who gets sucked into a vacuum cleaner and emerges with superpowers!

Just like last time, here’s how we’ll proceed…I’ve already made a Google Classroom. If you are interested in joining us, send me an email at dabbott@westgenesee.org. I’ll send you the code for the classroom. Once you join the classroom, you’ll have access to the zoom login. Once our readers assemble we’ll announce reading sessions. I’m hoping to start reading on Monday, February 8^th.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I hope to hear from you soon!

Mrs. Abbott