Day 6 ~ How to Write “If-You-Were” and “If-I-Were Poems” for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

These are fun little poems created by the brilliant and prolific kids’ poet, Charles Ghinga, a.k.a “Father Goose.” (He also writes amazing poems for grown-ups at "Bald Ego." His son, Chip, is a fantastic artist and his daughter, Julie, just published her first book. Pretty talented bunch).

I’m going to just refer you to his “lesson” on his GIGGLE POETRY page and let you read how to do these poems there, right from the source. While you’re there – check out other links on his Giggle Poetry (for kids) page. Lots of fun!!

Charles told me that he developed these poems to help kids understand metaphors. Pretty smart. And with that, here’s a refresher course on metaphors:

A “metaphor” is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to draw a comparison. It is not the same as a simile. A simile uses the word like or as in order to make a comparison, whereas metaphors use is or are. So if you say “If I were” or “If you were” and named the thing (noun), it is a metaphor. 

A simile: Your hair is like golden flax. 
A metaphor: Your hair is golden flax.

So, there’s a little grammar lesson for ya’ – sorry, it’s the teacher in me. OK, back to today’s poems.

I’ll give you the link to learn about these poems below. Here's my efforts and finally – some interesting facts about Charles Ghinga!!

 

If I were a shoe

And you were a lace,

We’d always be

In the perfect embrace.

  © 2014 Stephanie Abney & her granddaughter, Miriam Temp 

  

If you were a king

And I were a queen,

We'd live in a castle,

Ya' know what I mean?

        © 2015 Stephanie Abney

OK – you can find out all about “If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems” at “Giggle Poetry” by clicking HERE

Charles Ghigna - Father Goose® lives in a treehouse in the middle of Alabama. He is the author of more than 100 award-winning books from Random House, Disney, Hyperion, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Time Inc., Abrams, Boyds Mills Press, Charlesbridge, Capstone, Orca and other publishers, and more than 5000 poems, many of which appear in textbooks and anthologies, and in newspapers and magazines from The New Yorker and Harper's to Cricket and Highlights. He served as poet-in-residence and chair of creative writing at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and as a nationally syndicated feature writer for Tribune Media Services. He has spoken at schools, colleges, conferences, libraries, and literary events throughout the U.S. and overseas, and has read his poems at The Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the American School in Paris, and the International Schools of South America. For more information, please visit his website at www.FatherGoose.com

Enjoy!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work, and the work of others, in this case, Charles Ghigna.

Day 9 ~ How to Write a “Kids' Poetry & Fractured Nursery Rhymes” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

Are we having fun yet? Isn’t that what kids always want to know? I think poetry with and for kids is TONZ’ of fun. As a mom, grandmother and former teacher I think poetry really resonates with children. They come up with the most amazing poetry. So, for today, Saturday when your kids are hanging around – I’m going to give you some resources about where to find kids’ poetry, help with teaching it or just encouraging your own child to write it and also give you some links to places that can help you write poetry for kids. When all of that is done… we will create a poem from one of the many styles that kids love.

So, if you think you want to know any of the above – continue reading… if you just want the poem form for today … scroll on down to get it. Either way, enjoy!!

OK, first, poems for kids. There are so many writers out there that specialize in writing poems for kids. Just do a search and see for yourself so I’m only going to highlight two or three.

First off, is Charles Ghigna ~ often referred to as “Father Goose” because his poetry for kids is so prolific and so much fun. He is the author of more than 100 award-winning books for Random House, Disney, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and other publishers, and more than 5,000 poems appearing in textbooks, anthologies, newspapers and magazines. Pretty amazing! Plus, he’s a really nice guy. Check out his website: Father Goose: Children's Author & Poet

Charles Ghigna also offers a very helpful blog - especially for our 30 poems in 30 days: How to Write a Poem: Tips on Tapping into the Magic of Your Muse

Another fun kids’ author, Katie Davis, shares "Five Tips on Writing a Poem" from her guest poetry poster, Jane Yolen!

Here’s a site you’ll want to bookmark: "Poetry 4 Kids" known as Kenn Nesbitt’s Poetry Playground. You’ll find all kinds of help there; lots of links and lots of fun.

You can do a search to find more links!!

FRACTURED NURSERY RHYMES ~

In order to do this one, chose a familiar nursery rhyme, notice the rhyming pattern and start changing a few words in order to make it funny. So, don't laugh but here's my sample:

ORIGINAL NURSERY RHYME:

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

I've been to London to visit the Queen.

Pussycat, pussycat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under her chair.

MY FRACTURED ONE:

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

Well, if you must know, I’m dating the hen

Pussycat, pussycat, what did you there?

We danced 'til her feathers flew everywhere.

You can check out Kenn’s site for some good advice on this. He suggests for “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” – How about “Ride, Ride, Ride Your Bike,” or “Pet, Pet, Pet Your Cat?” Here’s the link to his ideas: How to writea fractured nursery rhyme

He gives these 3 basic steps:

1). Pick a poem or song here: LIST OF NURSERY RHYMES 

2). Find the words that rhyme

3). Choose new rhyming words to make a new poem or song

Here’s my next attempt:

ORIGINAL NURSERY RHYME:

Jack, be nimble,

Jack, be quick,

Jack, jump over

The candlestick.

MY FRACTURED ONE:

Jack, be helpful,

Jack, be kind,

Jack, if you’re not,

I’ll spank your behind.

Oh dear – let’s hope you all do better than I.  Have fun!!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.