#WaterPoemProject: Day 8, Laura Shovan
It’s Day 8 of our month-long #WaterPoemProject. If you’re new to this project, please read the Introduction and FAQ.Or you can watch this video of me describing how to participate. It’s on the YouTube channel Authors Everywhere.It's my turn to come up with our water-themed writing prompt today. Let's try one of my favorite forms to share with young poets: the opposite poem.Laura’s poetry prompt is: Rainy Day Opposites
Write a two stanza poem exploring two opposing views of rain -- or any water-related opposite. Some ideas for this poem are:
- Rain in the summer vs. rain in the winter.
- What rain feels like when you're alone and what it feels like when you're with a friend.
- Animals that life in the water compared to land animals.
- A rainy day in the city and a rainy day in the country.
- Snow in the daytime and snow at night.
You will find a full description of my opposite poem workshop at my old blog, Author Amok. There are fun student poems there too!And to help put you in a rainy mood, here are two of my favorite poems about the rain: "Weather" by Eve Merriam, and Langston Hughes' beautiful, "April Rain Song" which you'll find in this video (begin at :37).***Your task is to draft an opposite poem related to water before the end of the day tomorrow, Monday, March 30, 2020.If you’re doing the #WaterPoemProject with a group, be sure to share or post your rough draft, read other people’s poems, and cheer for their efforts. Or leave your poem here, in the comments.
Laura Shovan's debut middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, won several awards, including NCTE 2017 Notable Verse. Her novel Takedown was selected by Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way, and was on the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer list of feminist books. Her 2020 book is A Place at the Table, co-written with author/activist Saadia Faruqi. Laura is a longtime poet-in-the-schools in Maryland. She likes to knit, bake bread, and doodle robots.***#WaterPoemProject Series Posts:Project IntroductionFAQPrompt 1: Irene Latham, The Language of WaterPrompt 2: Elizabeth Steinglass, What Would a Raindrop Say?Prompt 3: Linda Mitchell, Found HaikuPrompt 4: Shari Green, Fogbow FibonacciPrompt 5: Margaret Simon, The Taste of WaterPrompt 6: Heather Meloche, The Shape of a WavePrompt 7: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, A Water MemoryPrompt 8: Laura Shovan, Rainy Day OppositesPrompt 9: Kathryn Apel, Silly SolagePrompt 10: Buffy Silverman, A Watery HomePrompt 11: Kara Laughlin, Frozen FogPrompt 12: Debbie Levy, Jump into a LimerickPrompt 13: Joy McCullough, What Are Water Bears?Prompt 14: Linda Baie, Frozen Water SkinnyPrompt 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of WaterPrompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water WordplayPrompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of WaterPrompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay!Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing WellPrompt 20: Margarita Engle, Ode to the ShorePrompt 21: Faye McCray, Poem in a BubblePrompt 22: Meg Eden, Surprising ConnectionsPlease support the #WaterPoemProject authors by buying their books from your favorite independent bookstore.