I just returned from Rio where I presented for two days at the American School of Rio de Janeiro. It was excellent.
We celebrated both National Poetry Month and International Children’s Book Day with poetry workshops and Writer’s Life presentations. It was a full two days, but full of fun and learning and celebration. Those EARJ students know how to throw a celebration! Also, they figured out how old I am. (I think this was planned because one kid asked me how old I was when I published my first book and another asked me how long it had been since I published my first book. 33 and 12, respectively. 🙂
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved visiting these smart kids and their superstar teachers. Can I go back soon?
And now, I’m a few days late but I’ll kick off National Poetry Month with “Recipe for a Poem” which was originally published in the Poetry Friday Anthology put out by Pomelo Books. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong at Pomelo are putting out some of the most fun and exciting poetry anthologies for children of late and are making them very accessible to teachers with activities and hands-on tips. Be sure to check out their site.
Recipe for A Poem
by Kristy Dempsey
Fill a pot
with red-hot thought.
Boil a bit,
Simmer.
Let sit.
Wait . . .
some more.
Open a drawer,
pick a spoon,
a hammer,
a kite,
anything might
be of use.
Choose.
Weigh the contents.
Stir the depths.
Season with truth and
a dash of laughter.
Stretch like taffy,
Slice into bites.
Throw to the wind
and listen.
Kristy Dempsey 
Hi Kristy,
We are a Ms Roberta’s 2nd grade class and we loved your news! We loved your visit to Rio! Your presentation was amazing and awesome! You should come back! Miss you already.
The poem was cool. Let’s cook it!
Ms. Roberta’s class,
You are awesome! Thank you so much for reading my blog. Let’s ALL cook up some amazing poetry for Poetry Month!
Throw out some words
Arrange and repeat
Read out your poem
Tap out the beat
Wiggle your wonders
Shake out your fears
I hope you write poems
for years and years!
Dear Kristy,
Ms Monique’s 4th grade class just read your poem and we enjoyed it. Instead of putting ingredients, you put thoughts that might make a poem.
Thank you for your presentation. We hope to see you again.
Thanks, Ms. Monique’s class! Now, what are YOUR thoughts that could make a poem? I hope you’ll share some of your poems with me.
Hello, here is Ms Lucia’s 5th grade amazing rocking class: Happy poetry month! We loved your poem as well. We are wondering what your favorite poem is? We loved your presentation. Here is a poem we think you will like.
And Then
I was reading
a poem
about snow
when
the sun
came out
and
melted it.
By Prince Redcloud
Now, we are celebrating National Library Week! The theme is Unlimited Possibilities @ your library
Check out the movie:
http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/future-libraries-149241
Ms. Lucia’s 5th grade, you are SO cool! I love that poem. Would you believe that I read poems about snow to the preschoolers here at my school today? We did! And we decided that snow is nice but not ice. And sun is even more fun!
Hello Ms Kristy Dempsey, we are Ms Luciana’s 2nd grade class. Thank you for coming to our library! Did you know that we are celebrating National Library Week (USA)? Go to Destiny catalog. Do you have the webpath subscription? Check out the highlights. If you do not have, we will send you the sites.
We love your books! Continue writing poems and books!
Hello, Ms. Lu’s Crew! We are celebraring NLM this month too! My favorite links are to the “Your School Library, Where Learning Never Ends” quotes by famous authors and others. You can find some of them here:
https://twitter.com/aasl/media
Hi Ms Kristy Dempsey, here is Mr Bryan’s 4th grade. We loved your presentation and poems and wish you can come back!
here is a poem from the book by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Good books,
Good times,
Good stories,
Good rhymes,
Good beginnings,
Good ends.
Good people.
Good friends.
Good fiction.
Good facts.
Good adventures.
Good acts.
Good stories.
Good rhymes.
Good books.
Good times.
Happy Poetry Month and Happy Library Week!
http://kidsbuzz.prattlibrary.org/videos/?id=W3ZHPJT2Kp4
I love this poem so much! And Lee Bennett Hopkins is one of my poetry mentors. I call him the fairy godfather of poetry! He published two of my poems in his Dizzy Dinosaurs poetry collection. 🙂
Hi ms Kristy,
here is that awesome 5th grade class that you met: Ms Tisa’s class. Would you like to read our poems in our Bookworm’s Journey newsletter. Check out the March newsletter and will read a poem that Phillip wrote.
Now let’s check out an unlimited number of books to celebrate Library Week in the USA!
Thank you for coming!
Hello Ms. Tisa’s AWESOME 5th grade! I would love to read your poems! Ms. Beth is letting you check out unlimited books? She is a superhero!
Hello Kristy,
This is Ms. Patricia 2nd grade class. We enjoyed your visit and would love for you to come back and visit again.
Thank you for the poem, we loved it. Here is a poem from us:
The more you read,
the more you know.
The more you know,
the smarter you grow.
The smarter you grow,
the stronger your voice.
When speaking your mind
or making your choice.
Author unknown
We think you are awesome! We like how you explained about your life and family. You are important to your library and also helped our library by your visit.We love your books.
We would love to see you again!
I love that poem, Ms. Patricia’s class! The more we read, the more we know what we believe! Beautiful.
Hi Kristy,
You are a really good inspiration for us, Ms. Martha’s 4th grade class, EARJ Gavea Campus. Willka and Samara wrote a poem. It goes like this:
One sunny day a lady came by
when the breeze was blowing,
and the boats were sailing,
and the children were playing.
Thank you very much for visiting our school. We loved the short play you did with the kids. It was very good to have you here.
Thanks!
Ms. Martha’s class, Willka and Samara’s pome is gorgeous! I love the images and can feel the wind blowing across my face. Happy poem-making!
Hello Kristy,
This is the 5th grade class of Ms. Reyna. We had loads of fun with you. You are a really creative person and we would love for you to visit again.
We really had fun doing the skit about publishing your first book. We can’t wait for your new book to come out and feel special because we got a sneak preview.
We are also enjoying your blog.
Sincerely,
EARJ Fifth grade
Ms. Reyna’s Rockin’ 5th grade, I think you are great! I was so happy to give you a sneak preview of my forthcoming book. I’ll let you know when it is out! (It will be in 2016! Publishing books can take a very long time. I need a lot of patience!)
Hi Ms. Kristy Dempsey! We loved your presentation and we are Ms Oriana’s 3rd grade epic class! We would like to share this web site with you and when you come back to Rio we can go visit the library in the web site. Guess which one by looking at these pictures…
.http://www.businessinsider.com/18-of-the-worlds-greatest-libraries-2014-12
HAPPY LIBRARY WEEK!!!!!!!!!
Ms. Oriana’s EPIC class! Those libraries make me jealous! Wouldn’t it be fun to visit them all? Of the ones listed in that article, I have only been to the New York Public Library. Let’s go to the Portuguese Reading Room on my next visit to Rio!