Poetry Contest for Kids

I'm spreading the word about a fun poetry writing contest for kids. Here's the scoop:

Jill Corcoran, compiler and contributing poet to the award-winning Dare to Dream … Change the World, a children’s collection of biographical and inspirational poems, has announced the Dare to Dream … Change the World Annual Writing Contest for Kids. The grand-prize winner will receive $1500 worth of books for a school or public library of their choice. The top thirty entries will be published as a free e-book by Kane Miller Books.

Recently released by Kane Miller Books and illustrated by J. Beth Jepson, Dare to Dream … Change the World features work from thirty renowned contemporary children’s poets, including J. Patrick Lewis, current Children’s Poetry Laureate. Each pair of poems in this anthology was inspired by someone whose actions made a difference, not only in their own lives, but in the lives of people all over the world. Subjects form a culturally diverse mix ranging from Jonas Salk to Steven Spielberg, from Christa McAuliffe to Michelle Kwan, with brief descriptions of their lives included. Poems by Jill Corcoran and Bruce Coville frame the biographical-inspired pieces.

Contributing poets to Dare to Dream … Change the World:
Ellen Hopkins*Jane Yolen*Joyce Sidman*J. Patrick Lewis* Marilyn Singer*Georgia Heard*Alice Schertle*Lisa Wheeler*Julia Durango*Joyce Lee Wong*David L. Harrison*Elaine Magliaro*Hope Anita Smith*Carol Tanzman*Alan Katz*Rose Horowitz*Hope Vestergaard*Jacqui Robbins*Jill Corcoran*Joan Bransfield Graham* Laura Purdie Salas*Curtis Crisler*Kelly Fineman*Tracie Vaughn Zimmer*Stephanie Hemphill*Rebecca Kai Dotlich*Janet Wong*Lee Bennett Hopkins*Bruce Coville

This contest “aims to promote literacy, poetry writing, and nonfiction research while inspiring students to follow their own dreams.” Following the format of the book, students in the third through eighth grade are invited to send a biographical poem together with a non-fiction paragraph about someone who not only dreamed, but took action and made the world better. Official rules can be found at daretodreamchangetheworld.com. A free, downloadable curriculum guide for the book is also available both on the contest website and at kanemiller.com.

CONTEST DETAILS
WHO: For students in 3rd through 8th grade.

WHAT: Following the format of the book, students will write a biographical poem and non-fiction paragraph about someone who not only dreamed, but took action and made the world better.

HOW: Send your entry by e-mail to daretodreamchangetheworld@gmail.com
with the subject line “DARE TO DREAM Writing Contest.”

Be sure to include your first name only, your e-mail address and your parents’ e-mail address.
Official rules at daretodreamchangetheworld.com

DEADLINE: April 30, 2013

WINNER receives $1500 worth of books for a library of their choice.

TOP 30 ENTRIES will be published as an e-book.

Featuring Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Fellow Texan Guadalupe Garcia McCall is raking in the awards this season. She was recently named a Lee Bennett Hopkins “Promising Poet!” The Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award was established by Hopkins along with the International Reading Association in 1995 to encourage new poets in their writing. These poets have only published two books (to qualify for the award), but their work has already been judged to be of high quality. The award is given every three years. Congratulations, Guadalupe! Previous recipients include.

2013 Guadalupe Garcia McCall
McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. 2011. Under the Mesquite. New York: Lee & Low.

2010 Gregory Neri
Neri, Gregory. 2009. Chess Rumble. New York: Lee & Low Books.

2007 Joyce Lee Wong
Wong, Joyce Lee. 2006. Seeing Emily. New York: Abrams.

2004 Lindsay Lee Johnson
Johnson, Lindsay Lee. 2002. Soul Moon Soup. Asheville, NC: Front Street.

2001 Craig Crist-Evans
Crist-Evans, Craig. 1999. Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy’s Civil War Journal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

1998 Kristine O’Connell George
George, Kristine O’Connell. 1997. The Great Frog Race and Other Poems. New York:  Clarion.

1995 Deborah Chandra
Chandra, Deborah. 1993. Rich Lizard and Other Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

For more information, check out my resource book, The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists.

Rivera Award
In addition, her debut novel (in verse), Under the Mesquite, was also named a Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award recipient—an award that doesn’t necessarily go to a work of poetry. It’s given by the Texas State University College of Education which established the award in 1995 to honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience.  The award was named in honor of Dr. Tomas Rivera, a distinguished alumnus of Texas State University. For more information, look here.

PFA & PFAMS
Of course, I'm also very proud to brag that Guadalupe is a contributor to our Poetry Friday anthologies, too! Her powerful poems, “The Bully,” "Bailes," and “Doña Pepita” appear in The Poetry Friday Anthology for K-5 and “The Café” and “The Boy” appear in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School. For more details, go here.

TLA
Guadalupe will also be speaking at the upcoming post-conference poetry institute (P*CON) at the Texas Library Association conference next month in Fort Worth—along with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Charles Waters, Jane Yolen, Michael Salinger, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Robert Paul Weston, Sara Holbrook, and Will Richey (and teens). An amazing line up, right? I'll be sharing more info about that event along with my ninth annual Poetry Round Up very soon.

Next?
I know Guadalupe is working on the finishing touches for another novel in verse and I can’t wait to see it. Meanwhile, be sure to check out her lovely novel of magical realism (not in verse), Summer of the Mariposas. Clearly, Guadalupe is a talent to watch...


Image credit: TeenLitRocks

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.

Poetry Friday Anthology for MIDDLE SCHOOL launches today!

I’m pleased as punch to announce a new poetry collaboration with my amazing poet colleague, Janet Wong. It’s The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School (grades 6-8), officially available today! (The purple version on the right features the Common Core poetry standards and the red version on the left features the TEKS standards in Texas.) We’re so proud to showcase 110 never-before-published poems by 71 of the best poets writing for tweens and teens today. You’ll find heaps of information at our book blog here including links to ALL the poets in the book and details on our book giveaway contest! What? A free book?! YES! Want the book now? Details here.

Once again, we provide a “Take 5” set of 5 activities for every poem incorporating the Common Core standards (and TEKS in Texas) and presenting the poem in ways that are particularly meaningful and engaging for middle school students. How do you help connect tweens and young teens, in particular, with poetry? Here are a dozen of my favorite approaches featured in the Take 5 strategies in this book:

• make poem Wordles, slide shows, and “poem movies,”
• pose in poetry tableaux,
• create a poem glog,
• text and tweet favorite poem lines,
• sketch Pictionary-style poem drawings,
• grab a designated poetry prop,
• create a quick graphic “novel” rendering of the poem in panels,
• make cross-genre connections with nonfiction books, newspaper/magazine articles, and TED talks,
• do quick collaborative research related to the poem,
• create poetry-based graphs and polls,
• incorporate sign language in poem performances, and
• connect with relevant web sites like the CloudAppreciationSociety, Video.NationalGeographic, VoiceThread, IMDB, Census.gov, HowStuffWorks, TromboneExcerpts.org, HealthyPet, SI.edu (Smithsonian), SoundCloud, Photography.NationalGeographic, Howcast, AllPosters, and Shorpy.

Each of these activities helps highlight poetry skills from the standards such as the use of hyperbole, repetition, sensory language, alliteration, metaphors, personification, internal rhyme, line breaks, and more.

I hope you’ll check it out and help us spread the word to all middle school teachers, librarians, students, and parents of students—just in time for National Poetry Month (in April).  Buy the book (in paperback and/or e-book form) from Pomelo Books here. And let us know what you think!


Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.