Good Friday to you!

     Today is the official beginning of my spring vacation. While I will miss my students dearly, (Are you guys listening!?!)  I am very much looking forward to spending some quiet, unplanned time with my family and my new friends here in the blogosphere.
     For those of you who are new to this world, today is Poetry Friday.  This is the day that a guest blogger points to all things poetry.  It is quite a list; check it out at Robyn Hood Black's site.  There, you will hear about a plethora of poetry activities, including Laura Salas' work.  Laura is highlighted at The Poem Farm, where she has once again inspired my poem of the day.
     Laura describes an "ode" style poem that she wrote about the process of a book becoming a book.  This poem gives pause to ALL of the people who go into making a book: author, editor, publisher, reader.  To learn more about the process of book making, check out my favorite non-fiction site, Wonderopolis.  Laura challenges students to try their own "This is a book" style poem.  Here is my attempt:

Round and Round

By Melinda Harvey

This is the rain drop

   all liquid and wet

   that fell from the cloud

   as precipitation.

This is the run off

   that skims over the earth

   absorbing minerals and salt

   to drop elsewhere.

This is the soil

   that drinks up the wetness

   storing the ground water

   underneath in an aquifer.

This is the sun

   heating up the pond,

   lakes and oceans

   turning water to vapor.

This is the air

   filled with evaporated drops

    including transpired liquid

   from plants and trees.

This is the cloud

   that provides a cold rest

   to the water droplets

   as condensation takes over.

This is the rain drop

   all liquid and wet

   that fell from the cloud

   as precipitation.

     Clearly, we are learning about the water cycle in school right now.  Check out my Glogster about land at water to see the major concepts of this unit!  You can write this style of poem about any topic really. Many of you are just returning from vacation.  Why not pay tribute to the elements that made your vacation so memorable?  For those of you just starting vacation, reflect on what you are anticipating during your respite.  Choose a topic and give this tribute/ode style a try!