I collect words. And I keep lists of these collections in my notebooks. When I listen to people speak, read books, or think, I pause to consider the sounds and meanings of lovable and interesting words. Just this week I've been enchanted by Albuquerque and resonant. Last week I fell in love with seagull and periwinkle.
We are changed when we pay attention to words, and while collecting words focuses our attention on language-music, word collections also offer writing ideas.
Begin a list of favorite words in your own notebook. Think about words you loved as a little child, words that call up fabric names and kitchen words. Consider nature words or magical words. Write these down.
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| A sample favorite word list with connections. |
Once you have a list, consider connecting pairs of words in surprising ways by drawing random lines between them. If you desire, share your list with friends or colleagues, each of you saving each other's favorite words as you wish. Or simply choose one word, place it atop a page, and write from it. You may find that the lines you have drawn will invite a curious connection that brings you somewhere new, as I did in the poem "Word Collection."
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"Word Collection" by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
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Allow yourself to be surprised.
Collect words always. Words are the bricks of writing.
I am grateful to Rebecca Kai Dotlich for teaching me to make and share my favorite word lists as she learned from Myra Cohn Livingston. Pass it on. Pass it on.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is author of books including FOREST HAS A SONG, EVERY DAY BIRDS, READ! READ! READ!, DREAMING OF YOU, WITH MY HANDS, and POEMS ARE TEACHERS. Amy lives in Holland, NY with her family, blogs for young writers at The Poem Farm and Sharing Our Notebooks and posts on Twitter and Instagram as @amylvpoemfarm.
Enter our giveaway to win a free copy of Amy's book Read! Read! Read! by leaving a comment on any 2018 Go Poems post by 8:30AM on Saturday, April 6. Many thanks to Boyds Mills Press for sponsoring this giveaway.
Thank you for your continued generosity!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your continued generosity!
ReplyDeleteI love Amy's READ READ READ and I wanted to celebrate this look at her process for one of my favorite poems in the book. I also wanted to lend a little support to this blog. Looks like good things are happening here. If I were to win a copy of the book, I would share it out with a colleague from my school district (they actually look for these kinds of things from me now).
ReplyDeleteLove this posting today! I have this poem paper clipped to share with my second graders this week! Each week, all year, I choose a poem for us to read everyday!
ReplyDeleteHolly, you are our winner! I left a comment on our blog with more details. Looking forward to hearing from you with a mailing address soon. And another big Thank You to Amy and Boyds Mill Press for sponsoring this giveaway!
Delete*left a comment on your blog
DeleteFire Up! I am so excited! My children(students) will be so excited that we are the winners! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
DeleteAmy is an inspiring writer and person. She comes to our school to share her advice and enthusiasm. I am always uplifted an d better armed with technique and passion.
ReplyDeleteAlways looking to find ways to help my students and myself, become more fluent, brainstorming, writers!
ReplyDeleteFollowing Amy on Facebook led me here to your blog! It's a great find. I'm excited to follow your daily poems!
ReplyDeleteButterscotch and succotash are favorites of mine, but my all time favorite word is 'sky'--the biggest thing there is with such a short word.
ReplyDeleteI have a small journal where I have been collecting words for several years. A student picked it up once and looked at it and asked why there were only words in it. I told him everyone needed a journal of magic words. Because as writers we all know that words are magic. I have never made a poem such as "Word Collection". I love the idea and have just the student to share it with. Maybe this will be one type of poetry he will like.
ReplyDeleteI love word collecting. Amy's very simple and doable word listing ideas are great with students, especially good for ELLs, giving purpose to word learning, a way to take possession of words. I'm so glad I hopped over here, Brett, from Amy's Poetry Farm. Thank you for offering a chance to win her book.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful site. I am working with an after school program and one of the enrichment classes I lead is Poetry Circle. Exited to use resources from you.
ReplyDeleteThank You
Word collection turned into poetry = genius! I definitely want to do this with my students during English and Spanish class! I recently discovered Amy's amazing books through the Poem Farm site, and I'm thrilled! Thank you for sharing all these wonderful and engaging ideas to incorporate into our lessons! I really appreciate it! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love this your word list! I also wanted to say thank you so much for your encouraging Webinar for Brave Writer. I have a son who has been absolutely rigid about his dislike of poetry and when we were done he said, "I know this sound crazy but I feel like I'd like to write a poem." My girls were inspired too, but the switch was out of this world. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I love these ideas. I can't wait to get inspired by your book!
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