Acrostic Valentines - Inspired by EDGAR A. POEt

 

This week I'm combining my 2024 theme of Authentic Writing Experiences with some fun Valentine trivia about Edgar Allan Poe. He's the subject of my next decodable book - The Raven Remix: A Mash-Up of Poe Titles. Did you know Poe was involved in an Acrostic Valentine scandal? This particular story probably won't go in my children's book, but the poem-writing activity at the bottom of this post will definitely find a way into the Activity Book.

Here's the backstory. Edgar and his wife, Virginia, were living in New York. He knew she wouldn't live much longer. She was dying of Tuberculosis, and he was a bit frazzled. Anna Charlotte Lynch hosted weekly literary "salons" where famous authors and poets met. Edgar attended for 2-3 years and became very popular, especially with some of the ladies. One of them, Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet, sent him love letters that became a bit of a scandal. They had a falling out. There were threats from her brother. A fistfight with someone else. 

Anna Lynch asked Poe not to return to her fun poetry gatherings.  Unfortunately, this happened right before her annual Valentine's party. 

Every year on Valentine's,  members of the salon would write each other poems. Edgar wrote a poem to Fanny Osgood and sent it to Anna to read at the party. He hid Fanny's name inside the poem, probably because she was married, and he didn't want to get into any more fights.  

That same day, Edgar's wife, Virginia, wrote an acrostic poem with a much clearer message - Honey, Let's get out of town! You can easily see his name in the first letter of each line.

Ever with thee I wish to roam-

Dearest my life is thine.

Give me a cottage for my home

And a rich old cypress vine.

Removed from the world with its sin and care

And the tattling of many tongues.

Love alone shall guide us when we are there. -

Love shall heal my weakened lungs;

And Oh, the tranquil hours will spend, 

Never wishing that others may see!

Perfect ease we'll enjoy, without thinking to lend

Ourselves to the world and its glee-

Ever peaceful and blissful we'll be. 

(Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, February 14, 1846)

The poem was a success. They moved to the country. Unfortunately, Virginia never saw another Valentine's Day. She died on January 30, 1847.

For more Poe trivia, read my post from January 17 Happy 215th Birday Edgar Allan Poe. 

Writing Acrostic Valentines

Directions: As a class, brainstorm words and phrases of positive attributes to go with each letter of the alphabet. Pick another student's name out of a hat, or pick a character from a favorite book. Write an acrostic poem based on the name. Have cookies. Read the poems out loud. Try not to create a scandal.

A - Artistic, Asks interesting questions

B - Best friend, Believes in people

C - Caring, Considerate, Can do anything

D - Daring, Does nice things

You get the idea. Remember that struggling writers have trouble copying from the board, so do them a favor and type out the list. Give the list to everyone so that no one is singled out. If possible, start by creating the list on your computer and project it on a Smart Board so students can see the list as it grows. 

See the post on the Edgar Allan Poe Museum Website to read the poem Poe wrote to Fanny Osgood and to find her name hidden in the lines of verse.

Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. That way you won't miss any of the fun-filled activities I'm creating for A Year of AWE: Authentic Writing Experiences along with interesting facts celebrating A Year of Poe.

Exploring Authentic Writing Experiences at ASHA

I will travel to Boston, MA, in one week for the American Speech-Language and Hearing 2023 Conference (#ASHA2023).  If you are going, check out Booth 1254 for Word Travel Press along with my presentation on Saturday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. entitled "Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Using Narratives as a Bridge to Informational Text." The presentation is largely based on Chapter 7 of my Story Frames book - "From Story Writing to Expository Writing: Bridging the Gap with Narrative Nonfiction," but the strategies I discuss may be used with any program. 

I gave a similar presentation twice this year already in author/educator panels with Jolene Gutierrez and Beth Anderson. See my interview with Beth, where she talks about The Resilience of English Language Learners. Then check out my blog post with Jolene on The Resilience of Bionic Beasts. I'm excited to announce that CCIRA has asked us to present this same author panel on February 8-10, 2024 in Westminster, CO. The specific day will be determined later. All the attention on this topic confirms my belief that students need help making the leap from stories to informational text in both reading and writing.

In addition to discussing ways that narrative strategies may be used to enhance understanding of informational text and vice versa, I will also discuss ideas for exploring authentic writing opportunities, including crafting a "Letter to the Author" that follows a format similar to a short essay. One of the most successful writing activities I ever conducted for struggling learners was in a tenth-grade special education Language Arts class. It was a Letter to Author Cynthia Leitich Smith that arose organically after we read the graphic novel based on her book, Tantalize. Because they knew their letters were going to a real person, the author of a book they enjoyed, everyone participated in a way I hadn't seen with any other writing activity. Students were eager to edit because they wanted their letters to be perfect. Some even brought in special stationery.

I always get excited when I learn about opportunities for students to explore authentic writing experiences. Jill Lauren, creator of the Whole Phonics series of decodable texts, is a member of the Decodable Book Alliance that I joined recently when I started writing decodable books. Jill is holding a contest through November 30th where students can win a puzzle by illustrating a scene from one of her books and writing a one-sentence description. Find out more HERE. If you don't have any of Jill's books, don't worry. You can get a free copy of A Pig and His Wig by visiting her website at  https://whole-phonics.com/ and joining her mailing list. She offers 4 other decodable texts on her partnership page with ReadWorks. These free titles include Zac's Pal (short "a"), Rod's Box (short "o"), Buzz, Buzz (short "u"), and Get Up! (short "e"). You will want more of her books, but you can start now with these for free. 

Often, decodable books lack real-world application, but Whole-Phonics does a good job of bridging this gap by partnering with ReadWorks to provide background knowledge. That's exactly the gap I'm attempting to fill with my HOT ROD decodables for older readers. 

Writing contests provide simple but compelling opportunities for authentic writing. If you are wondering what decodable books are, check out the article on my website at https://www.wordtravelpress.com/. Go to the tab at the top for Resources>Decodable Books. You can also learn about the HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables).

I was already working on a December Poetry Giveaway to encourage reading and writing over winter break when I read about Jill's contest,  I decided to turn my Poetry Freebie into a contest starting on December 1 after Jill's contest ends. If you want to be sure to get the latest information about that contest, as well as other freebies, articles, and book news, join my Author Newsletter list. You will automatically receive a PDF of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. You may unsubscribe at any time.

The Decodable Book Alliance works in conjunction with Teach My Kid to Read which is a 501c3 dedicated to educating librarians about the importance of decodable text. My next post will be about their experiences at the recent New York Library Association Conference, so stay tuned.

HINT: My December poem giveaway is called, A Long Winter's Nap and was inspired by a mother bear hibernating in a most unusual location.

Authentic Reading and Writing Opportunities for Summer to Build Background Knowledge

Summer is a time to put aside the constraints of the classroom, let loose, and have some fun, but that doesn't mean kids stop learning. In fact, summer is a great time to build background knowledge by exploring kids' special interests and activities through books.

START WITH A BOOK

Reading Rockets has put together a wonderful, free resource called Start With a Book. It includes three parts:

1. Choose a Topic to Explore - Reading Rockets provides a list of 24 different topics including Birds and Animals, Inventions and Inventors, Cooking and Food, Geography and Travel, and Nature: Our Green World. Many of these topics are also related to my Free PDF on Tips for Connecting Books with Summer Fun.

2. Find Great Kids Books - Under each topic, Reading Rockets provides links to several children's book titles, but that's not all. They also make suggestions for writing activities like Keeping a Nature Journal, Let's Write a Recipe, Building Stories where kids design a house, and Robots and Work where kids brainstorm an invention of a robot and write about it.

3. Keep the Adventure Going - Reading Rockets provides websites, podcasts, and more connected with each topic so kids can continue to build background knowledge.

READWORKS

Would you prefer short non-fiction articles for older students on a greater variety of subjects? Does your child have difficulty reading on their own? If so, you may want to check out ReadWorks. It is a free resource for educators and parents that provides short reading passages along with vocabulary activities and comprehension questions, on a variety of topics including STEM, social studies, poetry, and literary fiction. They include a recording of each reading passage to support struggling readers. To sign up for ReadWorks and learn more about what they offer, go to their website at https://www.readworks.org/.  Articles are listed by grade level and length.

Through ReadWorks, kids can learn about geysers before visiting Yellowstone, read about a farmer's market in New York City before spending a day at their local venue, or investigate an animal that stirs their interest after a trip to the local zoo. These are all ways to build authentic reading experiences and background knowledge while capitalizing on a child's natural curiosity.

So have fun with those summer activities, but make those activities even more interesting by connecting them with something fun to read!

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