Mental Library: Poetry: Types of Poems--Concrete, Diamante, Haiku

Good day, Friends!

Last month, we learned about rhyming patterns in poetry. This month, we are learning about some common types of poems.

Concrete Poetry (Shape Poetry)

This type of poetry uses a shape as an outline. You can really pick any shape. The only confines are the shape you pick. Usually, the shape has something to do with the topic of the poem.

Diamante Poetry

This kind of poetry is similar to concrete poetry, but has more specific rules. The first line is a noun, the second line is two adjectives describing the noun, the third line is three verbs describing the noun, and the fourth line has a short phrase about the first noun, and the last noun [line 7]. From there, it's just like a mirror. The bottom line is a noun opposite to the top one, and right above that are the two adjectives describing the last noun, and it continues. Here is an example. (I just made it up now, so it's not the greatest. Also, I'm thinking of the sea. I just read a book about pirates. . . :) )

Sea

Calm, wild

Roaring, churning, bellowing

Untamed glory, Quiet monotony

Living, growing, submitting

Awe-inspiring, dull

Land

Haiku

Haikus have five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Here's an example. (Again, I just made it up.)

The tiny mouse runs.

My cat pounces on his prey.

A playful game starts.

Here are a few types of poems. Next month, we'll talk about even more types of poems! Do you have a favorite type of poem? Why?

Spruce Nogard

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamante_poem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_poetry

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/water-sunrise-ocean-island-sea-1641780/ 

https://pixabay.com/en/cat-mouse-catch-hunting-play-396535/

Creative Complex: Five Senses

Hello, Friends!

Today, remember to use all five senses in your writing.

1) Sight

It's easiest to describe things using sight. Here's an example: The blue sweatshirt brushed against the girl's brown hair.

2) Smell

Example: The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted into the room.

3) Hearing

Example: The sound of rustling filled the air as the bats flurried into flight.

4) Taste

Example: The cake tasted too sweet, like over-ripened berries.

5) Touch

Example: The kitten curled up on his chest, its purr sending warm vibrations through his body.

The more aspects of touch you use, the better. Pressure, pain, movement, and aching are some of them.

Now, write a description of something, a person or a setting, and use all five senses. Good luck!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/cat-animal-cat-s-eyes-eyes-pet-1285634/

https://pixabay.com/en/cow-nose-mammal-nature-portrait-3350522/

https://pixabay.com/en/fuchs-puppy-young-curious-ears-3430373/ 

https://pixabay.com/en/labradoodle-schnauzer-labrador-3397769/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-handle-tiny-father-family-428395/

Creative Complex: Idiomas

Hola, Amigos!

Today, we are going to explore different languages. First, pick a word. I'm going to pick bird.

Then, pick a few languages. They can be real or made up. I'm going to do Spanish, Elvish, Irish Gaelic, Russian, and Romanian.

Next, translate the work into each of the languages.

English: Bird

Spanish: Pareja (pronounced "pah-ray-ha")

Elvish: Aew (sorry, can't find a pronunciation)
Irish Gaelic: éan (pronounced "ain"-rhymes with "rain")

Russian: птица (pronounced "ptitsa")

Romanian: pasăre (pronounced "PAS-ah-ray")

What sounds the most smooth? Rough? Air-y? Flow-y? Why? How is this useful in writing, or even real life?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/hummingbird-bird-nature-tropical-1823829/

Recipes: Coconut Cake Activity

Good Day, Friends!

Happy late Easter!

Today, even though Easter is past, I'm still going to post about it. :) This is more an activity, so be sure to steal some kids to help you! My grandma did this with us when we were little. (And as a result, I don't remember exactly what we did, so I'm kind of making up the parts I don't remember. :) )

Ingredients:
-Two box cakes
-Lots of White frosting (Enough to frost two or a little more than two box cakes)
-Food Coloring
-Sweetened, hydrated coconut
-Candies-M&Ms for eyes, cinnamon red-hots for nose, licorice (pull apart) for whiskers, candies for buttons
*All candies can be replaced as wanted; these are just examples.

First, make two box cakes: one in a 9x13 pan and two in 9" round pans.

Let cool.

Next, the fun begins!

1) Once you have your cakes, position one of the round cakes on a cookie sheet that will fit BOTH the round cakes AND the 9x13 cake the long way in a row. (I apologize for the basic diagrams, and I do wish I could make the cake and show you pictures of the actual cake, but, alas, I do not have time.) If you do not have cookie sheet long enough, sorry, but you're gonna have to figure something out. :)

2) Then, cut out two strips of ONE of the round cakes. They should go almost all the way across and be the same size.

3) Next, well, drum roll please. . . You are making an Easter Bunny! So, you need to figure out what color you want the different parts of your cake to be. Is he going to wear a shirt? What color will it be? What color are his ears? Once you figure that out, dye some (but not all) of your frosting that color. Then, dye some of your coconut that color. I believe you can do this by mixing a few drops of food coloring in with the coconut. Also, position the ears on top of the head.

4) After this, frost the cakes the colors you want. Make sure you frost the sides of the cakes as well. This can get a little messy because of the crumbs. Do the best you can. :) Then, gently press the coconut on.

5) Next, add eyes, a nose, mouth, whiskers, buttons, and other embellishments.

Enjoy!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/easter-bunny-candy-pink-pastels-2189397/

Writing: Creative Complex: Talking Animals

Good Day, Friends!

First, answer this question:

If you could know what one animal (specific animal or type of animal) was saying, which would it be?

Then, write a dialogue between the animal and you, the animal and another animal, the animal talking to itself, etc.

Have fun!

Spruce Nogard

 Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/photos/?q=chronicles+of+narnia&image_type=&cat=&min_width=&min_height=

Books: Favorites: Chalice

Hello, Friends!

Today, I'm going to tell you about Chalice, by Robin McKinley.

I just finished reading this book yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. The writing flows very well, and it's quite interesting because Chalice takes place in four parts, and although there are page breaks, there are no chapters. However, the page breaks separate the book into tidy sections, so it's not too much of a problem if you just want to read until a nice break before going to bed, etc.

Mirasol, the main character, is a woodskeeper, and her land and bees have been in her family for generations. One day, a neighbor gives her the news: the Master and Chalice have died in a fire. The demesne, which was already strained, is thrown into even more chaos, and a few weeks later, the Circle comes to tell Mirasol she is the new Chalice. Her head spinning, Mirasol must learn the duties of a Chalice, whose main job is to bind all parts of the Circle and the demesne together. At the same time, a new Master is put in place. To make matters even more difficult, the new Master is a Priest of Fire, and is not a normal human anymore. With threats all around her and the demanding task of healing a land that has been hurting too long, Mirasol must do what she can to save her people and her land.

An interesting aspect of this book was it's nonlinear storytelling. At first while I was reading, I kept second-guessing myself, and had to check that I had not accidentally started with the second book in a series. Although you don't get the traditional setup of the story right away, you do eventually get the beginning. The storytelling was unique from most books I have read, but it was unique in a good way.

I love Mirasol. Mirasol keeps bees, and a cottage, and I just love her home. I'm irrationally afraid of bees, but it was so nice to imagine having a bunch of soft, humming, little friends always around. I  enjoyed Mirasol's thoughts immensely, which is the primary way we learn information in the novel. It's hard to describe how the book reads without just reading it. :)

Not to mention, there's honey magic. Literally magic with honey. That was pretty awesome. :)

Also, is anyone else sick of reading pretty much any YA book and finding a good bit of romance in it? Because, I don't mind a little bit of romance, but I don't like a lot. And really, can't there just be stories where people don't care nearly as much about dating?

Chalice is such a relief in this sense, too. Although there is the slightest, slightest hint of romance, it's actually an interesting story about someone who does something other than fall in love.

Overall, I really enjoyed Chalice, and hope you do too! What are your favorite fantasy books?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://www.amazon.com/McKinley-Chalice-Reprint-Market-Paperback/dp/B00SB1PCQ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491683069&sr=8-2&keywords=chalice+robin+mckinley

On My Mind: Origami

Hello, Paper-Folders!

I love to do origami. I only have one thing memorized, and I'm not incredible at it, but I enjoy doing it. My goodness, ever since I did the banned words post, I've noticed how many banned words I use. The second half of my second sentence was originally: . . . and I'm not very good at it, but I really like it. Sigh.

By the way, sometimes I feel like a very bad blogger. The last post didn't have pictures, and neither does this one, which is a fairly big offense in blogging. I mean, who's going to care about a post without pictures? I can only transfer pictures I take to my blog at specific times, due to issues I am having with not having a phone/camera to take pictures. I should put a camera on my Christmas list. . . I will try to be better in the future, but I can't guarantee anything, what with homework and school and all. Sorry!You can now ignore this paragraph! I added pictures to this post!

As I was saying, I really don't know why I like origami so much, because although I appreciate my work, I just put it in a bag when I'm done. In any case, origami is the art of folding paper into shapes/animals. I like making animals. Here are some animals that I've made:

1) Owl












2) Crane












3) Bird












4) Dove












5) Bat







6) Cat








7) Puppy











8) Jumping frogs








9) Turtle








10) Dragon









Here is a picture from the web:

Do you like origami? What is your favorite animal to make?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/origami-art-of-paper-folding-fold-212760/ 

Creative Complex: Describe Your Pet

Hello, Pet-Lovers!

Today, describe your pet.

First, use the list of banned words to describe your pet. If you don't have a pet, describe a picture of an animal, or any of the pictures below!

Here is the list: https://wikis.engrade.com/beginningiew/bannedwords

• Happy
• Sad
• Interesting
• Very
• Mad
• See/look
• Got
• Said
• Went
• Come
• Bad
• Ugly 
• Big
• Small
• Thought
• Make
• Really

These words are banned because they are not specific enough. For example, someone could imagine something "big" as being the size of a table, while someone else could imagine something "big" as being the size of a house.

Here is my description of my dog:

Banned Words Version: I have a very interesting dog. She is small, white, and really happy. She loves people and gets mad sometimes.

No Banned Words Version: I have an incredible dog. She is ten pounds, and has very long legs. She also is white with a streak of apricot down her back. She is extremely cheerful most of the time, and gets overly excited when we have people over. Sometimes, she pouts when she is annoyed with us.

See the difference?

Post your descriptions in the comments below!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/collage-dogs-animals-dog-puppies-1588416/

Creative Complex: Character Constructing: Human Animal

Hello, Friends!

Today, pick an animal, and give it a personality, description, and background. (It's anthropomorphic.)

 

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/wolf-black-grey-winter-snow-pack-1364255/ 

On My Mind: Zootopia

Hello, Animal-Lovers!

Today, Zootopia is on my mind.

How many of you have seen Zootopia? How many of you liked it? I know it's a kids movie, but that doesn't mean we can't like it. :)

Zootopia is about a place where animals live in harmony, whether prey or predator. The story is about a rabbit, Judy Hopps, who fulfills her life's dream: to become the first rabbit police officer. Meanwhile, animals in the city of Zootopia are disappearing. The police force is having trouble finding them, but then Officer Hopps takes the case. The rest of the police force is less than thrilled. Meanwhile, Officer Hopps has to work with Nicholas Wilde, a fox who isn't always on the right side of the law, go to a naturalist club (the animals don't wear clothes!), deal with some very slow sloths, and much more!

Sorry, but because it's copyrighted, I can't put any pictures of the movie here. Here's a link, though:

http://img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/images/products_zootopia_digitalhd_5f05fae6.png

Zootopia is a great movie with wonderful morals. I would tell you about them, but that would give you plot spoilers, and, if you've already seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I love Zootopia for three reasons:

1. As I said earlier, it has great morals and lessons
2. It has an intriguing plot
3. It parallels real society very well (in my opinion)

Besides, it is the first really good Disney kids movie to come out recently. :) Again, in my opinion. :)

Go watch it, then comment below. What did you like about it? Were there things you think they could have done better?

Spruce Nogard

Creative Complex: Mythological/Fantastical Creature

Hello, Animal-Lovers.

For today's Creative Complex, create a new mythological/fantastical creature and use it in a story.

Although this just looks like an evil cat, really, it's a creature I made up. It can: spit poison, bite people (which also injects poison), and breath fire. Have fun!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/cat-pet-domestic-cat-diabolical-237197/