On Thursday of this week, I was writing with a group of third, fourth, and fifth graders at three different schools: Most Holy Redeemer in Chicago, St. Joseph in Seattle, and St. Anthony in Oakland, California. During our writing session, we composed a new poem together, entitled "I'm Really Bad at Basketball."

It was fun writing together, and I promised them I would put their creation on my website. So here it is. Click on the "Read More..." link below to read the poem we created together.

This morning I did an online poetry writing session with four schools: St. Richard in Chicago, Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid in Boston, and Bethany Lutheran in Detroit. We talked about poetry and even composed a new poem together, which I thought was terrific.

If you would like to read the new masterpiece we created in only about 10 minutes of writing, click on the "Read More..." link below. It's a little bit gross, but still quite funny. I hope you enjoy their poem as much as I do.

This morning I spent some time writing poetry with the students of St. Stephens School in San Jose, California. Together we came up with a poem about a sad and lonely football team that no one goes to see. Click "Read more..." to find out why this team is so sad and lonely, and why no one want to watch their games.

On Saturday I spoke to three groups of kids at a Young Author's Conference in Monticello, Indiana. The conference was sponsored by the local chapter of the International Reading Association, and was attended by kids from all over greater White County. Poetry Alive also performed for the kids.

The conference was a big hit, and I've heard from many students and parents who attended, all saying that they had a wonderful time.

You can click here to read more about the conference in an article The Herald Journal put on their website today.

I just finished a couple of online author visits with Forest Park Elementary in Crystal Falls, MI --one with the primary grades and one with the intermediate students -- and we wrote some really fun poems together.

Click "Read More..." below to read the poems that we created together.

On Friday I had an online author visit with Terrace School in Delano, California. We did six sessions; one for each grade level. Afterward the Vice Principal had this to say: "Friday was a success at Terrace. Our students seem to be inspired by your presentation and we are looking forward to some great writing!"

Click "Read More..." below to read some of the terrific poems the students at Terrace School came up with during the writing portion of our online sessions.

This morning (or this afternoon, depending on where in the world you are), I spent some time online with Rotherglen School in Oakville, Ontario in Canada. We had fun sharing and writing poetry, and I told them I would put the poem we wrote together here on my website.

The kids at Rotherglen are hockey fans, but they thought it would be funny to not be very good at it. So we ended up writing a funny little poem about hockey. Enjoy!

To everyone at Big Horn Elementary and Middle School in Big Horn, Wyoming, thanks for a wonderful visit today. Click the Play button to hear a message I recorded for you after working with your students.