Kenn Nesbitt is creating poetry for kids
23 supporters
Kenn Nesbitt
Thank you for taking a moment to click on this to see what it's about.
If you have a moment, let me tell you a story… Once upon a
time there was a little boy who loved to read but hated to write. He loved Dr.
Seuss and Roald Dahl and anything funny that rhymed. But still, he hated to write.
He didn’t know that authors were actual people, and he didn’t know that writing
would become easier with practice.
At the age of 15, he discovered computers and forgot all
about the funny, rhyming poems. At 24, he got his first job programming
computers. At 29, he started writing articles for computer magazines and overcame his fear of writing.
When he was 32 years old, he discovered a recording of Shel
Silverstein reciting “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out”
and his love of poetry was instantly rekindled. No longer afraid of writing, he
decided to create a poem of his own called “Scrawny Tawny Skinner.”
Three years, and several dozen poems later, using his
programming skills, he built a website to share his poems with the world. He
called it poetry4kids.com.
That boy was me.
Since 1997 I have been sharing my poems with students and teachers
around the world. It is my full-time job, my hobby, my all-consuming passion,
to get students excited about reading, and to show them that writing is easier
than they think.
So far, I have posted more than 800 poems, along with
dozens of writing lessons, audio recordings, and videos, and I make them all available
to you for free.
If you are finding the poems, lessons, and other resources
on poetry4kids useful for your students, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.
I do seriously drink a half-pot of coffee (AKA writing fuel) or more to start every
day. I greatly appreciate your generous donation; it really does make a
difference and helps make creating resources for you even more fun.
Even if you can’t buy me a coffee, know that I’m doing this
for you and the young people in your life, so they can have as much fun with
reading as I did as a kid, and to show them that they can be writers too.
With warmest thanks,
Kenn Nesbitt
Hi Mr. Ken! I'm a 6th grader, and I love your poems! I also try and write poems. I'm buying you some coffee, and my mom thinks it's bad for you, but do what you want, after all, we know you pursue! 😃
Hi Andrea! Thank you for the coffee! 🙏 That's very thoughtful of you. I'm glad to hear you are writing poems of your own. I hope you keep on reading and writing poems and having fun with it! And please tell your mom I said thanks for letting you buy me a coffee, even though she thinks it's not good for me. 😜
We use your poems almost weekly in my 4th grade class to teach fluency and vocabulary. My students know exactly who you are and how much I adore your poetry! Thank you for helping them build a love of reading and learning.
Thank you, Heather! This morning, I am enjoying a lovely envio lungo dark roast espresso breve latte, thanks to you. ☕️ Please tell your students I'm glad to hear they are having fun with reading! 😀📖
Kenn - I am an Interventionist at heart. However, three days before school started I agreed to teach 3rd and 5th grade, virtually, full-time. You saved me in poetry; and because of you, my kids wrote some terrific acrostic poems. Thank you for sharing your gift!
Aww, thank you Natalie! I'm so glad to hear that my poetry-writing resources have been helpful to you. Please tell your students I said, "Hi!" and I hope they are having fun with poetry. 👍😋☕️
Thanks for your outstanding poetry site. And thanks for inspiring new poets to write!
Thank you, Donna! Your generous contribution has got me completely wired this morning! 😋
Share with your friends 🎉
