Sunday, May 4, 2014

MODULE 6 RESPONDING TO POETRY

        JANECZKO COLLECTION






Janeczko, Paul and Melissa Sweet. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. New York. Harper Collins Publishers. 2001.


ISBN:0-688-16252-5







Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices is a collection of poems by different authors compiled by Paul Janeczko. According to Janeczko, the poems are persona or mask poems. In other words, they are written as if an animal or an inanimate object were actually speaking aloud. Most of these poems have been featured in other anthologies and the reader will recognize familiar poets such as Douglas Florian, Bobbi Katz and Jane Yolen in addition to new poets. The poems in this collection consist of rhyming and non-rhyming poems and the book contains one concrete poem entitled “The Mosquito’s Song.”

Readers will have no problem using their imagination to put themselves in place of these animals and objects because the imaginative language used practically puts them there. In the poem “Roots,” Madeleine Comora uses figurative language to enable the reader to “see” the actual roots under the ground.

Roots like ours,
coarse and strong
as a grandmother’s fingers,
reach into the earth.
A tangled weave,
rough and aged
like wooden lace.
Roots like ours
hold the world
in place.

The illustrations by Melissa Sweet are cartoon-like, watercolor depictions and complement each poem nicely. The book contains an introduction by Paul Janeczko but does not have a table of contents or index. The poems do not seem to be arranged in a particular order but poems about the same subject are grouped together. For example, poems about kites are grouped together and poems about the animals are grouped together.

SPOTLIGHT POEM:

     The Mosquito’s Song
        Peggy B. Leavitt


 I sing.                   You slap.
 I mean                   no harm.
          There is no cause
            for your alarm.
               A little drop
                is all I ask.
                It really is
  a simple task.
     So please
     hold still
       at this
     juncture,
      while I
       make
       a tiny
          P
          U
          N
          C
          T
          U
          R
          E
          !

To begin the lesson, I would ask the students if they had ever been bitten by a mosquito. I would then lead them into a discussion of how it felt and what they did about it. I would encourage them to think about how the mosquito felt and what they thought motivated it to bite them. I would then read them the poem while showing them the picture. A discussion could follow on concrete poetry and I could show them examples of other concrete poems such as Doodle Dandies by J. Patrick Lewis. To put into practice what we talked about, the students would be asked to write their own mask or concrete poem.
                 POETRY BY KIDS





McLaughlin, Timothy P and S.D. Nelson. Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at the Red Cloud Indian School. New York. Abrams Books for Young Readers. 2012.

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0179-5








Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky is a collection of moving poetry written by Native American Youth from the Red Cloud Indian School. The poetry in this book takes a look at the lives of these Native Americans through the eyes of their young people and consists of poems about their lives from their trials and tribulations to their celebrations and dreams. Readers, especially teens, will relate to most of these poems simply due to the fact that they are teenagers and experience many of the same feelings and emotions as the Lakota youth do. The poems are expressive and deal with subjects such as life, death, alcoholism, feelings of despair, joy and faith. Given the subject matter of most of these poems, this book would be suitable for secondary school students.

The figurative language and expressive use of words by the students in their poetry creates clear mental images in the minds of the reader. The poem “What the Clouds are Saying” is a good example of personification and what the clouds might say if they could talk as they look down on our world and see the people and their actions. The poem “Quiet” is a great example of alliteration with each line beginning with the words “Quiet is.” Examples of similes and metaphors are also found throughout the book. 
  
The book has an index of poets at the end of the book and a table of contents at the front of the book which guides readers to the different sections of poetry the book is organized by. The sections are titled “Natural World,” “Misery,” “Native Thoughts,” “Silence,” “Family, Youth and Dreams,” and “Language.” Each section contains poetry under these classifications and is separated by a title page devoted to background information for each section. The dividing page is a two page spread with the explanation on one page and beautiful paintings by S.D. Nelson on the opposite page. Captions underneath the painting are written by S.D. Nelson himself and describe the painting as well as the thoughts behind them. The pictures perfectly depict the voices of the poems.

SPOTLIGHT POEM:

Racism
Julian Bear Runner

Racism is a strong bullet through a person’s heart.
Racism is like a bank with lots of unkind words.
Racism is like a gun in a child’s hands
loaded with all the words a devil would say.

This poem lends itself well to a discussion or lesson on racism and could also extend to bullying. To introduce this poem, I would begin by asking students if someone has ever said anything that hurt their feelings or made them feel inferior in any way. I would encourage them to share what was said and why they think the person said it. Students would then read the poem and reflect on how this poem makes them feel or what images the poem brings to mind. We would connect this back to the experiences they have had and make them realize that they are not alone and that racism is prevalent across the nation. I would then have them write a poem using their feelings from their own experiences.

Another cross-curricular application would be to connect this poem to lessons dealing with the Nazi regime and the history of slavery in America.
FREE CHOICE POETRY






Vardell, Sylvia, Janet Wong and Rich Arnold. Poetry Tag Time: 30 poems by 30 poets. Princeton, NJ. PoetryTagTime.com. 2011.

ISBN: 978-1-937057-01-5








Poetry Tag Time is an anthology of poems written by different authors. The book is in digital form and simply put, it is a great read for anyone who likes good poetry.

This book takes the words “Tag, you’re it!” to a whole new level. The manner in which this book works is that one poet writes a poem. At the end of the poem, the poet “tags” another poet. The poet that is “tagged,” must then write a poem which is connected to the first poem. This continues throughout the book and makes for entertaining reading. Many of the poets are well-known, award-winning poets such as Lee Bennett Hopkins, Nikki Grimes, Joyce Sidman and many others.

The poems in this digital selection are varied and every poem has great examples of poetic form such as rhyming, concrete and free verse poetry to funny and inspirational poems. For example, the poem “Maybe” by Joyce Sidman is a concrete poem about an egg and is shaped like an egg. Figurative language, such as the personification Lee Bennett Hopkins uses in his poem “Summer Fear,” is an excellent example for students. He writes, Roses cower/ Pansies crouch/ Sunflowers cling.

The poems are not indexed by their title but by the author in the order they were “tagged.” Due to the fact that each poem is based on the one before it, there is a relative organizational scheme to the book. The illustrations by Rich Arnold are simplistic and depict the subject of the poems.


SPOTLIGHT POEM:

After the Storm
Laura Purdie Salas

Ribbons of color
Arch
In a
Neverending
Backbend
Over the
World

This poem is a good example of an acrostic. To begin with, I would ask the students what they think a poem with this title would be about. After gathering some possibilities, I would display the poem and read it to the students and then have the students read it out loud with me. I would again ask them what they think this poem is talking about. I would tell them that this poem is an acrostic poem and explain to them that an acrostic poem is one in which certain letters in each line, spell a word. I would then ask them if they could spot the word this poem spells. After this, I would have them attempt to write their own acrostic 

Monday, April 21, 2014

MODULE 5: POETRY PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE POETRY



Franco, Betsy & Jessie Hartland. Messing Around On the Monkey Bars and other School Poems for Two Voices. Somerville, Massachusetts. Candlewick Press. 2009.


ISBN: 978-0-7636-3174-1




Messing Around On the Monkey Bars is a book of poetry containing nineteen different poems about school. These poems, whether read for two voices as intended or read individually, are written in a manner that children and adults can relate to. Adults reading this book will be taken back on a journey to their childhood school days and children will relate to their current school days. How many remember the sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize that an assignment is due and you are not prepared as in the poem “Animal Reports” or finding excuses that the teacher would accept for why you do not have your homework like in the poem “Homework Blues?” This book of poetry covers almost every aspect of school life.

Most of the poems in this book rhyme which make them perfect for elementary age children. In the poem, “Back in the Room for the Afternoon,” Betsy Franco has tapped into some creative school humor using phrases such as “Hey, how do you do, Glue? I’m all stuck up on you.” and “See you later, Calculator. You’re my favorite operator!” Another poem titled “Anatomy Class,” uses some of the traits of classroom objects as if they were human and alive. For example, “The chair has arms.” and “Our shoes have tongues.”

The illustrations Jessie Hartland created for this book are simplistic and have a cartoon-like quality which will appeal to children and are well suited to the nature of each poem. Author’s notes in the front of the book give guidance on how to perform the poems. At the back of the book, there are additional suggestions for other ways to perform poems in the book.

Spotlight Poem:

Backboard Rap

bounce, bounce
bounce, bounce Dribble, dribble,
bounce, bounce Pass to Trish.
bounce, bounce Shoot a basket.
bounce, bounce Hear the swish!
bounce, bounce Dribble, dribble,
bounce, bounce Pass to Vin.
bounce, bounce Hit the backboard.
bounce, bounce Up and in!
bounce, bounce Dribble, dribble,
bounce, bounce Take a shot!
bounce, bounce There’s the buzzer.
bounce, bounce Yeah! We’re hot!
bounce, bounce
bounce

This poem will appeal to the sports enthusiasts in the classroom. After reading the poem, I would begin a discussion about the rhythm and the lines of rhyme in this poem. I would then have the students perform the poem as it is written and since it is called Backboard Rap, I would also have the students add sound effects and/or a rhythmic beat to give it more of a rap-like quality. This would be a great opportunity to collaborate with the local music teacher.

As another activity, the students could work in groups and write their own rap about another sport or subject.

HOPKINS AWARD POETRY



Schertle, Alice & Petra Mathers. Button Up! Wrinkled Rhymes. Orlando, Florida. Harcourt Children’s Books. 2009.


ISBN: 978-0-15-205050-4





Alice Schertle’s book, Button Up is a delightful collection of poems which are written from the point of view of several different articles of clothing. The hat on top of Alice’s head, the shoes on Jennifer’s feet, and all the clothing in between have something to say about themselves. These poems and the illustrations will delight and have great appeal to young audiences. This book is unbelievably entertaining and well organized. By using short lines and end rhymes on the majority of the poems, these poems invite the reader’s participation. “Joshua’s Jammies” is an excellent example of this as is “The Song of Harvey’s Galoshes.” After a couple of readings, children will be jumping in. The use of personification to portray the clothing as live, breathing objects adds an element of fantasy and fun and Schertle almost makes you believe the clothing is truly alive.

            Mathers’ illustrations are simple, watercolor pictures. They are colorful, bright, and delightful to the eye and children will truly enjoy looking at them. Each picture is accurately partnered with a poem or phrase of a poem. These images paired with the language used, give the reader a very good visual picture of each poem. In “Emily’s Undies,” children will laugh and giggle at the sight of Emily’s underwear hanging on the clothesline. The poems are not in a particular order but there is a table of contents in the front of the book.


SPOTLIGHT POEM:

Joshua’s JAMMIES

We are the jammies that Joshua wears,
     not jammies for penguins,
     not jammies for bears,
     not jammies for tigers with knots in their tails,
     not jammies for chickens,
     not jammies for whales,
     not jammies for elephants going upstairs,
we are the jammies that Joshua wears.
     We don’t fit iguanas,
     we’re not for the gnu
     we won’t suit the llamas
    (they never wear blue)
Hippopotamus can’t get us over his head.
We’re JOSHUA’S jammies. We’re going to bed.

For this poem, I would begin by discussing personification with the students and explaining that personification is a figurative language used to give nonhuman things human qualities. I would then read the poem. I would lead the students in figuring out why this poem is an example of personification. The students and I can brainstorm together and come up with a list of personification examples and they could write their own short poem using personification.

Another idea: Most students will recognize and know what the animals in this poem are (penguins, bears, tigers, chickens, whales, elephants). Many of the students might not know what an iguana, a gnu, or a llama is. This would be a good opportunity for the students to do a little research and find out more about these animals.


SIDMAN POETRY



Sidman, Joyce & Rick Allen. Dark Emporer & Other Poems of the Night. Boston, New York. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 2010.


ISBN: 978-0-547-15228-8





Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night is a collection of poems surrounding the lives and habits of nocturnal animals. The poems in this book combine just the right amounts of poetry and science which will capture the interest of children and adults alike.

The book begins with the poem “Welcome to the Night” which invites the reader to explore the nighttime world of the forest and ends with the poem, “The Moon’s Lament” which discusses the end of the night. In between these poems, the reader will find many informative facts and interesting tidbits about nocturnal animals such as the owl, cricket, bat and many others. For example in the poem “Dark Emperor,” we find that owls have large eyes and extraordinary hearing to find prey – “What fills the cool moons of your mesmerizing eyes? What waves of sound funnel towards those waiting ears?”

 Each poem takes up two pages with the poem appearing on one page and an illustration and more detailed notes on the second page. The poems do not seem to be in any special order except for the first and last poems. The poems have varied rhyming schemes or none at all and the book does contain one concrete poem which shares its title with the book.

Rick Allen’s illustrations are made using relief printing which gives the reader an added illusion of actually being in the forest. The detail he uses for each animal illustration aligns with the factual details in the poems. On the verso page of the book, the relief printing process is briefly detailed and at the end of the book is a glossary of words which defines some of the words the reader may not know. This is a wonderful book to be used for studying nocturnal animals and fungi.


SPOTLIGHT POEM:

“The Mushrooms Come”

From moss and loam
the mushrooms come.

From bark on trees,
from crumbling logs,
from musty leaves,
the mushrooms come.

From vast pale networks
underground
they shoulder up
without a sound;
they spread their damp
umbrella tops
and lose their spores
with silent pops.
Unbuttoning the forest floor,
the mushrooms come,
the mushrooms come.

Like noses pink
in midnight air,
like giants’ ears,
like elfin hair,
like ancient cities
built on cliffs,
the mushrooms come,
the mushrooms come.

I would begin a discussion on nocturnal animals and have the students name some nocturnal animals. I would explain to the students that animals are not the only things considered nocturnal. I would share this poem and using the notes provided in the book, I would give the students additional information about the mushrooms. I would also guide them in performing the poem in a variety of ways to include using two or three voices and an ensemble for the repetitive phrase “the mushrooms come.” Also using specific instruments from the music classroom, the students could “orchestrate” the second paragraph.

To further this concept, the students could work in groups to gather information on other nocturnal fungi or plants and present their findings as a presentation using web 2.0 tools or writing their own poem and performing it as a group. 

Saturday, April 5, 2014

MODULE 4: POETRY ACROSS THE CURRICULUM


SCIENCE POETRY




Singer, Marilyn & Ed Young. A Strange Place to Call Home: The World’s Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home. San Francisco, California. Chronicle Books LLC. 2012. 
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0120-0





A Strange Place to Call Home: The World’s Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home is a wonderful book for children to learn about fourteen animals who beat the odds of survival by adapting to unusual habitats.

Children will enjoy reading about these amazing animals due in part to the various poetic forms contained in the book. Free verse, triolet, and sonnet are just a few of the forms Marilyn Singer uses. The haiku, “Dry As Dust,” will have the reader imagining what it would look like to have an explosion of toads hopping around. The other poems contained in the book will appeal to the reader’s imagination and will leave readers curious about other animals which have made unusual adaptations. The language Singer uses presents the information in a manner which will appeal to the reader and reinforces the overall purpose of the book which is to make the reader aware of the unusual habitats of some animals.

All of the poems in the book are written by Marilyn Singer who is a renowned poet. The illustrations by Ed Young, who is a Caldecott Medalist, are reminiscent of paper collages which portray the animals in their unusual habitats. The illustrations will capture the interest of the reader as much as the poems will. Endnotes at the end of the book give more detailed information about the animals which makes this book a good resource for teachers.

SPOTLIGHT POEM

A Strange Place To Call Home

Where it’s dark
Where it’s deep
Where it’s stormy
Where it’s steep
Where the rain rarely falls
            or the water always races
They survive
              strive to thrive
                        in a world of risky places.


This poem is actually found on the back cover of this book and not inside the book. I would begin a lesson on habitats of animals with this poem. Discuss with the children what kind of animals might live in the type of places described in the poem. We would then read and discuss the animals from the poems. As a follow up activity, I would put the students in small groups and have them research an animal’s habitat and behaviors. The students would create a Popplet to organize the information from their research.
SOCIAL STUDIES POETRY




Weatherford, Carole Boston. Remember the Bridge: Poems of A People. New York. Philomel Books. 2002.
ISBN: 978-0-399-23726-3





Remember the Bridge: Poems of A People is a book of poetry which details the trials and celebrations of the African American people during their time of slavery and oppression. All the poems in the book are written by Carole Boston Weatherford whose poems have also appeared in other anthologies and children’s books.

For anyone who would like to know exactly what the African American people went through and the type of suffering they endured, this book of poems will take you on that journey. The language which Weatherford uses is dark at times and creates vivid images in the reader’s mind.

“The woman’s cries do not stall the sale of
                                              her son. Tears bead up on her cheeks.
                                             Warm milk streams down her bare chest.
                                             Arms empty as her heart.”

These words describing how children were basically ripped from the arms of their mothers will evoke strong emotions as will the poems about the slave beatings with the cat - o’- nine tails and the conditions on a slave ship. One can almost hear the strike of the whip and smell the stench of the ship. While some of the poems obviously rhyme, others are a little more subtle in their patterns. The photographs and engravings which accompany the poems in the book serve to enhance the impact of the poems on the emotions of the reader.

Weatherford has also included in her book, poems which celebrate the lives of noted African Americans today. Men such as Martin Luther King and William Carney and women such as Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson and Rosa Parks all have a place in this book. The book does not seem to have a chronological format and does not have a table of contents but their absence does not seem to diminish the impact this book will have on the reader.

SPOTLIGHT POEM

The Contralto (For Marian Anderson)

Banned from playing the concert hall,
she sang outdoors on a grassy mall.
Statues watched as she warmed the crowd,
filling the wind with a sound so proud,
spirituals, arias, from her soul,
rushing, rising as rivers roll.
Praising the Lord and His mighty hands,
her voice, a bell, pealed across the land.
She told America, “I shall sing.
Listen, children, hear freedom ring!”

I would share this poem about Marian Anderson and tell the students about how she became a key figure for the struggles of black musicians and other artists in the struggle to overcome racial prejudices in the United States. As a follow up activity, I would have students choose another figure from the book and have them conduct research into how the person they chose impacted the lives of the African American people. They would present their findings to the rest of the class by using a web 2.0 tool of their choice. This would be done during Black History Month or at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was being studied.

BIOGRAPHICAL POETRY






Bernier-Grand, Carmen  T & David Díaz. César: ¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! New York: Marshall Cavendish. 2004.

ISBN: 978-0-7614-5172-3.





César: ¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! is a book of poetry which tells the story of Cesar Chavez who was a Mexican American farm worker. He eventually became the leader of the United Farm Workers and worked hard to improve the working conditions of migrant farm workers through non-violent protests.

The poems in this book are factual, free-verse poems which chronologically highlight important events in Cesar’s life from his childhood until his death in 1993. They are short poems which will lend themselves to choral reading by children and can actually stand alone and be used to study other subjects. For example in the poems “The Depression,” “Papá Chayo’s Rancho” and “On the Move,” students can get a beginning feel for what things were like during the depression years. Many of the poems in this book also contain quotes and sayings from Cesar Chavez himself and are noted with quotation marks. In the poem “Prayer of the Farm Workers’ Struggle,” Bernier-Grand begins and ends with quotes from Chavez’s prayer he wrote by the same name. “Give me honesty and patience, so that I can work with other workers” and “Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world” are two such examples. Another interesting tidbit about the book is that the author uses Spanish and English words intermixed in a majority of the poems.

The illustrations by David Diaz are reminiscent of folk art and appear on every page on which there is a poem. The pictures do reflect the subject of the poem on that page. At the end of the book, there is a glossary of the Spanish terms used in the book and their English meanings. There are notes on various subjects, as well as a chronological timeline and short synopsis of Cesar Chavez’s life.

SPOTLIGHT POEM:

Who Could Tell?
¡Hijole!
Who could tell?

Who could tell
That Cesario Estrada Chávez,
the shy American
wearing a checkered shirt,
walking with a cane to ease his back
from the burden of the fields
could organize so many people
to march for La Causa, The Cause?

Who could tell
that he with a soft pan dulce voice,
hair the color of mesquite,
and downcast, Aztec eyes,
would have the courage to speak up
for the campesinos
to get better pay,
better housing,
better health?

¡Hijole!
Who could tell?

I would use this poem to introduce Cesar Chavez in a unit of study on famous people who fought for people’s civil rights peacefully. During the unit which would include other figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King and others, I would ask students to write their own free verse poem about one of these figures and read their poem. On the day they are assigned to read their poem, they could dress up as the subject of their poem.

Monday, March 3, 2014

MODULE 3 KINDS OF POETRY

  POETIC FORM





Mecum, Ryan. Dawn of Zombie Haiku. Cincinatti,Ohio. HOW Books. 2011.
ISBN: 978-1-4403-1286-1




Ryan Mecum’s Dawn of Zombie Haiku is the story of a zombie apocalypse as told from the view point of a ten year old girl named Dawn. As the zombie apocalypse approaches, Dawn, her father and others retreat to the Statue of Liberty where they feel they will be safe from the zombie invasion. What follows is the tale of their ruin told strictly in haiku form. First, as they fight the zombies and then from the standpoint of the undead. 
 
Appropriate for junior high students and up, readers who enjoy stories about zombies and other supernatural beings will enjoy reading about zombies eating eyeballs, brains and chewing on the bones of their victims. The figurative language in this book adds to the appeal it will have to its readers. Similes and metaphors such as “A trail of zombies float like undead lily pads” and “Liberty Island is a plate we have licked clean” assists the reader in getting a mental image of what the poet is writing about. This book will have the reader’s imagination in full gear.
A standout feature of this book is that the poet has also taken words from other famous poets and turned them into haikus. For example on page 89 of the book, Mecum writes
Right beside the sea
I ate my Annabel Lee.
Quoth the raven, “Brains.”

This haiku combines words from the two poems Annabel Lee and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Mecum also uses poems by Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare and others in this same manner.
The haikus are organized chronologically to tell the story of the apocalypse as it is happening. It does include page numbers but does not have a table of contents or any other access features. The pictures in the book are a combination of photos from istockphoto.com and small illustrations which were supplied by the Curio Press book design company. The illustrations are small, simple and look like the drawings that a young girl would make. This book follows the theme of the other books written by this poet entitled Zombie Haiku, Vampire Haiku and Werewolf Haiku.
SPOTLIGHT POEM
This book is written totally in haiku so there are many of them to choose from. Instead of one, I would share several such as the three written below.
Excerpts from Dawn of Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum
A man punches one
whose face is like a pumpkin.
A rotten pumpkin (p 29).

A trail of zombies
float like undead lily pads
out into the sea (p 58).

Liberty Island
is a plate we have licked clean
and we need more plates (p 88).

After discussing with the class about how the use of figurative language enhances writing, I would use these haikus as examples containing similes and metaphors. I would then assign the students a writing activity where they would write and illustrate their own haiku in which they would be required to include a simile or metaphor.