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