Module 6- Poetry By Kids

Nye, Naomi Shihab, Bryan, Ashley ill. Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young People. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2000. ISBN 9780688161934

Review:
Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young People by Naomi Shihab Nye is a collection of 100 poems written by students in grades 1 through 12. The poems are written in many forms, but free verse is the prevalent form. The book is broken up into four sections: The Self and the Inner World, Where We Live, Anybody's Family, and The Wide Imagination. The poem, "In the Morning", is located in the Anybody's Family section. It speaks of the desire to escape from home, at least for a while. To escape from the yelling and pain associated with the family. "i wake up/ 5:30 a.m./ before my mother/ before my brothers/ before my sisters" Even though "i" is in lower case, it is highlighted by a larger type setting as if to say, "I am choosing a peaceful, quiet morning by getting up and leaving early for my peace of mind". I believe this poem will resonate with many students who have troubled home lives. Sometimes all we want is a little piece of quiet and solitude without anger, fear, or even overwhelming responsibility. The colorful folk art illustrations by Ashley Bryan complement the multi-aged and multicultural menage of poems in the book. It is a wonderful book of poems to share with students to illustrate the even children can write meaningful and good poetry.

Introduction:
Have students discuss things they avoid, things they dislike, etc and write them on chart paper. Then have students share things they like and embrace. Have them also tell how they are able to do the things they like to do. Read and display the poem.
Poem: excerpt from Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young People

In the Morning by Mary Gutierrez

i wake up
5:30 a.m.

before my mother
before my brothers
before my sisters

i wake up
5:30 a.m.

to a silent house
in a silent room
to a silent morning

--wake up
5:30 a.m.

leave the house
6:20 a.m.

before the yelling
before the screaming
before the pain

i wake up
5:30 a.m.

to a silent house
in a silent room
to a silent morning.

Extension:
Have students write a free verse poem on how they find "me time". Have students volunteer to read their poems aloud. Then students can compare and contrast how they find "me time". Students can also write and discuss how families are alike throughout different cultures and ethnicities.

Module 6- Janeczko Collection

Janeczko, Paul, Raschka, Chris ill. A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2005. ISBN 9780439862165

Review:
A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul Janeczko is a collection of 29 different poetic forms. Each poem is accompanied by an illustration and a brief description of the poetic form. A section called Notes on the Forms is included as a glossary of poetic forms. Raschka's watercolor, ink, and torn paper illustrations colorfully decorate the pages and poems throughout the book. There is also a clever mnemonic memory device located above each form type. Raschka placed a clever illustration to help readers remember each form's rule. For instance, the riddle poem's mnemonic device is a thought cloud with a question mark in it. The answer to the riddle is hidden throughout the illustration as well. The collection of poems represent classics from William Blake to contemporary poets like Georgia Heard. Students will enjoy the many poetic forms represented in the book and will have a better understanding of each form. A definite must for every classroom and library.

Introduction:
Play a game of "Guess Who", ask some simple trivia questions, or riddles to activate students minds. Read the poem and have students try to solve the riddle.
Poem: excerpt from A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

(A Riddle Poem)

The beginning of eternity
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
The end of every place.

Anonymous

Extension:
Have students choose a poetic form from the book and write a poem in that form. Then have students illustrate their poem using map colors and torn paper. Make a poetry art wall to display student work. Create a Non-electronic Twitter Board for comments and post next the wall for students and teachers to "tweet" about the poems and illustrations.
To make a non-Electronic Twitter Board-
1. Create a PowerPoint slide
2. Change the page layout to Portrait
3. Add a Border
4. Add WordArt for your title- i.e. Poetry Twitter Board
5. Print- Make into poster size for the wall and laminate
6. Hang next to the display and have sticky notes and pencils available for "tweeters"
(The answer to the riddle poem is "e".)

Module 6- Poetry and Fiction

Ryan, Pam Munoz, Sis, Peter ill. The Dreamer. New York: Scholastic Press, 2010. ISBN 9780439269704

excerpt from The Dreamer

..."He walked to a mound of smoking ash and kicked it with his boot. Underneath, glowing embers pulsed like a heart. ...there is always something burning beneath the surface. Sometimes it takes years to erupt. But, eventually it will. Nephew, they may have silenced La Manana, but they will never silence my pen..."

Fleischman, Paul, Beddows, Eric ill. Joyful Noise & I Am Phoenix: Poems For Two Voices. New York: HarperCollins, 1988.  ISBN 9780060218539

Review:
One might think that these two books are not very compatible. On the outside, they look completely different, but on closer inspection, they have similarities. The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan is a fictionalized account of poet Pablo Neruda's life. Neftali has a keen eye for nature and objects and is constantly "daydreaming". He sees words and books take flight and imagines riding a giant beetle in the rain forest. This whimsical side is at odds with his domineering father's beliefs. There are many references to flying, birds, freedom, hope, music, and the music of words. Joyful Noise & I Am Phoenix: Poems For Two Voices by Paul Fleischman are poems that celebrate nature and birds in a musical pattern for two voices. These poems match the joy and wonder that Neftali found in nature. Neftali's father saw no value in him or in writing poetry, so Neftali hid his wonderful writing journals. Neftali's uncle hires him at the local newspaper, which is destroyed by arsonists who were against the uncle's political beliefs. Instead of giving up in despair, he rises from the ashes even more passionate about his beliefs as shown in the excerpt from The Dreamer above. Later, Neftali's father finds his journals, and in a fit of rage, destroys them in a conflagration. He hopes this will kill all of Neftali's hope and joy in writing. But, like the Phoenix and his uncle, Neftali is reborn through those ashes. He is able to shake off the ashes of his restricted life and find the passion to be himself-the writer inside. I could not get the image of the phoenix rising from its ashes out of my mind as I read these books. A phoenix represents rebirth, rebuilding, renewal, etc., as the phoenix is reborn, so too was Neftali reborn into the poet Pablo Neruda.

Introduction:
Have students journal about themselves. Who are you? What are your best traits? What are your worst traits? What do you do well? If you could change anything about yourself or your life what would it be? Why?
As you read through the book with students, you can share various poems from Joyful Noise & I Am Phoenix: Poems For Two Voices that complement events and images from the book, The Dreamer. The students can read the poems as groups or as duets.
Poem: excerpt from Joyful Noise & I Am Phoenix: Poems For Two Voices

The Phoenix

...         

                                                                      at dawn,

just as the sun

                                        rises in the east

I rise                                                               I rise

from the ashes

and fly upward-

                                                                      a

new                                                                new

Phoenix, ...

Extension:

Have students look up information on Chile, the Mapuche, Phoenix, Chilean birds, swans, etc. Have students write a poem about any of these topics and include an illustration.

or

Have students review their journal entry from the introduction activity. Who are you? What are your best traits? What are your worst traits? What do you do well? If you could change anything about yourself or your life what would it be? Why? Students can write a biopoem, acrostic poem, diamante, or other poem about themselves, how they could be reborn like a phoenix, etc.

Module 5- Hopkins Award Poetry



Myers, Walter Dean, Myers, Christopher ill. Jazz. New York: Holiday House, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8234-2173-2

Review:
Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers capture the earthiness of jazz through the poems and illustrations in their book, Jazz. The poems represent the development of jazz, some influential people in jazz, and a glossary of terms. In "America's Music", jazz instruments are introduced as well as the meter of jazz- 4/4 time. Walter Dean Myers gives character to the instruments through personification and the use of similes, "Strings crying like midnight widows/ Horns tearing down Jericho walls/ A clarinet sassing". These words give sounds and personality to the instruments and the music they make. The illustrations by Christopher Myers uses bold  blues, greens, yellows, and reds with bold brush strokes representative of the music they represent. The rhythm of the poem is like jazz in that it is, "Behind the beat, around the beat/ Bending the in-between". Jazz can be on the upbeat, the down beat, or a syncopated rhythm similar to the poem. This is a wonderful addition to a library collection.


Introduction:
Play jazz music in the library. While they listen to the music, have them draw shapes, lines, designs that the music's rhythm or instrumentation makes them see in their minds. Similar to a stereo equalizer but with shapes and such. Give each student a copy of the poem and read it to them. Reread the poem aloud. Read the poem and have the students read in chorus the words in yellow print. For a challenging activity, try reading the poem in a cannon.

Poem: America's Music by Walter Dean Myers an excerpt from Jazz

What did the world see?
What did the world hear?
Black men sweating in 4/4 time
Behind the beat, around the beat
Bending the in-between
Strings crying like midnight widows
Horns tearing down Jericho walls
A clarinet sassing
Its way through
a Sunday-night sermon
And the chorus calling out the blues!
And ragtime!
And jazz!
From Mississippi to Harlem
While the folks across the ocean
were just saying
AMERICA

Extension:
Have band students prepare a jazz piece of music and play it for the class. They can play solos, duets, trios, etc. Students can also research influential jazz musicians and present 6 interesting facts about the person to the class. They can write an acrostic poem describing their person.

Module 5- Sidman Poetry

Sidman, Joyce, Allen, Rick ill. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8

Review:
Joyce Sidman's Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night celebrates woodland creatures of the night. Each poem is accompanied by facts about nocturnal creatures mentioned in the poems. A glossary is included at the end of the book. Allen cleverly depicts the creatures of the night in darkened lino cut prints representing their habitats. He also includes a wandering red eft throughout the book which accompanies the poem "Ballad of the Wandering Eft". It is a very inventive way to weave the poetry and illustrations together throughout the book. The poem "Welcome to the Night" uses the repeated refrain "welcome to the night" and a rhyming pattern for each stanza (stanza 1-AAA, stanza 2-BBB, stanza 3- CCC, and stanza 4-DDD). The words not only rhyme, but some also utilize onomatopoeia ( buzz, chirp, hoot, rough, etc). Sidman also includes the senses-touch, feel, and smell, "Come feel the cool.../come smell your way.../come touch rough bark..." This book would complement lessons in science on habitats, nocturnal creatures, and literature. A definite plus for every classroom library.

Introduction:
Have pictures of a streetlight, owl, worms, sunset, moon, bat, shady/dark woods, opossum, raccoon, bat, etc (things associated with night). Have students try to find out what all of these things have in common. They are related to night or nocturnal animals. Then read and display the poem and illustration. Share the informational passage as well with students and discuss creatures of the night and their habitat.

Poem: excerpt from Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Welcome to the Night by Joyce Sidman

To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep:
Welcome to the night.

To you who make the forest sing,
who dip and dodge on silent wing,
who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling:
Welcome to the night!

Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.

The night's a sea of dappled dark,
the night's a feast of sound and spark,
the night's a wild, enchanted park.
Welcome to the night!

Extension:
To link these poems  and illustrations to science curriculum, use the aspect of camouflage. Many nocturnal animals use camouflage to hide from predators. To help students understand camouflage, use the following activity with students:
use a colorfully decorated wrapping paper as the background- save some of the paper to use later
cut out animal shapes using a solid color piece of construction paper and the left over wrapping paper
glue the animal shapes on the wrapping paper background
Students will try to find all of the animals on the paper (the wrapping paper cut-outs will be harder to identify due to camouflage). Have students write about how camouflage can be helpful to nocturnal creatures.

Module 5- Performance Poetry

Franco, Betsy, Hart, Jessie ill. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2009.

Review:
Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices by Betsy Franco is filled with 19 creative poems for two voices related to school themes. Dreams of double dutch danced in my head as I read "Jump Rope Jingle". The rhythm of jump roping is illustrated in the words, line breaks, white space, and in the voice parts. It is a perfect match to the subject of the poem. Each poem is written in an easy way and language that makes them accessible to all readers. The school related subject matter is something all kids (students) can relate to and enjoy, especially the humorous poems. Hart's illustrations are reminiscent of childhood drawings and memories. They definitely represent each poem well. Students will enjoy reading these poems in pairs or in groups.

Introduction:
Ask students if they know any jump rope rhymes or jingles. Have them share what they know and demonstrate, if possible, the movements for the jingle (have jump ropes available). Write these down as students share them. Show the poem and read it to students twice. Then reread the poem having students chime in as the chorus voices. Choose 2 students for voice 1 and voice 2 and reread the poem.

Poem: excerpt from Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices by Betsy Franco
Voice 1
Voice 2
Chorus voices

Jump Rope Jingle

Come on in.
I'll jump with you.
It's double fun
to jump with two.

Jump, jump,
spin around.
Jump, jump,
slap the ground.

Turn to the east.
Turn to the west.
Choose the one
you like the best.

Jump, jump,
A, B,
C.

Jump, jump,
1, 2,
3.

Turn in circles.
Keep the beat.
Feel the rhythm
in your feet!

Extension:
Have jump ropes available for students to use. Have students use the movement directions in the poem with the jump ropes. Students can work in pairs or groups to complete the activity. Then students can create their own jump rope poems.