Open Wide, Look Inside

New Resources for Parents and Teachers

Published by Tricia on February 5, 2009 in teaching. 1 Comment

I often point my preservice teachers to the U.S. Department of Education publications site for useful resources. I’m particularly fond of the the Helping Your Child brochure series. This series “aims to provide parents with the tools and information necessary to help their children succeed in school and life. These brochures feature practical lessons and activities to help their school aged and preschool children master reading, math and science; understand the value of homework; and, develop the skills and values necessary to achieve and grow.”

Several of these popular booklets have been updated and are available for free download. Here are some you may want to check out.

The Ed Pubs site also has a number of great resources on reading. Here are a few.

Dad’s Playbook: Coaching Kids to Read - This brief brochure provides information about the importance of teaching children to read and how fathers can use simple skills to help their children be even better readers. It also describes some strategies proven to work by the most rigorous scientific reading research available on the teaching of reading. I particularly like the personal stories that introduce readers to 20 different fathers helping their children learn to read.
A Child Becomes a Reader: Kindergarten Through Grade 3 - This booklet, written specifically for parents with children in kindergarten through grade 3, includes ideas about how parents can help their child become a reader when they talk, play, and read together. It also provides ideas about what effective literacy programs look like in day care centers, preschools, and classrooms.
Booklets in the Shining Stars series are subtitled “How Parents Can Help Their __ Learn to Read.” Fill in the blank with the age or grade of a child. Each booklet describes strategies proven to work by the most rigorous scientific research available on the teaching of reading.

Nonfiction Nuggets - The Arctic Life

Published by Tricia on January 12, 2009 in nonfiction nuggets, life science and science. 0 Comments

I’ve been reading through a host of books on arctic life with my son as of late. Here is a trio of books that examines life in the harsh arctic wilderness.

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, written by Debbie S. Miller and illustrated by Jon Van Zyle - The city of Fairbanks, Alaska lies one hundred and fifteen miles south of the Arctic Circle. This book provides seasonal descriptions of the changing hours of light and temperatures in Fairbanks from one summer solstice to the next. Across the top of each page readers will find the date, total number of hours and minutes of daylight, times for sunrise and sunset, and average high and low temperatures. The text examines everything from the migration of birds and caribou to the hibernation of bears, all placed within the context of the lengthening and shortening of days. Animals referenced in the text include the moose, snowshoe hare, grizzly bear, ground squirrel, sandhill crane, caribou, wolf, raven, and trumpeter swan. The text ends with a glossary that explains phenomena like “blinks,” “diamond dust,” and “sun dogs.”

Ice Bears, written by Brenda Guiberson and illustrated by Ilya Spirin - Beautifully written and illustrated, this story begins in December with the birth of two polar bear cubs and follows them through the year. Readers learn how they grow, develop, and learn to survive in a complex ecosystem. The ice is a central focus here, and readers will come to see the threat to the bears as the climate warms and the ice melts. The back matter explains a bit more about threats to the arctic and includes a list of websites for environmental organizations. For more information on this book, please read my review.

Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with a Caribou Herd, written by Karsten Heuer - Read that title again and let two words sink in–ON FOOT. This is an adaptation of Heuer’s adult title that describes the five months he and his wife spent following the migration of more than 100,000 Grant’s caribou to their breeding ground in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In describing the difficulties they (humans) faced, Heuer also provides readers with an intimate view of this seasonal trek from the perspective of the caribou. While journeying thousands of kilometers, the caribou must cross mountain slopes, thawing rivers, as well as survive blizzards and the constant threat of predators. Accompanied by photographs of the migration, this is an amazing story that helps readers to understand the delicate Arctic ecosystem.

If you are interested in learning more about the arctic and arctic wildlife, check out these resources.

Defenders of Wildlife has a series of wildlife and habitat fact sheets.
Polar Bears International has an extensive page of polar bear facts.
The National Geographic Society has information on polar bears at creature feature.
Canadian Geographic has some information on caribou.
The Arctic Studies Center answers some frequently asked questions about the arctic.
The Arctic Wildlife Portfolio at the Arctic Studies Center has a wealth of information on birds, as well as land and sea mammals

This post was written for Nonfiction Monday. Head on over to Anastasia Suen’s blog and check out all the great posts highlighting nonfiction this week.

Poetry in the Classroom - Counting Books and Poetry

Published by Tricia on January 12, 2009 in poetry in the classroom and math. 2 Comments

There are many, many counting books available these days. Some are even written in rhyme, but two of my favorites are actually books of poems.

One Leaf Rides the Wind, written by Celeste Davidson Mannis and illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung, is set in a Japanese garden where a young girl counts the things she sees, like bonsai, koi, and lotus flowers. The left side of each spread contains an illustration of the objects being counted. These are gorgeous pieces done with oil paint glazes on sealed paper. On the right side of each spread is the printed numeral, a haiku describing the objects, and a footnote introducing readers to various aspects of traditional Japanese culture. Here is an example.

9
Hoping for some crumbs,
they nibble at my fingers.
Nine glittering koi.

Koi fish are admired for their colorful appearance and
hardiness. They are also a popular symbol of
determination and strength. Ancient legend tells of a koi
fish that struggled up a huge waterfall in order to be
transformed into a dragon.

The book ends with a brief description of the Japanese garden and some information about haiku. This is a quiet, beautiful counting book that also serves as a wonderful introduction to haiku.

Ten Times Better, written by Richard Michelson and illustrated by Leonard Baskin, is a collection of dueling poems in which an animal describes a feature it is proud of, such as the three toes on a sloth, only to be bested by an animal that is ten times better in some way. The three-toed sloth is bested by the centipede, which has thirty feet. Here is an example from 7 and 70.

My mask makes me look like a bandit in jail,
but my number’s heavenly–count on my tail.
I have SEVEN halos, that’s how I perceive it.
Raccoons into stealing? Don’t you believe it!

Seven? Good heavens! So what? Count my spots.
I’m TEN TIMES BETTER. Giraffes have…well, lots.
Me, I have SEVENTY just on my neck.
Heck, you can count them yourself. C’mon check.

You can view some sample images from the book at the author’s web site. The watercolor images provide exceptional views of the animals and provide opportunities for counting. Yes, there are actually 60 teeth in the mouth of the alligator, I counted them! The book ends with an extensive section of information on each of the animals highlighted. In addition to basic information, readers are challenged to solve a math problem. Here is what you’ll find for giraffe.

Giraffes are the tallest land animals. Baby giraffes are over six feet tall when they are born.
Every giraffe’s neck has a unique pattern of spots. Their necks alone grow taller than the tallest person.

A baby giraffe can stand on its own ten minutes after birth and it can run within ten hours. Even a small baby giraffe is TEN TIMES HEAVIER than a huge human baby. If that baby weights eleven pounds at birth (most weight seven to eight pounds), how much might a small baby giraffe weigh?

The final page of the book contains and index to the animals and answers to all the math questions posed in the informational section. Counting from 1 to 10 and in multiples from 10 to 100, this is a unique and imaginative counting book.

If you are interested in extending these topics in your classroom, these resources may come in handy.

ReadWriteThink has a lesson plan called Reading, Writing, Haiku Hiking! that uses One Leaf Rides the Wind.
You can print a word search on objects found in a Japanese garden.
The Children’s Haiku Garden is an invitational gallery of haiku verses with illustrations from Japanese children and other children from countries around the world.
The Scholastic article Books for Teaching Poetry and Motivating Poets provides a book list with categories for teaching haiku and other forms of poetry, a sampling of books written in haiku, and a literature selection to learn more about the samurai and Japan.
Try this lesson plan using Ten Times Better that focuses on multiplying by 10.
The Math Page has an informational page on multiplying and dividing by powers of 10.
Try creating some of your own poems using these amazing animal facts.

Poetry in the Classroom - America at War

Published by Tricia on January 11, 2009 in poetry in the classroom, history and social studies. 0 Comments

From the Introduction:

America at War is not about war. It is about the poetry of war. With poems divided into eight sections, warfare is traced from the American Revolution to the Iraqi war via poets’ pens.
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America at War presents raw emotions of warfare as seen and felt by poets–including past masters such as Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, and Stephen Crane, as well as over thirty works–more than half of the selections–especially commissioned for this collection. The focus is not solely on the atrocities, bloodshed, and gort that come with battles. What is emphasized is the emotional impact–the torment, grief, angst that men, women, and children feel as war becomes part of their present-day lives, their future and forever-afters.

When I first read this book I found myself wondering when and how I could write about it. What can you say about poems that leave you silent and still? How do you respond to a book that shakes you to your very core?

America at War, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, is a collection of 54 poems by more than 40 poets. With watercolor illustrations in a variety of styles, some cubist in nature, the images capture the essence of the ideas contained in each poem. Divided into sections, each war is preceded by an introductory page that contains the name of the war and the dates it was fought, a quote about the war, and a brief summary of the conflict. I was started to read the page for the Iraq War, which simply lists (2001- ) as the date. To get a feel for how these introductions are set up, here is an excerpt from the first section of the book.

The American Revolution
(1775-1783)

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
United States Founding Father
* * *
The American Revolution began as a result of taxation by the British
without representation of the colonists.

On April 19, 1775, the day after Paul Revere’s famous ride, the
“shot heard round the world” was fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, and
colonial Americans and British soldiers then fought for over eight years.

One of the most astounding things about these pages is the number of dead attributed to each war. As hard as this information can be to fully understand, the poems bring the impact of these numbers home. The poems are raw and emotional. They are hard to read. However, they are honest and true and deserve to be read. Here is an example. This poem comes from the section on the American Revolution.

Stanzas
by Anonymous

Eyes of men running, falling, screaming
Eyes of men shouting, sweating, bleeding
Eyes of the fearful, those of the sad
Eyes of exhaustion and those of the mad.

Eyes of men thinking, hoping, waiting
Eyes of men loving, cursing, hating
Eyes of the wounded sodden in red
Eyes of the dying and those of the dead.

The Prologue and Epilogue nicely open and close this exceptional volume. The Prologue highlights a poem by Joan Bransfield Graham entitled “Wish for Peace.” It begins:

Would
that war
could only
rage upon the
battlefield of the page,

The Epilogue contains a poem by Ann Wagner entitled “Vocabulary Lesson.” It begins:

We don’t have wars.

We have

conflicts
campaigns
operations
escalations
missions
offensives
preemptive strikes.

We don’t have soldiers.

You can read more of the poems in this collection at the Simon & Schuster web site.

I can’t say enough about how amazing this book is. It is a gift to every teacher who has ever wanted his/her students to understand that war has a human face and takes a human toll.

This book is a 2008 Cybils finalist in the poetry category.

Poetry in the Classroom - Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat?

Published by Tricia on January 10, 2009 in poetry in the classroom, history and social studies. 0 Comments

While in middle school, I discovered war ration books in a box in our attic that belonged to my father’s family. I also found pictures of fighter planes, my father alongside them, taken while he was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the later years of the war. Finding these bits of family history ignited a lifelong interest in WWII and particularly the Holocaust. I have a large collection of books on this subject, many of them children’s books, though I don’t use of any of them with students younger than middle-school age. One book I find particularly moving is actually a poetic meditation on a woman’s hat once on display in a museum.

Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat?, written and illustrated by Nancy Patz, was the winner of the Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Book Award in 2003. On a visit to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, Nancy Patz saw a hat in a glass case. In the author’s note she writes, “That’s all there was–no label, no explanation, just a woman’s hat on a stand. As I looked at it, I realized that this remnant, this quite ordinary hat, was all that remained of a woman’s life.”After drawing the hat in her sketchbook, Patz drew a self-portrait of herself in the hat, and then wrote several poems. When she realized that the poems could become the text of a book, she focused on the illustrations. She crumpled her drawing papers, stained them with watercolor, and tore the edges. She taped copies of photographs to the sketches, which she later integrated into her pencil drawings. As a result of this work, readers find themselves faced with a mix of pencil drawings, watercolors, and photographs that bring this woman and the horrible reality of the time to life.

Here is an excerpt from the middle of the poem.

When did she buy it?
I wonder.
And where did she wear it?
Downtown, shopping with her
daughter?
Laughing with her little girl
as they hurried along to Grandma’s house?
Happily walking home
with her husband
in the chill of evening?I wonder
if she wore it
the day she left home the last time,
that cold, cold day in Amsterdam–
that cold, cruel day in Amsterdam
when the Jews were herded together
and arrested in the Square.

The poem ends with an extensive author’s note and a chronology of the Holocaust. This is a haunting poem that helps to put a human face on the atrocities of war.

Here are some additional resources for teaching this topic in the classroom.

Monica Edinger at educating alice has a post on the Holocaust for young children, and why it isn’t necessary to introduce it to children at such an early age.
The History Place has an informational site on genocide in the 20th century.
NOVA Online has a site entitled Holocaust on Trial, which examines the notion of Holocaust denial.
The BBC History site has a comprehensive resource on World War Two, as well as one on Genocide Under the Nazis.
The Florida Center for Instructional Technology has a teacher’s guide to the Holocaust.
The United States Holocaust Museum has a wealth of resources for teaching about the Holocaust.
Teaching Tolerance magazine has a teaching kit for grades 8-12 entitled One Survivor Remembers.
The Virginia Holocaust Museum also has resources for teaching.
You can take a virtual tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.
Remember.org is a cybrary of the Holocaust that shares art, photos, poems, facts and much more.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has a Multimedia Learning Center with virtual exhibits, teacher resources, and more.
You can learn more about Anne Frank at the web site of the Anne Frank Museum Amsterdam.
The Holocaust History Project is a free archive of documents, photographs, recordings, and essays.
The Jewish Virtual Library has an informational section on the Holocaust.

Poetry in the Classroom - Quiet, Little Books

Published by Tricia on January 9, 2009 in poetry in the classroom. 0 Comments

On my shelf of poetry are two slim volumes of beautifully crafted poems.

Flights of Fancy: And Other Poems, by Myra Cohn Livingston, is a collection of 40 poems that cover a wide range of topics, all made immediate by the writer’s keen sense of observation. There are poems here about birds, airplane seat belts, clouds, checkers, popcorn and many other everyday topics. Here is one of my favorites.

Letter to a Pen Pal
I have
just cut out all
the states from Arizona
to Pennsylvania and thrown them
away.

Now that
California
and New York are so close
we can get together most of
the time

and play
over at your
house or play here at mine
and talk whenever we want to
and ride

our bikes
and we won’t need
to stay on the phone for so long
and I can stop writing all these
letters.

My pen pal growing up was in Japan. I remember wanting desperately to meet her, to erase the distance between us. This poem conveys those feelings remarkably well. All the poems in the book are like this–quietly capturing moments in ways readers can understand.

A Crack in the Clouds And Other Poems, written by Constance Levy and illustrated by Robin Bell Corfield, is a collection of 38 poems that celebrate everything from ballet, to herb gardens, to jack-o-lanterns. The writing here also conveys an attention to the world around, ocusing on the smallest, often unnoticed thing. As someone who spent a lot of time exploring the woods and fields around my childhood home, this poem brings back fond, albeit prickly memories.

Bur
I picked off
a bur,
a sticky
bur
that clutched my shirt,

a pod
of seeds
with an urge
to travel
but no wings to fly
that hitchhiked
a ride,

hopping on board
from the weeds
near the road
as my sleeve
brushed by.

Well, seeds in need
do have to try!

The poems in this volume are largely written in free verse. When read aloud you’ll find they have such wonderful cadences and rhythms. This is another quiet book of verse that packs a punch in the way it reflects the way kids often look at the world.

Poetry in the Classroom - Colorful Poetry

Published by Tricia on January 8, 2009 in poetry in the classroom. 2 Comments

I have been thinking about the teaching of patterns and classification recently, and find myself coming back to the trait of color over and over again. Color often plays an important part (if not integral) in the way we describe and define things in the world around us. In the case of poetry, color often helps set a mood. However, in this set of books, the poems are all about color.

Hailstones and Halibut Bones, written by Mary O’Neill and illustrated by John Wallner, is a collection of 13 poems, each about a different color. First published in 1961, it was updated in 1989 with gorgeous new illustrations. All the poems in this volume are titled What is __? (Fill in the blank with a color.) Here is an excerpt from one of the poems.

What is Red?
Red is a sunset
Blazy and bright.
Red is feeling brave
With all your might.
Red is a sunburn
Spot on your nose,
Sometimes red
Is a red, red rose.
Red squiggles out
When you cut your hand.
Red is a brick and
A rubber band.

The poems in this book are all filled with a keen sense of observation. In some cases, reading them makes you say, “Oh yes, that IS red!” (or green, blue or some other color). Nearly 50 years old, these poems have stood the test of time.

Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People, written by Jane Yolen with photographs by Jason Stemple, is a collection of 13 poems about 11 colors. Each double-page spread contains a poem (two if the form is haiku) about one color, and is accompanied by one or more color photographs. Synonyms for the color are scattered around each page. The page for purple contains this poem.

Purple
I have no rhyme for purple.
None
But each purple flower in the forest
is a poem.

Synonyms on this page include amethyst, lavender, plum and violet. The final poem, “Crayons: A Rainbow Poem”, describes the enormous variety of colors in the natural world and in the skin color of the people who inhabit it.

Flashy, Clashy, and Oh-So Splashy: Poems About Color, by Laura Purdie Salas, is a collection of 15 color-themed poems. Each one is accompanied by a gorgeous photograph. The colors are vibrant, with poems adding to the exuberance. One poem begins this way.

I’m flashy
and clashy
and beautifully
splashy
and everyone notices me!

Can you guess what color this poem was written for?
One of my favorite poems is accompanied by a close-up photo of a cow. Here is an excerpt.

Cow Colors
Creamy
coat with
spots of
ink

Chocolate
eyes in
slow deep
blink

Only
browns
and blacks,
you think

I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s just lovely and totally fits with the image.

This book not only includes poems, but also an informational section on the language of poetry that includes definitions of poetic forms and devices. These descriptions are connected to examples in the book. After this you will find a glossary of words from the poems that early readers may not know, and a list of related books and Internet sites.

I recommend matching any of these books with Steve Jenkins’ book Living Color, which looks at animals (66 of them!) in color groups and explores the role that color plays in the life of that animal. For example, in looking at red animals red could mean:

I’m all grown up (some animals change color upon reaching adulthood).
You can’t see us (great description of light).
It must have been something I ate (imagine turning pink from eating so much red food).

The book ends with an afterword explaining more about coloration. This is followed by a pictorial appendix that includes approximate sizes for each of the book’s creatures.

If you are interested in exploring more about the topic of color, check out some of these resources.

Try this lesson plan on how language can create various moods. It uses both Hailstones and Halibut Bones and Color Me A Rhyme.
The lesson Voices in the Gallery encourages students to look at art for poetic inspiration. Color is one of the themes they can choose to write about.
Color Matters for Kids discusses how animals see colors, why school buses are yellow, and more.
The Color Vision & Art web site looks at how the science of vision and modern art converged. Don’t let this scare you. They have a great resource that defines color.
What does it mean to be colorblind? Find out in this article for kids on colorblindness.
NASA has a great site on visible light waves and the colors of the spectrum.
The BrainPop site has a movie on color and another on rainbows. (Note: Subscription required.)
The Tech Museum has an online exhibit entitled Make a Splash with Color.
At Science Kids you can learn how rainbows form.
The Victoria Museum has a wealth of information on rainbows.

Poetry in the Classroom - Voices From Other Lands

Published by Tricia on January 7, 2009 in poetry in the classroom and diversity. 0 Comments

I love poetry that gives me a glimpse of life in other places, but I also like the affirmation that comes from knowing others so far away may not be so different from me. Here are two books that bring these other voices to life.

This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from around the World, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a collection of poems in a range of styles from sixty-eight countries. The poems are divided into six sections–Words and Silences, Dreams and Dreamers, Families, This Earth and Sky in Which We Live, Losses, and Human Mysteries. Here are two of my favorite poems, both from the section Human Mysteries.

Debt
by Sunay Akin (Turkey)
translated by Yusuf Eradam

I used to drop my pocket money
into the rain grates by the road
taking them for piggy-banks–
that’s why it’s the sea
that owes me most

Jerusalem
by Yehuda Amichai
translated by Stephen Mitchell

On a roof in the Old City
laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight;
the white sheet of a woman who is my enemy,
the towel of a man who is my enemy,
to wipe off the sweat of his brow.

In the sky of the Old City
a kite.
At the other end of the string,
a child
I can’t see
because of the wall.

We have put up many flags,
they have put up many flags.
To make us think that they’re happy.
To make them think that we’re happy.

The book ends with notes on the contributors, a world map showing their locations (centered on Eastern Russia, Japan and Australia–a very interesting way to view the world that for us is so often centered on North America), and suggestions for further reading. Readers will also find an index for countries and one for poets. This is a wonderful collection that will allow readers to see how varied cultures are both distinguished and united under one sky.

The Tree is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems & Stories From Mexico, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye and illustrated with paintings by Mexican artists, is an amazing collection from a wide range of Mexican writers. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction.

Now I live in one of the most Mexican of U.S. Cities, in an inner-city neighborhood where no dinner table feels complete without a dish of salsa for gravity, and the soft air hums its double tongue. For some, this may not qualify me to gather writings of a culture not in my blood. I suggest that blood be bigger than what we’re born with, that blood keep growing and growing as we live; otherwise how will we become true citizens of the world? For twenty years, working as a visiting writer in dozens of schools in my city and elsewhere, I have carried poems by writers of many cultures into classrooms, feeling the large family of voices linking human experience. We have no borders when we read.

The book is divided into two sections–People and Earth and Animals. It contains extensive notes on the contributors and folktales. There are indexes of titles in English, titles in Spanish, and writers and artists. Here is one of my favorite poems, in the original Spanish and in translation.

La luna, un plátano
by Jesús Carlos Soto Morfín

Un plátano se fue
de noche
en un avion

Desde entonces
se quedó pegado
en el cielo
y le llaman luna

The Moon, a Banana
by Jesús Carlos Soto Morfín
translated by Judith Infante

A banana left
at night
on a plane

Since then
he’s been stuck
in the sky
and we call him moon

Both the poems and illustrations come in a wide range of forms, exposing readers to the beauty of Mexican culture. This is a lovely volume that brings the magic of poetry to life.

Here are some additional resources related to this topic that you may find useful.

Naomi Shihab Nye wrote an article for The ALAN Review on poetry entitled Lights in the Windows.
You can learn more about Naomi Shihab Nye and listen to her read some of her poetry.
Here is a middle school lesson on poetry and culture.
This lesson on the language of surprise recommends poems from This Same Sky.
Check out this thematic list of multicultural poetry.

Poetry in the Classroom - Fold and Bend

Published by Tricia on January 6, 2009 in poetry in the classroom. 0 Comments

I’ve been wanting to write about Kristine O’Connell George’s book Fold Me a Poem for some time now. I actually have talked about using it in a mathematical context and paired with Lissy’s Friends by Grace Lin, but for this series I was hoping to find another poetry book to pair it with. While perusing my shelves, I came up with the perfect title.

Fold Me a Poem, written by Kristine O’Connell George and illustrated by Lauren Stringer, is a collection of 32 poems that document a young boy’s day as he folds a menagerie of animals and imagines their actions. The artwork that accompanies the poems is vibrant. The origami animals appear life-like, despite the crinkles and folds that form their shapes. One of my favorite poem/illustration pairs is a double page spread with 2 origami rabbits in one corner, separated by a wall of blocks from 4 foxes. The foxes appear to be spying on the rabbits. The poem is below.

Protection
At one end
of the table,
the rabbits.

At the other end,
the foxes.

I don’t
want
trouble.

The animals are folded from a variety of plan and patterned papers. In some cases the boy paints, cuts or glues the animals. One double-page spread shows him placing spots on a leopard, while a variety of other animals look on. The leopard is admonished in the poem with the words, “Don’t fidget, Leopard./I need to do/your spots.” Another poem/illustration set I love is about penguins. On the left side of the page the penguins begin to take shape. On the right, a whole flock is standing while white bits of paper from a hole punch drop down on them.

White Paper
My hole puncher
clicks and clicks.
Snowflakes,
snowdrifts.

This is an imaginative and lyrical book of poetry that kids will love.

If you can’t fold paper or don’t have the patience for working on such a small scale, something more kinesthetic may be just what you need. How about poems for folding and bending your body? Twist: Yoga Poems, written by Janet Wong and illustrated by Julie Paschkis, is a collection of 16 free verse poems that are inspired by yoga poses. Each poem is featured on one side of a double-page spread with an illustration of a child performing the pose on the opposite page. The watercolor illustrations are done in a style inspired by Indian miniature paintings. In addition to this gorgeous artwork, each pose and verse are framed by mirror-image decorations of flowers, animals, vines, etc. The verses are brief and get right to the essence of each pose. While I love the variety of poems about animal poses, my favorite poem is about breathing.

Breath
Breath is a broom
sweeping your insides.Smooth and slow:
You pull scattered bits of dream fluff
And heart dust into neat piles…

Breath is a broom
sweeping you fresh.

This is a beautiful book, full of spare, elegant verse and gorgeous illustrations. It is also one kids will enjoy, even if they don’t practice yoga (though they may want to try once they’ve read this book).

For those of you interested in learning more about these topics, check out these resources.

Scholastic has an origami math lesson where kids fold a frog and whale.
Elaine at Wild Rose Reader wrote a great post on pairing Fold Me a Poem and Lissy’s Friends.
Activity TV has videos and directions for several different origami projects.
Origami for Kids has directions, videos and many other resources for origami projects.
Over at the Blue Rose Girls, Elaine has an interview with Janet Wong and Julie Paschkis about Twist.
Esme Raji Codell has a brief review of Twist as well as some suggestions for other children’s books about yoga.
The Yoga Site has information on a variety of yoga postures.
Children’s Yoga has a page entitled Try Yoga Now that provides basic information for getting kids started with yoga.

Poetry in the Classroom - School Daze

Published by Tricia on January 5, 2009 in poetry in the classroom. 2 Comments

My friends in K-12 schools are back today. I am at work preparing for the spring semester, though I have another week before my students return. Right now I’m thinking a lot about the academic year and the cycle of school days. We’re still holding out for a snow day or two here, but generally, we’d rather be in school than out. These thoughts all put me in mind of some wonderful books of poetry about school.

I Thought I’d Take My Rat to School: Poems for September to June, selected by Dorothy Kennedy and Illustrated by Abby Carter, contains 57 poems that describe the range of experiences children have in school, from classroom pets, to school supplies, recess, mean kids, and more. Poems in this volume are written by Gary Soto, Bobbi Katz, Judith Viorst, Karla Kuskin, Eve Merriam, and many others. There are at least three different poems on the topic of homework. Here is an excerpt from each one.

Homework
by Russell Hoban

Homework sits on top of Sunday, squashing Sunday flat.
Homework has the smell of Monday, homework’s very fat.
Heave books and piles of paper, answers I don’t know.
Sunday evening’s almost finished, now I’m going to go

Homework! Oh, Homework!
by Jack Prelutsky

Homework! Oh, Homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink,
if only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, Homework!
You’re giving me fits.

Homework
by Jane Yolen

What is it about homework
That makes me want to write
My Great Aunt Myrt to thank her for
The sweater that’s too tight?

This is an entertaining collection of poems with many gems that are sure to please students.

School Supplies: A Book of Poems, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Renée Flower, contains 16 poems about the school paraphernalia we simply can’t do without. If you have kids who get excited about pencils, paperclips, crayons, and other such schoolroom tools, then this book will grab them with its artwork and its poetry. For the aspiring writer in your class, there are poems about new notebooks, writer’s notebooks, and lots of writing utensils. For the kids who lean towards illustrated writing, there are poems on crayons and Popsicle sticks and glue. There is a homework poem in this one too. Here is an excerpt.

Homework
by Barbara Juster Esbensen

It rustles it
shifts with no wind
in the room to
move it
Listen!
the blank white
paper
needs your attention.

While these first two books are out of print, this last one is brand-spanking new. Do Buses Eat Kids?: Poems About School, by Laura Purdie Salas, is a collection of 15 school-themed poems. Each one is accompanied by a gorgeous photograph. Topics include school buses and bus rides, pencils, lockers, sports and more. Any yes, there is a homework poem! Here’s an excerpt. See if you can imagine what the photo it’s paired with looks like.

Oh, Did You Need that Homework?

I’ve crunched your numbers
torn them up
’cause I’m a homework-
chomping pup

Thanks for leaving
out your pack
Your problems made a
tasty snack

This one not only includes poems, but also an informational section on the language of poetry that includes definitions of poetic forms and devices. These descriptions are connected to examples in the book. After this you will find a glossary of words from the poems that early readers may not know, and a list of related books and Internet sites.

Here are a few other school-themed poetry books that I enjoy.

Lunch Money: And Other Poems About School, written by Carol Shields and illustrated by Paul Meisei
If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems About School, written by Kalli Dakos and illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Put Your Eyes Up Here: And Other School Poems, written by Kalli Dakos and illustrated by G. Brian Karas
The Bug in Teacher’s Coffee: And Other School Poems, written by Kalli Dakos and illustrated by Mike Reed

Finally, here are some additional resources for thinking about school-themed poetry.

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader has a wonderful post on going back to school with poetry.
Teacher Helpers has some back to school poetry.
Giggle Poetry has a number of school poems.
Poetry for Kids also has some school-themed poems.