Module 6- Falling Hard (YA authored poetry)

Franco, Betsy, Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teachers. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2008.

ISBN: 978-0-7636-3437-7

Betsy Franco is the author of a lot of very deep poetry! Falling Hard is a compilation of poems about love, written by young adults. I am a fan of Betsy Franco. She has a very different attitude in her books. I like how up front she is and how bold her work can be. This is definitely the case with Falling Hard. Ms. Franco has put together quite an edgy group of poems for young adults. The topics range from things like falling in love, missing love, finding love, and all that is between. Betsy Franco’s Falling Hard is absolutely intended for an older audience. I would feel comfortable with high school students being familiar with this book.

The different types of poetry keep Franco’s book versatile. We can read through poems that rhyme, poems that don’t rhyme, free verse, etc. Due to the fact that there were so many different types of poetry, it seems as though the reader would get lost in the variety.  Fortunately, that common theme of heart-felt, raw experience kept the reader in tune with the theme.

Below I’ve listed a few of my favorite selections from Falling Hard.

Love Poem

I am

the flour

to your tortilla

baby.

Juan Nunez, age 15

Love Poem is a favorite of mine because many of the poems in this book can be sad and heavy. This is a fun and silly poem! I would love to see what other poems students could come up with like “You are the icing to my cupcake” or “the cheese to my macaroni”… great practice on similies!

Untitled

Every time he gets around me

I fall weak

Trip on my words

Suddenly can’t speak

The way he licks his lips

Soft and wet

My palms get sweaty

My heart jets

He inspires me

To be everything I can

It’s crazy how I feel this way

About another man

He calls my name

Like the lyrics to a love song

Carried to me by Cupid

Nothing can go wrong

When I look at him, same body as me

I get scared and back away

Somehow, he makes me smile again

and the feelings I have convince me to stay

Aljune, Age 17

This is a more of a ‘love poem’… something I would expect to hear from a young adult or 17 year old. As I mentioned previously, reading the majority of these poems would be most appropriate for older students. These two poems are a great example of the versatility of this book. Overall, I would definitely have this book in a high school collection. 

Module 6- Very Best (almost) Friends (Janeczko Poetry)

(Credit) 

Janeczko, Paul B., Very Best (almost) Friends. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 1999.

ISBN: 0-7686-0475-5

Very Best (almost) Friends is a VERY relatable book. Though it is dated, it touches on subjects that children and young adults are so familiar with. This book is a collection of poetry by multiple authors. Each poem gives a creative twist on the highs and lows of friendship. I really like the topic Janeczko covers with this collection and I also find the mixture of the moods of the different poems a nice adjustment… they keep the reader interested and constantly relating to the topic. I found it interesting that the friends mentioned in these poems were all different types of friends, young children and adults, children and other children, etc.

The illustrations are very unique! They are water colored line drawings. Even the scenery on each page keeps with the theme. The illustrations do not impede or distract from the poetry which I like. Many times we lose sight of what the poem is talking about because its drowning in colorful and beautiful illustrations. Davenier did a perfect job of finding that perfect, non-overwhelming spot and created some fantastic illustrations.

Janeczko’s topic of friendship in this book is so relatable that I could see using some of these poems for students or children to create journal entries with, especially with work on personal narrative. I feel that these poems would help students jump start on an experience they may have had with their friends!

Example Poem

Teased

Sometimes

when I’m teased

I don’t cry,

I go away.

When I come back

my brother and his friends

are doing something else.

I remember.

They forget.

-- Richard J. Margolis

Module 6- Mirror, Mirror (Free Choice Poetry)

(Credit)

Singer, Marilyn, Mirror Mirror. New York: Penguin Group Inc., 2010.

ISBN: 978-0-525-47901-7

Mirror Mirror offers a creative way to read poetry! Ultimately, we are reading mini story’s about familiar fairy tales. What makes these poems unique is that each poem is reversible. One page has two verse poems. Each poem is the same poem, read once from top to bottom, and again from bottom to top. Ms. Singer has really created an interesting way to read and interpret poetry! This book of poetry is a cool way to read about different characters in fairy tales that we are familiar with! I really enjoyed Singers take of these characters.

The illustrations are, of course, stunning. Masse coordinated with the poetry in that the illustrations are a neat collage of reflected pictures. This book should be read to really be appreciated but the illustrations really compliment the theme of this book, reflections and equally proportioned pictures throughout.

Mirror Mirror lends itself to character analysis. Due to the fact that these characters are already familiar to us, Singer gives us more information or character traits to analyze a character… their attitude, how they feel about different things. This is a difficult concept for younger children! I also think that using graphic organizers to compare each character in Mirror, Mirror and their actual fairytale.

Poem Example:

In the Hood

In my hood,

Skipping through the wood,

carrying a basket,

picking berries to eat--

juicy and sweet

what a treat!

But a girl

mustn’t dawdle.

After all, Grandma’s waiting.

On same page, right side of the page

After all,

Grandma’s waiting,

mustn’t dawdle…

But a girl!

What a treat—

juicy and sweet,

picking berries to eat,

carrying a basket,

skipping through the wood

in my ‘hood.

Module 5- The Gooch Machine (Performance Poetry)

(Credit)

Bagert, Brod, The Gooch Machine: Poems for Children to Perform: Boyds Mills Press: Pennsylvania, 1997.

ISBN: 1-56397-294-8

Bagert wrote this book of poetry a LONG time ago. I usually don’t use materials that are this dated. Though this collection of poems shows it date, it is still a very fun group of poems. Either a group of children or an individual child can perform these poems. These poems are rather silly in subject—we read about things like behavior at school, aliens and misguided teachers. My students would really enjoy reading them, especially to each other.

The illustrations remind me a lot of caricatures. The different characters, human or not, are draw disproportionately. I like the mood these illustrations give, they match the poems; fun and different. Other than the humor of these poems, I do not think that this enriches the reader’s knowledge. I would venture to say that children may think that these are silly and fun so they would continue to read them and gain fluency.  Unfortunately, I feel that the appeal of this book of poetry is narrow but really offering a significant challenge for students.

I could see using this book of poetry to target reading fluency, as I mentioned previously.  A few activities that we could use these poems for could be performance… students could put these poems to music or put motions with them. The poems in this book really lend themselves to a charade type performance. They also could be used to practice speed-reading, in preparation for DIBELS, a reading fluency test.

Overall, I could definitely fine a lot of use for Brod Bagert’s The Gooch Machine. Any poetry for students to be exposed to is helpful. I would not rank it very high with the other pieces of poetry that we’ve been reading and that I’ve reviewed on this blog.

The Poet Tree

One day I saw a cypress tree

with knees just like the knees on me.

I saw a pine tree tall and green

That made the air feel fresh and clean.

I saw a giant oak.

And a quite, stately palm.

With leaves like fans to cool the sky

In places where it’s warm.

But in all the world, from pole to pole.

My eyes may never see

Branches with leaves that sing to me

Like my lovely poet tree. 

Module 5- Red Sings from Treetops: A year in colors (Sidman Poetry)

(Credit)

Sidman, Joyce, Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors: Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company: New York, 2009.

ISBN: 978-0-547-014949-4

I have to start my review with my favorite part of this book, the illustrations. Oh my goodness. The illustrations stretch from one end of the page to the other full of vibrant colors representing all the different seasons. The text even seems to be a part of the illustrations in a way. Sidman incorporates the text by highlighting the colors when spelt, in the color it is describing. For example:

IN the winter woods,

GRAY and BROWN

hold hands.

Their brillant sisters—

RED, ORANGE, and YELLOW—

I admire the consistency of this book. Each page, while offering a completely different version of the seasons, gives subtle descriptions and illustrations that create a familiarity when reading. It keeps the reader in tune with the content of the poetry and keeps us from getting lost in the beautiful illustrations! For example, on many pages, Sidman uses actual text... looking a lot like they come from a dictionary page in the characters outfit or the setting some how. It's cool to see how it will be used on each page!

I would love this book of poetry for younger students who are learning about the seasons. Sidman describes the seasons so vividly and Zagarenski creates illustrations that would help any young reader or listener help imagine the different seasons. Students could also be introduced to just the poem and create their own illustrations using the colors and words described by Joyce Sidman. There are a lot of opportunities with this book because the imagery is so great! Overall, I would really highly recommend adding this to a collection. My students love hearing the descriptions and seeing the beautiful illustrations! 

... I also found this blog to offer interesting ideas of way to teach using Red Sings from Tree Tops. 

http://abcsofreading.blogspot.com/2010/12/red-sings-from-treetops-year-in-colors.html

Module 5- Won Ton (Hopkins Award Poetry)

(Credit)

Wardlaw, Lee, Won Ton: Henry Holt and Company: New York, 2011.

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8995-0

What fun little book of poetry with one heck of an attitude! Won Ton is ‘a cat tale told in haiku”. Won Ton or Haiku, the cat, is selected to be a boys pet from the animal shelter. We read as Won Ton becomes accustomed to his new home and learns the right and wrong way of doing things.

Visually, Won Ton is a great read for younger students, as the illustrations aren’t busy and difficult to follow. The poetry itself is in a large, basic font. You read a few stanza’s per page. Overall, I like this book for haiku for young readers and old!

The language of this book really gives great emotional impact. As I mentioned previously, this book has a lot of attitude! Won Ton goes back and forth with his attitude of being wanted and not needing anyone! I really like that this is a consistent mood throughout the entire book. The reading never loses the character of Won Ton! We can always depend on his silliness! This is also a very relatable familiarity to this story. Many children’s pets come from the pound or shelter and also, many children want to adopt pets. When the material is easily related to, the reading comprehension is more successful!

Overall, I can definitely see why Won Ton was award the Hopkins award. This book is a lot of fun, attitude, and quality literature. I would recommend adding this to any collection! 

Poem:

Help! I've been catnapped,
dressed in frillies, forced to lap
tea with your sister.


Letmeoutlet
outletmeoutletmeout!
Wait-- let me back it!


This book gives great opportunity to discuss character traits. Students could extend this book by creating a list of character traits about Won Ton. How is he conflicted? From the book, what are examples of Won Ton being torn between his old life and his new life?

Module 4 (Social Studies)- Pirates

(Credit)

Haarison, David, Pirates: Boyd Mills Press: Pennsylvania, 2008.

ISBN: 978-1-59078-455-6

Pirates is definitely intended for a mature audience! Harrison makes it well known that we (the reader) do not know pirates like we think we do! They are a much more rough-around-the-edges bunch than Peter Pan. These poems are, for the most part, short and to the point. Each one discussing different parts of a pirates life like theft, punishment, exile, and riding the high seas. Each poem is embedded in its own illustration, created by Dan Burr. My favorite characteristic of Burrs illustrations are that they seem so much like actual pictures. The people’s faces seem so realistic. The title of each poem is written in a grave, older, blood red font. He gave such great attention to detail which really helps keep focus on the content of each poem.

I have taught elementary school for many years and never once have to taught my students about pirates, nor do I think I will ever. However, I did really enjoy this collection of poems. We have discussed that poetry does not have to be the center piece of a lesson but can be a great extension to any topic. In third grade we learn a great deal about immigration and people who have homes away from where they were born. This book, though it may be a little intense at times, is a useful resource for a teacher or a student to use.

Another useful aspect of this book is that it offers at of features about the topic. There are several authors notes as well as a biography. It is very important for students to become familiar with nonfiction text features and Pirates does a great job of this. Just identifying different text features and their purpose could be a cool lesson in itself. Throughout these poems you can find a lot of literary elements like onomatopoeia- see example poem below.

Overall, I would recommend this poetry to any library or classroom, 5th grade and older. It’s fun, versatile, and real. It’s not very often we get to see in to the life of a pirate, ARG!

Poem:

Fog Attack

Easy lads…

Fog has ears.

Shh.

Let no man move,

no cutlass rattle.

Swallow your cough,

sneeze not lest that be

the last sound

ye make on this earth.

Ah!

The fog lifts.

Our surprise party is spoilt!

Jolly Roger grins in the sun.
They turn their cannon!

Hurry, they see us!

We turn quicker!

Steady, gunner…

Await my signal…

Easy…

Ready…

Now!