Poetry Power: Poetic Language in Signs

Guest Post by Janet Wong

More people than ever are expressing themselves with art supplies. During the week before the Inauguration and Women’s March(es), people spent $6 million on poster boards and paint markers. While some signs were overtly political, many signs were simple affirmations of our humanity.

With a few Google searches (“protest signs,” “protest art,” “kids protest,” etc.) I found over a thousand examples of inspiring and appealing signs. Many of the most effective signs use poetic devices such as rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, and wordplay to help them stand out from the crowd—and present learning opportunities for writers. Consider the following examples:

Rhyme: This rhyming text is so much more powerful than, say, “No hatred where I live.”

Repetition: She could’ve said, “No ban, wall, or division.” Would that have been as effective? No, no, no.

Alliteration: “Eighty-nine, feisty, and determined” just doesn’t pack the same punch.

Rhyme, Repetition, and Rhythm: This sign benefits from all three devices: rhyme, repetition, and rhythm. 

And look at these clever examples of wordplay: 

With dozens of favorite signs, it was hard to choose a favorite—but the best sign of all, to me, was probably this one, completely universal in its message and held high:

Which brings me to the point of this piece. Let’s empower kids to make signs. 

   

Look at the pride on these kids’ faces!

Parents can help kids make signs at home, as language arts exercises. The following sign even satisfies a Common Core requirement to teach students about the use of quotes.

I am not a particularly “political” person, but I am making a greater effort to inform myself, to engage, and to volunteer for all sorts of activities in an attempt to make a daily difference. To inspire you to get involved in whatever inspires you, here is a prewriting exercise and the title poem from my latest book with Sylvia Vardell, Here We Go: A Poetry Friday Power Book.  I hope that you are inspired to do something like starting a walkathon at your school—and, if you do, make sure to bring sign-making supplies for everyone!

BIO: Janet Wong (janetwong.com) is the author of 30 books for children and teens, and the co-creator (with Sylvia Vardell) of The Poetry Friday Anthology series and Poetry Friday Power Book series. (PomeloBooks.com).

You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book

Guest Post by Janet Wong

Have you noticed an explosion of activity books in bookstores and box stores? Elaborate coloring books, clever creative journals, and books similar to those in the Wreck This Journal series? These books allow tweens and teens to interact in ways beyond reading—drawing in them, writing in them, and exploring their thoughts and feelings. Why do kids love them? Because they’re fun—and writing in them is an act of ownership.

For those of us who teach language arts: how can we take a middle school student’s excitement for activity books—and bring it into the classroom?

Sylvia Vardell and I are trying to do just that with our newest collaboration, You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book, published this month by our imprint Pomelo Books. It’s part activity book for tweens and teens; part verse novella; and part writing coach, combined in a way designed to gain the approval of both the school board and your favorite skeptical tween.

Here are the steps that we followed in creating You Just Wait. My part of the book came first.

—I took a dozen “outside poems” (“already-published poems” by eleven different poets, all found in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School).

—I imagined how these outside poems could be woven together and wrote two dozen new poems that form a story featuring Paz, an Asian-Latina soccer player, her movie-loving cousin Lucesita, and Joe, Paz’s older brother, who dreams of playing basketball in the NBA. These new poems became “Response Poems” and “Mentor Text” poems as the book evolved.

Sylvia Vardell then added her magic touch. She:

—created twelve quick, creativity-spurring, PowerPlay activities;

—paired twelve Power2You writing prompts with my Mentor Text poems; and

—assembled twelve Resource Lists for writers (and readers) for the back matter of the book.

Here’s a look at PowerPack 5, one of the twelve PowerPacks in You Just Wait. You can find downloadable files at www.pomelobooks.com

We think we accomplished what we set out to do, but we’ll only know if we start seeing ragged, well-loved class sets of You Just Wait filled with scribbles. Send us your photos at infoATpomelobooks.com—we’d love to see them!

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Janet Wong is the author of 30 books including You Have to Write. She is the co-creator (with Sylvia Vardell) of The Poetry Friday Anthology series (www.pomelobooks.com).

Note: Some vendors such as QEPBooks.com are offering healthy discounts this month as part of the book’s promotional launch; please consider ordering some copies for your school. 

A DIVERSE POEM IN YOUR POCKET

by Jacqueline Jules

A poem is a great addition to any celebration in the classroom or out of it. Short poems, in particular, are fun since students can easily read or chant along. But where can you find great poems on St. Patrick’s Day, Random Acts of Kindness Week, National Library Week, President’s Day, Veteran’s Day, Earth Day, Constitution Day, Grandparents Day, Global Handwashing Day, and dozens of other holidays? 

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong features 156 poems by 115 different poets, including Jack Prelutsky, J. Patrick Lewis, Joyce Sidman, Margarita Engle, Marilyn Singer, Nikki Grimes, Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, Linda Sue Park, Jane Yolen, Kenn Nesbitt, Grace Lin, Joseph Bruchac, Douglas Florian, Laura Purdie Salas, and Pencil Tip bloggers, Mary Quattlebaum and Jacqueline Jules.

This anthology of high quality verse is unique for its diversity and its breadth. Every poem is published in English and Spanish.  Poems for Ramadan, Passover, Divali, and Native American traditions appear alongside light-hearted celebrations like National Popcorn Day, National Cereal Day, and National Yo-Yo Day.

The book is divided into months, January through December, and each section ends with a bonus poem celebrating “Birthdays and Baby Days.” Some of these extra selections offer cultural insights such as Joseph Bruchac’s poem “Winter Counting” explaining why Native Americans count winters rather than years.  Andrea Cheng’s “Wishes Around the World” describes the long noodles made by her Grandma Nai Nai and a blending of birthday traditions. Other holiday poems on generic topics such as Grandparents Day embrace diversity, too. In “Far Away on Grandparents Day,” Julie Larios writes about receiving “besitos across the long miles” from abuelo and abuela. THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS will make every child in your classroom feel represented and included. And many of the poems can be treasured at home for family celebrations.  

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS is available in two editions. A student edition of 175 pages in a large format, features a single poem per page in Spanish and English with a lively digital art illustration.  The teacher’s edition with 371 pages has ideas for pairing picture books with each poem and other activities for each poem, plus helpful notes for sharing poetry in the classroom.

In addition, there is a terrific dedicated website for THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS with poem graphics, videos, lesson ideas, and more.

Check out a video for my own poem, “Bubbles”  for Global Handwashing Day.

And this poem by Kristy Dempsey for the upcoming D.E.A.R. Day on April 12th. 

The poems in THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS can be read aloud in about a minute, making them perfect prompts for students to write their own holiday poems. Challenge your students to write about their favorite holiday or invent a holiday to celebrate. Enjoy!

www.jacquelinejules.com

Separating “Science Snippets”: An Exercise in Revision

Guest Post by Janet Wong

One of the hardest things for any writer is revision. You write something and fall in love with it: how could it you possibly make it any better?

I tell students: don’t try to make it better, just try to make it different.

If a poem rhymes, write a second draft that has zero rhyme. If a poem is long, cut it in half. If it’s short, double it. Use revision to give yourself some choices.

Here’s an easy exercise that will help you teach revision:

1.  Read a science poem from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science.

2.  Underline the science concepts.

3.  Extract a “Science Snippet” poem, using as few words as possible to communicate the main science ideas.

4.  If students want to keep some non-science words in the Science Snippet version, that’s OK.

5.  Read both poems aloud. Take a vote. Which poem do your students like better? (Ideally the vote will be split, to show how subjective the creative writing process is.)

Here is my poem “The Brink,” one of 218 science poems from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (K-5 Teacher’s Edition), with a Take 5! mini-lesson for each poem by Sylvia Vardell:

 And here is one possible Science Snippet version:

The Brink (Science Snippet version)

by Janet Wong

I fill a cup to the top

with ice,

pour to the brim.

When the ice melts,

will my drink spill?

The ice seems to shrink.

PHEW!

It’s not clear to me that one version is better than the other—just different. I like the longer version (used in the book), but I’m sure that some people will prefer the Science Snippet. This revision exercise is effective because separating “the science parts” is easier than identifying “the best parts.” Students will be able to produce a significantly different version in just five minutes without anguishing over subjective choices.

Science + Poetry = A Powerful Revision Exercise!

Janet Wong is the co-creator (with Sylvia Vardell) of The Poetry Friday Anthology series. For more info, please visit PomeloBooks.com!