POETRY FRIDAY FOR POETRY MONTH

by Jacqueline Jules

          The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School is here! And just in time for April and Poetry Month. This lively compendium of poetry expertly selected by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell has poems by 71 poets including Jane Yolen, Lee Wardlaw, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Singer, J. Patrick Lewis, Jack Prelutsky, and Nikki Grimes. I am honored to be included among such esteemed poets, along with fellow Pencil Tips blogger, Mary Quattlebaum.

          Like the K-5 edition of The Poetry Friday Anthology, the middle school edition has a poem and quick lesson for every week of the school year. Also included are tips for sharing poetry in the classroom, quotes about poetry, and the Common Core Standards for grades, 6, 7, and 8.  Having all this information in one book is a great timesaver for busy teachers. And there are so many poems inside which could serve as models to inspire student writing.

          In “Advice to Rapunzel,” Eileen Spinelli warns this fairy tale princess to “Be cautious and wise/when you let down your hair.” After reading this poem aloud, you could challenge your students to write their own poem to a fairy tale character. Julie Larios’ poem “The Perfect Day” or Irene Latham’s “Biking Along White Rim Road” could jumpstart student poems about a special day outdoors with a friend. And there is a menagerie of wonderful pet poems to serve as inspiration for students to write about their own beloved animals.

Many of the poems in this book are breath-taking —excellent demonstrations of the quote on the back cover by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, “Poetry teaches us the power of a few words.” Teachers might find themselves putting this anthology by their bedside for pleasure reading.

Equally impressive are the “Take 5 Activities” accompanying each poem. They include tips for introducing the poem’s subject matter, reading it aloud, and pairing it with other related poems. Particularly helpful is Tip #4 which highlights a specific poetic device used in the poem. These tips also point out the structure of individual poems and how the poet used line breaks to convey meaning. Teachers looking for quick examples of alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, or personification only need flip through a few pages before finding exactly what they need.

As the introduction to Poetry Friday for Middle School eloquently states, poetry is a wonderful vehicle for introducing vocabulary, figurative language, sensory details, and imagery. It stimulates the imagination and expresses strong emotion. What’s more, poems can be revisited, providing the reader with new insights and emotional connections. All of these add up to compelling reasons why every teacher should consider adding a weekly Poetry Break to his or her curriculum. Check out The Poetry Friday Anthologies to find out exactly how.

www.jacquelinejules.com

SPRING TWEETS

by Laura Krauss Melmed

The ancient art of poetry and the much, much newer art of composing the Tweet both aspire to pack lots of punch into few words.  Sometimes these forms of communication intersect.   This was illustrated recently in an NPR story by Steve Inskeep about Nigerian writer Teju Cole.  Mr. Cole, who lives in New York City tweets at his Twitter account @tejucole.  His subject matter of late is (very) short stories based on small news items, those unattributed little articles found in metro sections which describe freak accidents and odd happenings.  Mr. Cole calls these stories “Small Fates.”  His first Small Fates project used items culled from researching a novel about Lagos.  Currently, his Tweets are based on items in New York newspapers of exactly 100 years ago. 

Mr. Cole’s tweets are often tragic or poignant and are obviously meant for an adult audience.  But at this time of year, having young students Tweet about how the world is springing back to life around them could provide a perfect structure for writing a poem.

The goal is for students to write a series of “Tweets” based on observations of springtime changes.  They will then put the Tweets together to form a 6-line poem.  These observations could take place either independently or following a short daily class walk or garden visit.  Show the students how to count the 140 characters allowable for each “Tweet.”  Stress that they will be using a different sense each day of the week to make their observations.  Make sure they know not to try to make these poems rhyme. 

Assign a sense to be explored for each of the five days of the school week. Students should then write a tweet a day for five days. Each should evoke a vivid picture, scent, sound, etc. through the use of such poetic devices as metaphor, simile, and personification. Daily Tweets can be written on index cards and displayed on a magnetic board for review and discussion. “Tweet” number six should summarize the student’s feelings about springtime. 

The students could illustrate their poems for a Spring Tweet display.    

Here is my own Spring Tweet poem:

Agreeable tulips nod heads together

ACHOO! A sneeze flies from an open window.

The scent of lilacs floats over me like a purple chiffon scarf

The breeze that tickles my bare arms also lifts a kite

If spring had a taste it might be asparagus

Somehow the world feels new.

http://www.laurakraussmelmed.com/

AMAZING ALLITERATION

by Laura Krauss Melmed 

This is the first in a series of planned posts on poetic devices.  I’ll start with alliteration, the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables.  Of the various poetic devices, or purposeful ways of using sounds and words, alliteration is probably the easiest and most fun for children to understand and experiment with.

It’s easy to find examples of alliteration that kids will relate to.  A Wikipedia article on alliteration points out that the names of many book characters are alliterative.  In the Harry Potter books, for example, the four wizards that founded Hogwarts were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.  Among the professors are Severus Snape, Minerva McGonnagall, and Filius Flitwick, while the students include Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang and Moaning Myrtle.  Other literary examples abound: how about Willy Wonka, Peter Pan, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and Tiny Tim?  Cartoon characters across different studios include Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald, Daisy and Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and SpongeBob Squarepants.  Sports teams often “sport” alliterative names such as the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  And authors sometimes use alliteration for book titles, the way I did in Moishe’s Miracle; Hurry! Hurry! Have You Heard? and The Marvelous Market on Mermaid.   Start by offering examples such as these to your students and then have them come up with others. 

Why is the use of alliteration so common?  Alliteration is fun.  It trips off the tongue, or sometimes trips it up, as in “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”  Poets use alliteration to enhance the sound and sense of what they’re saying.  In the opening lines of my picture book, Jumbo’s Lullaby, I used repetitive, soft, “sh” “f” and “l” sounds to express Mama Elephant’s tone as she tries to lull her restless baby to sleep:

Susha, susha, Mama’s darling,

Stars are twinkling up high,

flickering like little fishes

in the river of the sky.

In their midst the moon is floating

Glowing with a gentle light,

like a pearly water lily

that has blossomed in the night.

Susha, susha, little Jumbo,

Mama’s love will hold you tight.

In Valerie Worth’s poem “Snake” from Animal Poems, the poet summons her subject’s sinuous slither with sibilant sounds:

Spilled to

A liquid

Silt, a

Slurry of scales..

while in Monday’s Troll, Jack Prelutsky bloviating, bragging blowhard of an ogre describes himself as follows: I’m Bellow the ogre/I bluster and boast…

Prelutsky also uses alliteration to conjure up a week’s worth of truculent trolls:

…Friday’s troll is great and grimy

Saturday’s is short and slimy—

But Sunday’s troll is crabby, cross

And full of sour applesauce.

Other examples abound for the quoting.  After students get the hang of it, ask them to come up with a zany or funny alliterative sentences of their own, the more outrageous the better, which they can then write out and illustrate on large sheets of paper.  Astute students are assured of finding this an amusing avenue for activating alliteration!

http://www.laurakraussmelmed.com/

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