Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 2010. Dizzy in Your Eyes Poems About Love. New York: Random House. ISBN: 978-0-375-84375-4
About the Poem Collection
In this lovely collection of 50 poems are told from the narrative view of different teenager. The poems are on a variety of topics with one common theme—love.
The layout is very reader-friendly and there are definitions of the type of poem represented to the left of the poem page. Mora writes in free verse, as well as a wide variety of classic poetic forms—including haiku, sonnet and cinquain.
According to the author's note, Mora envisioned the flow of the poems as that of a symphony with four movements-an opening focus on love's initial rush, followed by a few bumps in the road, healing after loss of love, and finally the joy of finding new love. This cohesion is indeed delivered. Teens will be able to identify with and many of the poems and will enjoy reading this collection.
One Poem
Back Then
I’d jump on my bike
some afternoons and pedal
by Cecilia’s house
pedaling faster, faster into the wind,
seeing the ordinary house,
sneaking a look as I sailed by
and feeling excited
that she was inside,
not really hoping she’d look out,
just pedaling by, privately
happy that I was near her,
knowing tomorrow at school, she’d smile
at me, and I’d feel like I’d swallowed
a slice of sun.
Activities
Ask students to list everything that comes to their mind when they think of love. Create a class-brainstorming web.
After reading this collection go back to the brainstorming list and highlight all the topics covered in the poems by Pat Mora.
Bibliography
Cullinan, Bernice, ed. A Jar of Tiny Stars Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets. 1996. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Boyd Mills Press Inc ISBN: 1-56397-087-2
About the Poem Collection
A Jar of Tiny Stars is a sampling of poetry from poets who have won the National Council of Teacher’s of English (NCTE) Award for Poetry Children. The actual poems are selected by children as their favorites. The authors featured are: David McCord, Aileen Fisher, Karla Kuskin, Myra Chon Livingston, Eve Merriam, John Ciardi, Lilian Moore, Arnold Adoff, Valerie Worth and Barbra Esbensen.
Each poem starts with a quote by the author on a variety of topics. Many of the poems are narrative style poems, strong rhymes, humorous poems, and poems about animals which of course are usual favorites of young children.
The back of the book has a brief biography of each poet, which makes it a very valuable assest to have in the elementary school library.
One Poem
dinosaurs
by Valerie Worth
Dinosaurs
Do not count,
Because
They are all
Dead:
None of us
Saw them, dogs
Do not even
Know that
They were there-
But the
Still walk
About heavily
In everybody’s
Head.
Activities
Before reading this collection of poems have students list their favorite poems or author of poems. Then have each student read their favorite poem to another student and discuss why it is their favorite poem.
After read this collection of poems have students go back to the list of their favorite poems and pick five of their favorite. Then have the students make their own favorite poem collection. The poems could be bounded to make individual books for each of the students.
Bibliography
Florian, Douglas. Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars. New York: Harcourt, Inc. 2007. ISBN 978-0-15-205372
About the Poem Collection
This collection of lyrical poems by Douglas Florian is a collection of twenty poems about space. Everything is covered form the sun to the planets, this collection is a great resource for any elementary school.
The poems are short and playful, wrapping itself around astronomical facts with ease. Readers will learn a variety of cool interesting facts about space. Each poem receives a sort paragraph, offering additional facts or extending the information presented earlier.
The artwork is enhanced with special effects through di-cuts that lead into the next poem. The artwork is like a beautiful collage with vibrant blues and oranges.
A Poem
The earth
Two-thirds water.
One-third land.
Valleys deep.
Mountains grand.
Sky of blue.
Clouds of gray.
Life here, too-
Think I’ll stay
Activities
Have students make a KWL chart and list everything they know about the solar system and everything they want to know about the solar system. After reading the book have the students fill out at least three things they learned from reading these poems.
This poetry collection can be incorporated into an interactive notebook on the solar system. Poems can be copied and then students can write about the poem and what they learned after reading it.
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