Bibliography
Salas, Laura Purdi. 2009. ILL. Steven Salerno Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 978-0-618-91488-3
About the Poem Collection
Laura Salas presents a collection of eighteen poems about the crazy side of school. The poems have a good solid rhythm and school aged children will easily be able to identify with many of the poems such as New Mouse where the new girl is drawn to look like a mouse who is wondering the halls of her new school or the boy in Printer Problems, who is drawn to look like a chicken because his handwriting looks like chicken scratch.
Perhaps, what makes the poems so fascinating is the artwork. Steven Salerno does an excellent job of combing the child with the animal like features to emphasize the similes and metaphors in the poem. Overall, many school-aged children would love this collection of poems
One Poem
Stampede!
The last bell rings.
We spill outside,
like captives finally freed.
We’re thundering, fumbling elephants-
an after-school stampede.
Activities
A great introduction to this book would be to have the students pick an animal that they think they are most like and explain or write down why they believe they are most like that animal.
After reading the collection of poems have the students go back to the animal that they decided on and try to create their own poem.
Bibliography
Giovanni, Nikki, ed. Hip Hop Speaks to Children a Celebration of Poetry with a Beat. 2008. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-4022-1048-8.
About the Poem Collection
This poetry collection is full of exciting poems full of rhythm. This book will help kids hear rhyme, feel rhythms, and enjoy poetry. Designed and compiled to highlight African Americans, this book/CD combination is a great collection for all children to love and enjoy. This collection of more than 50 songs and poems includes everything from an excerpt from the famous Martin Luther King, Jr. speech, "I Have A Dream” to a poem from Tupac Shakur.
The poems are about a variety of subjects. Nikki Giovanni's The Rosa Parks encourages children to "do the rosa parks" and do what is right and stand up for what is right. Or the Funky Snowman written by Calef Brown, which is about a funky snowman who loves to dance. The overall message is about making things better and making changes. A great, powerful message!
One Poem
Funky Snowman
by Calef Brown
Funky Snowman loves to dance.
You'd think he wouldn't
have much chance
without two legs
or even pants.
Does that stop
Funky Snowman?
No!!
Turn up the music
with the disco beat,
when you're in the groove,
you don't need feet.
Crowds come out
and fill the street.
Kick it,
Funky Snowman!!
Activities
After reading the poem collection have students work in pairs to write a short song or poem on a topic of their choice. Before the writing begins have students brainstorm ideas on possible topics.
Bibliography
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ill. By Stephen Alcorn. America at War. New York: Margeret K McElderry Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-4169-1832-5
About the Poem Collection
In this collection of fifty-five poems and paintings, Lee Bennett Hopkins and Stephen Alcorn highlight the emotions of warfare from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. The feelings and emotions behind wars are expressed here through voices of well-known poets such as Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, Denise Levertov and some new poets who were actually soldiers that served on the front line. America at War pays tribute to all who have served this country so we may all enjoy our personal freedom.
Although the poems in this collection do not show all the gruesome aspects of the wars younger children may find some of the poems overwhelming. The poetry would be an excellent tie into many history lessons.
A Poem
Alphabet
By Jane Yolen
What is the alphabet of evil?
Auschwitz
Buchenwald
Chelmno
the names of camps,
rolling of the tongue,
the tongue lolling in the mouth,
the mouth hanging open,
broken teeth,
a gasp of breath,
the alphabet of death.
What is the alphabet of evil?
Dachau,
Esterwegen,
Flossenberg,
Gurs,
the names of camps cramping the stomach,
the stomach drained of blood,
blood, staining the ground,
a last breath,
the alphabet of death
What is the alphabet of evil?
It begins with Adolph Hitler,
goes to Zondercommandos
ends with the ordinary citizen
turning in his neighbor,
a sheckle for a traitor
a groat for a Jew.
What is the alphabet of evil?
small letters
we all know how to say,
and hope we are never asked
in our ordinary lives to say them.
Activities
Before reading this collection of poems have students make a “T-chart” of the names of the concentration camps they are familiar with from WWII. After reading the poems have students fill in the other side of the chart with the names of the concentration camps that they did not know.
Divide students into groups and have them research and do a short presentation on one of the concentration camps that was in the poem.
No comments:
Post a Comment