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April Inspiration!
By Lisa Von Drasek
Poetry anthologies provide exposure to poetic past masters as well as contemporary greats
Here are just a few essential poetry picks to add to your classroom library this month.
As we explore the new poetry books of the past few months, there are two anthologies that I've been returning to again and again. Both were created by experienced anthologists. These poetry advocates, Paul B. Janeczko and Teaching K-8's "A Poetry Workshop in Print" columnist, Lee Bennett Hopkins, have more than earned their poetry stripes. A Kick in The Head: An Everyday Guide To Poetic Forms selected by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-763-60662-6) and Days To Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts and More by Lee Bennett Hopkins (HarperCollins, 2004, ISBN: 0-060-00765-6) are each titles that provide exciting, practical ways of including poetry into a teacher's language arts practice.
A poke and a kick
Janeczko and illustrator Chris Raschka are the award-winning team who also brought us the delightful concrete poem collection, A Poke In The I (Candlewick Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-763-60661-8). Paul B. Janeczko has edited over 25 poetry anthologies and has selected 29 poems for A Kick in the Head. Each poem is an example of poetic forms. Every one of the verses is partnered with Rashka's witty watercolor paintings and a description of the form.
In addition to familiar poets like William Blake and Ogden Nash, Janeczko includes the work of contemporary poets such as one of my favorite writers – Liz Rosenberg. We love her award-winning anthologies for middle-schoolers – The Invisible Ladder: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poems for Young Readers, (Henry Holt, 1996, ISBN: 0-805-03836-1) and Earth-Shattering Poems (Henry Holt, 1998, ISBN: 0-805-04821-9).
Get celebrating
Chase's Calendar of Events (created by McGraw-Hill) is the standard day-by-day directory to special days, weeks and months, as well as holidays, and is an essential reference for librarians. This valuable resource is great for newsletters, bulletin boards and book displays. Whose birthday is in April? What month is National Poetry Month?
It's on that classic model that Lee Bennett Hopkins frames Days to Celebrate. Twelve chapters, 12 months, each with a plethora of holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, zodiac signs and of course, poems. This wonderful book contains over 60 poems and Hopkins selects from a diversity of poets including John Ciardi, Langston Hughes, and T.S. Elliot. Contemporary writers of children's poetry are represented by Janet Wong, Joseph Bruchac, Nikki Grimes and Karla Kuskin. April is National Poetry Month, its' flower, sweet pea, its' sign is, Taurus, by the way.
Poetic essentials
Lee Bennett Hopkins and Paul Janeczko have been inspiring teachers of poetry for years. Their enthusiasm for the genre is evident in their writings for professional development. Don't miss Teaching 10 Fabulous Forms of Poetry: Great Lessons, Brainstorming Sheets, and Organizers for Writing Haiku, Limericks, Cinquains, and Other Kinds of Poetry Kids Love by Paul B. Janeczko (Scholastic, 2000, ISBN: 0-439-07346-4). Janeczko explains that over his 22 years as an educator, he's been fortunate to see a change in how we teach poetry from rote memorization and endless analyzing to spirited read aloud, engaged reader's response and encouraging students to write their own verse. Janeczko begs teachers not to segregate poetry lessons into the ghetto of "poetry month" but to integrate poetry readings and writings into all of their curriculum. He provides 10 easy-to-follow mini-lessons on forms such as acrostics, cinquains, clerihews, limericks, haiku and tankas along with engaging reproducibles to help students begin their own creative process.
Inspiring suggestions
Lee Bennett Hopkins' Pass the Poetry, Please (HarperCollins, 1998, ISBN: 0-064-46199-8) is the third revised edition of an essential text that every teacher of poetry should own. As he states in the introduction, "My aim is to create a volume to serve as a practical reference for students coming into the teaching profession, for experienced teachers and librarians to keep abreast of the ever-widening genre…" And Hopkins succeeds admirably in explaining the genre's place in current literary history and how poetry needs to be presented to children. He chooses 20 profiles of poets including past masters like John Ciardi and Robert Frost to current practitioners like Arnold Adoff and Nikki Grimes, each with a selected bibliography of titles. Hopkins concludes the volume with inspiring suggestions to jumpstart any poetry program. For example, the weather is a hot topic in the elementary classroom. How about making a poetry weather calendar, asking the question, "What is the weather like today?" On the bottom of the chart, the teacher can place envelopes labeled, "Sun Poems," "Wind Poems," "Cloud Poems" etc. These can be read aloud each day as the weather is reported and continue to be collected throughout the school year.
SPECIAL SECTION
Listen Up to Audiobooks
The prices don't cover shipping and handling if you are buying from a manufacturer.
The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers, read by Tyne Daly, John Lithgow, Lily Tomlin, Andre Watts. (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2004, ISBN: 0-743-53734-3 one CD/one hour, $14.00).
Fred Rogers raised a few generations to consider the feelings of others, that it was okay to cry when you are sad and sometimes we get angry and it's important to know that we will not hurt ourselves or others. As imperfect people in an imperfect world, we do our best as teachers to guide the young ones in our care. Mister Rogers helps us do just that with quiet soft words and bits of wisdom to take into our daily lives.
The Bunnicula Collection: 25th anniversary edition by Deborah and James Howe, read by Victor Garber. (Listening Library, 2004, ISBN: 1-400-09472-0, six CDs/ six hours, 40 minutes, ages 8 and up, $34.00).
It's hard to believe that 25 years have passed since we were first introduced to Harold the mixed-breed dog who told the spooky tale of how an odd bunny arrived into their household. Chester the cat begins the investigation. This package contains the first three stories, Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery, Howliday Inn and The Celery Stalks at Midnight.
Hans Christian Andersen Classic Stories by Diane Wolkstein, with music by Shirley Keller. (August House, 2005, ISBN: 0-874-83767-7) one CD/one hour, ages 6 and up, $14.95).
Celebrate Andersen's 200th birthday with Central Park's resident storyteller Diane Wolkstein, who retells six stories, some not-so-well known such as Hans Clodhopper and others welcome old friends like The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor's New Clothes. Diane Wolkstein, the author of 23 books including The Magic Orange Tree (Random House, 1997, ISBN: 0-805-21077-6) is one of the pioneers of the storytelling revival in the United States. She is creative director of the Hans Christian Andersen Center in New York City.
Lisa Von Drasek is Children's Librarian at the Bank Street College of Education in New York, NY.
April 2005, Vol.35, No.7
