Poetry: the art of language

 

April is National Poetry Month, but the art of language is to be celebrated all year long.  When my students first hear that we are going to study poetry, many groan, unsure of what is to follow.  Thankfully, after these engaging and creative ideas, they change their perspective to one that celebrates the various forms and topics that one can express through the art of language.  

Shape or Concrete Poems:  a poem that takes the shape of its subject matter.  Some books that help illustrate this are:

First, we read several concrete poems and students form the definition for a concrete poem.  Then I take them through a group writing experience where we brainstorm a list of items they generate. Then we take one and I loosely sketch an image that is associated with that. Then we come up with descriptive words, feelings, similes, metaphors, and analogies to write our ideas in the borders of the shape.  Students who are able can try this out on their own, or for those who need scaffolds you can provide the outline of various shapes along with vocabulary for students to cut out and glue to form their concrete poem.  

Blackout Poetry:  this is when writing that has already been published is used as inspiration for carving out a poem from those words already printed.  The poet can circle those words they wish to use and black out the rest of the words through patterns, other colors, or by blacking them out.

Rather than use books for this I like to use images from Google to show examples of blackout poetry and ask students to tell me what they notice about the poems.  

Note: I used to use newspapers for this, however, I had to be careful about the subject matter, vocabulary and layout of the articles in comparison to the advertisements, so ever since those experiences I have turned to using pages of discarded or weeded books to give to students for this type of writing.

Homophones, homonyms, idioms, puns:  poetry doesn't have to be lyrical or rhyme. Poetry can be the juxtaposition of words with multiple meanings and clever sayings explained in literal terms.  My students enjoy exploring this aspect of language because it is in small bites rather than long poems to analyze or just rhyming poems meant to  entertain.  Some books that we study during this topic are:

A video that my students like to watch and sing along with is below:

Poetry Slam:  lyrics of songs and poems are meant to be heard aloud, therefore, I invite students to read or recite poetry or songs aloud in front of an audience or if they'd rather, record and edit a video of their poem or song on a video production application, like Apple CLIPS or iMovie.  Students should be given time to find a poem or song with which they connect and choose to share it with others. For the Poetry Slam experience, I hang twinkle lights up, spread out picnic blankets and a variety of flexible seating options around as the lights dim and we can enjoy one another's love of language.  

Book Spine Poetry: this is one of my favorite types of poetry to share with students. First we look at a variety of examples and students form a definition for what is included in a book spine poem.  Then students are sent in partners or small groups to a certain part of the library to create their own book spine poem.  I ask students to take a photo of their poem on their device so that I may project it for the class, but they also like to display their book spine poems for others to read.  The best part of this experience is that students always find books that they want to read that they may have never even chosen if not for this opportunity to look for interesting book titles. 

An extension of this is to add music or other effects to the mood of their poems using a collage of photos or a technology application, like iMovie, FlipGrid, Seesaw, or Apple CLIPS.

Although some librarians hesitate to use book spine poetry with students due to the large amount of shelving that will follow the experience, Mike Rawls, a.k.a. The Book Wrangler, suggests using paper spines with book titles already on them or you can photocopy.  

Novels-in-Verse: a story written in verse is one of my favorite formats to share with students. Much like a chapter book or graphic novel or picture book format, a novel-in-verse is another way that writers tell a story, but in lyrical form.  

Do you have a favorite way to share poetry? Please leave a comment below!

We Don't Eat Our Classmates: a lesson on individuality

What makes a good classmate?  All students have opinions on this topic so that is what makes this  kindergarten and first grade lesson work well at the start or end of the school year.  Our students love dinosaurs but would they want one as a classmate?  

I taught them the ASL sign for dinosaur and we practiced several times:

Then I introduced them to the dinosaur in the book, Penelope.  Just by looking at the cover what do they think is her challenge as a classmate?

Next, we watched the book trailer narrated by author, Ryan T. Higgins:

I read the story aloud then students brainstormed tips that they can give Penelope and each other for being a good classmate.

 

Lastly, students used the PicCollageEdu APP to take a selfie, add a background, and type their name and a tip on how to be a good classmate. 

 I modeled this first, then students worked on their own.  We talked about changing fonts and colors to make it more readable for your audience.

A "How-to" Unit for technical writing & storytelling for elementary/middle

Students are naturally curious about how certain events happen.  It's a prime topic for teachers and librarians to use to create at the center of an inquiry lesson.  The class listens to read-alouds of companion texts that show a how-to in various formats.  Then they choose a topic in which they want to teach others how to do that specific task.  Finally, they will pick the way they want to communicate that information.  Teachers can provide a list of options for the differentiated products: a video, a stop-motion demonstration, a flow-chart, a comic/graphic drawing, an informational picture book, a zine, etc.

I did this with 3rd graders and we had rich discussions, humorous moments of sharing personal observations and experiences, and an authentic audience awaiting one another's projects.  There are numerous ways you can structure this lesson, but here is what I did and it worked well:

I began with telling them a personal story about how much I love avocados but they are tricky because if you buy too many at once they get ripe quickly and you must use them up or else they go funky.  Students began sharing all of the ways that they relate to this, too.  I asked them where I could find ideas on how to use up my avocados.  Students suggested asking cooks, looking in books and on the internet.  I told them that was listening to the radio and heard a story about using leftover food to reduce food waste and I played for them the video clip below:

We watched it once for information and again on MUTE and I paused the frames and we noted how the information was being communicated:  images, videos, bulleted lists, demonstrations, etc.

Then I showed them a number of how-to books that we had in our library collection:

Then we sorted them into NONFICTION and FICTION piles.  One of the FICTION books we read aloud was How to Walk an Ant by Cindy Derby.

During the reading we noted how the author incorporated facts and information in an entertaining way.  After reading the story students brainstormed ideas for both nonfiction and fictional how-to topics.

Then they narrowed down their list to their top choice and began their writing process. I had them use a poster paper folded into squares and put each step in each square.  If they didn't have accurate information they had to research and cite their resource in their final product.  

They had a lot of fun with this and we enjoyed learning from each other.  This also encompasses many teaching and learning standards so it's an excellent writing prompt that engages students.

I will definitely do this again next year but extend it over the course of several weeks so they can make their products and we can have a celebration by inviting other grade levels to learn from each other. 

 If you have suggestions for improving this idea please let me know in the comments below!

See Yourself in a Story: My Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World

How do we improve attitudes towards reading and writing in school?  In my experience as a classroom teacher in grades 4-9 and as a school librarian in grades K-8, I have found that the more social and collaborative it is approached, the more students tend to join in the games, discussion, and yes, even the writing prompts that result.  

For example, for Children's Book Week 2021, the theme is Reading is a Superpower.

I asked students to share why they thought that reading gives you superpowers and what you can do in your life as a reader.  We even talked about if you could go a single day without reading?  Does reading pictures count?  What if you see a stop sign?  Having students point out the importance of everyday literacy is valuable for them to see that beyond school it is to their benefit to learn to read, write, speak and listen.  As a bonus, we took turns showing our superpower poses, like the girl who is flexing in the middle of the poster and we mimicked each other's stances and facial expressions.  

That brought us to  Malcolm Mitchell ,our featured author and his picture book, My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World which is about a boy named Henley who cannot find a good book to read. I asked students if they had to pick one favorite book of theirs, could they do it?  Those who could shared their titles and I shared some of mine, too.  I told them about Malcolm Mitchell's background as a pro-football player whose team won the Super Bowl and how he is currently an author and poet with a children's reading foundation.  We watched his interview on GMA and listened to him read aloud his book:

After listening to the story we discussed how we connected to the book and why it was so hard for so many people to find a good book to read.  The picture book ends with Henley writing a story about himself and turning that into his favorite book.  That took us to talk about how often we use our own lives or people we know in our own writing.  

Finally, the creative writing challenge was introduced with a game that Peter H. Reynolds likes to play when he does author visits.  He will take an illustration and turn it into an imaginary book cover while asking the audience to help him come up with a catchy title.  For our challenge I asked students to come up with creative book titles first.  I rolled 2 storytelling dice and based on the pictures we made up book titles and I wrote them on sticky-notes.  We had enough for everyone in the class to have one sticky-note.

Then we made a circle and as I played music, students passed the sticky notes one direction.  When the music stopped, they looked at the sticky note in their hand, read the title out loud and tried to imagine what the story would be like.  We did this for several rounds and even reversed the direction of our passing.  After the last round, students returned to their seats with their final sticky note.  I could've put the notes into a hat and had students draw them randomly or pass them out or have them projected and they pick the one they wanted, too.

With their imaginary book title in hand, they finish the lesson with designing a book cover for it.  They must include the title, a design or drawing and their name as the author.  If they have time or if they choose, they can brainstorm what happens in the beginning, middle, and end or what the problem/solution is for their story.  They can do this with words or drawings.  As students work I ask the whole class who is incorporating magical elements into their story? Who is making theirs funny? Spooky?  

 

For those students who don't know where to begin with their book covers, we watch the first few minutes of Peter H. Reynold's Ready Set Draw-ISH! video:

The results of this lesson are that students see themselves as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners.  They see that it doesn't come easy for everyone and despite set-backs there are strategies to use to improve one's skills.  They have a common experience of brainstorming with classmates and connecting with one another by sharing their ideas, writing, and drawings.  

We are home: A Pho Love Story

 A Pho Love Story is a young adult, romance debut novel by Loan Le, about rival Vietnamese restaurants in L.A. whose owners have a long history of animosity and competition. Imagine the mess that ensues when their high school seniors, Bao and Linh, become partners for a school project and end up falling for each other!  This is an important story about how family and cultural pressure can influence the children of immigrants.  Rather than communicate their needs and wants, immigrant children often go-with-the-flow and end up stressed.  A Pho Love Story is a richly layered story full of humor, bonds, love and hope.  It resonates strongly with people who straddle dual cultures and don't want to let anyone down, including themselves.

As a teacher, librarian, and parent, I would use this book to discuss many topics with readers. Starting with the main characters, Bao and Linh, whose point of view changes with every-other-chapter.  Bao accuses Linh of being a liar because she isn't forthcoming with her family about her true passion of painting.  Readers can take a side and debate who is in the right and wrong in this situation.  

Another topic for discussion is how Bao and Linh go about their romance.  At first they hesitate to partner up because for their entire lives they were told by their families that it was taboo to associate with the other.  Despite their apprehension over being seen by someone in their community circle they embark on a friendship which grows into a romance.  Do readers agree with how the events unfolded?  Were there any times when they could've come clean with their families?

I just loved the friendship between Bao and Linh.  The more time they spent together the more they discover all that they had in common: they both recognize their Vietnamese culture along with the pressure to make their families proud.  It is unique to live in America where, as the children of immigrants, they are exposed to more avenues and opportunities than their parents.  Communicating this with their parents is difficult because their parents are unknowledgeable about how these experiences lead to future success.  Readers can talk about anyone in their life whom they feel like can understand them and their background.  

As the child of immigrants myself, I connected to this story especially when Linh was looking at old photographs of her parents from Vietnam.  She notices how happy and idyllic the scenes are and thinks, "It seems impossible to think that outside the frame of this photo, the country they knew was changing rapidly.  And yet here they were: joyful."  It would be interesting to pose this question of what is happening outside of the frame when looking at photos as primary sources with students.  Although countries go through so much change that their citizens are pushed or pulled to emigrate, the constant that they feel is family, cherished moments and unforgettable memories.  This is universal.  Which is what hurts when in the story there is a racist posting online with the person telling those in Little Saigon, "go home!"  Bao responds by writing an op-ed titled, "We Are Home".  His message is that immigrants are real people with a past that needs to be listened to in order to understand why they would leave their homes in order to make a better life here.  In the wake of the anti-Asian hate-crimes on the rise recently, his writing hits hard.

Le also captures what it is like when your secrets are revealed to your parents.  When the truth is out and you have to deal with the shame that stems from disappointing them, but also the other side of the feeling that what you did and hid from them was something that felt perfectly natural to you.  Linh calls the aftermath of her parents finding out as, "Terse. Cold. Punishing."  Readers can talk about times when they kept secrets from their loved ones or friends.  What was keeping them from being honest? Did they find ways to get through it? 

The most uplifting part of this whole story is the network of support that Bao and Linh have through their friends, teachers, neighbors, and family members who see their struggles and encourage them.  Like when Linh's aunt says to her, "Be the brave, honest person I know you are."  Readers can name people in their lives who provide this advice and kindness to them.  Maybe they are that support system to others in their lives.  Why is it important to form and nurture these relationships?

All in all, I absolutely loved this book. I'd recommend it, even to adults, because it has universal themes and good knowledge to bestow about Vietnamese history, food, language, and culture as a whole.  For example, how to pronounce PHO: it rhymes with, "huh?" Thank you, Loan!  I had never read a book with Vietnamese characters that I can recall and I cannot wait to read more from this amazing author.