Tracie
Vaughn Zimmer
Children's Author &
Reading Specialist
Biography
|
Books by Tracie |
Blog |
Poetry House
|
School
Visits
|
Teacher Guides
| Home
|
|
|
If you would like to receive an email when new resources are added to this website, please click here. Borrow poetry books from the public library to supplement the school selection. If you call your local librarian they'll often do the picking for you. Or, you can just print out the list here from my printer-friendly version. They'll often box it and have it ready for you. Love that Librarian! After filling your room to the brim with poetry choices, allow the students to get acquainted with as many books as possible. In fact, you can divide the books evenly between students and then have a timer go off every five minutes or so and students must pass on the book to the person beside them. This will pique some interest in a book, and force students to check out titles they wouldn't normally bother with. Now here are some of those projects I mentioned. If you have some others you would like to share, please email me. I am always looking for some new things to try too. Reading Poetry Projects: Poetry Art In conjunction with the art teacher (or if you're brave within your own four walls) allow students to make poetry posters. They can paint, color, or use collage to illustrate the poem of their choice. Be sure to emphasize how important it is for students to copy the poem exactly as it appears in the book with the author, the page number and title. INSTANT BULLETIN BOARDS! Also, when the unit is over, the poster may find a permanent home in a locker or bedroom. (There were several poems that I did this to as a kid, and I carried them all the way through college. It was especially interesting to notice how the poem didn't change, but how my interpretation of it did as I grew). NEW! Poetry Banquet: broaden your student's poetic palette Figurative Lesson Low Down: A brief introduction to the poetic elements What is Poetry is and Isn't: a brief overview
Poetry Contest (not what you think) After introducing the poetic elements (and I would choose just the major ones to start) have students look for examples from the texts of their choice. Then, list the "best of" examples on the board under each element. Then, you can pass out ballots and students can vote for the best poetic elements. Examples: metaphor, simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, imagery Song Lyrics Have students find examples of all the poetic elements you want them to know by scouring them in their song lyrics. You'll find they're more than happy to do this homework for you. They can also highlight lyrics by their senses, using a color for each. For example: blue= sight, red= smell, etc. Poetry Packrat The Grand finale of this unit is a poetry anthology. Be sure students collect these in a folder or binder that can be added to down the road. Introduce it as an ongoing project that you are simply starting here in class. Students must find at least 10 poems from at least 4 different sources, no more than two of them being song lyrics or by any one author.... (see all the mistakes I already made for you?). After each poem, students must write a brief one or two sentence reason for including it in their collection. It must tell why this poem particularly "speaks" to them.
Be sure that students also include the final copies of at least three of their own poems in the collection (this is in addition to the ten by other writers.) It will help them value their own writing and see it as valid next to to others. An option is to make an introduction to the collection mandatory. It can be a summary of what they have learned about poetry (VERY revealing), and is an excellent way to gauge their response to the overall unit. My favorite poetry books for kids: Printer friendly to take to library! Arnold Adoff: I Am the Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by African Americans Touch the Poem Love Letters Anything by Ralph Fletcher: check out his link at www.ralphfletcher.com I Am Wings Family Matters Buried Alive Have You Been to the Beach Lately? Poetry Matters: How to Write a Poem from the Inside Out Kristine O'Connell George Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems NEW! Old Elm Speaks perfect personification. Little Dog Poems Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems The Great Frog Race and Other Poems
All of Nikki Grimes' terrific books: Bronx Masquerade (midgrade +) Aneesa Lee and the Weaver's Gift Shoe Magic Talkin' About Bessie Come Sunday Pocketful of Poems My Man Blue Meet Danitra Brown Danitra Brown Leaves Town Jazmin's Notebook Lee Bennett Hopkins Been to Yesterdays: Poem of a Life ALL his marvelous anthologies Paul Janeczko How to write Poetry ALL his Anthologies are perfect for the exploration of a wide variety of works! I used them all every year!
Walter Dean Myers Brown Angel: An Album of Pictures and Verse Angel to Angel: A Mother's Gift of Love Naomi Shihab Nye What Have You Lost? I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You: Paired Poems by Men & Women Words Under the Words: Selected Poems Come With Me: Poems for a Journey 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East Cynthia Rylant Something Permanent Soda Jerk Waiting to Waltz
Joyce Sidman: Just Us Two: Animal Dads Eureka! The World According to Dog Marilyn Singer Footprints on the Roof Central Heating Turtle in July Fireflies at Midnight The Company of Crows Sonya Sones (young adult) Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy What My Mother Doesn't Know Janet S. Wong Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams Behind the Wheel: Poems About Driving
and I would be HONORED if you would include my book on this list: THANKS! Books to help teachers teach poetry: A Celebration of Bees: By Barbara Juster Esbenson Awakening the Heart by Georgia Heard Getting the Knack: Poetry Writing Exercises by
Stephen Dunning and William Stafford Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out Poem Making by Myra Cohn Livingston
NOT for kids (mostly), but for the adults who need refreshed, my favorite poets & books: Billy Collins: Picnic, Lightening, Sailing Alone Around the Room,
Nine
Horses, Sharon Olds: ALL her books Jane Kenyon: Otherwise Mary Oliver: Collected Poems (I love her book A Poetry Handbook for writing) Jane Hirshfield: The Ink Dark Moon (Love poems from the Japanese: spare & lovely) Deborah Garrison: A Working Girl Can't Win (HILARIOUS!) Sandra Cisneros: Woman Hollering Creek & Loose Woman
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/writing/poetry/index.htm
www.nikkigrimes.com www.ralphfletcher.com www.netaxs.com/~katz/ www.lspark.com www.lisawheelerbooks.com www.gigglepoetry.com
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/indexauthors.html http://www.poetry-portal.com/ http://www.loc.gov/poetry/ Other Great Children's literature sites: www.teachingbooks.net www.juliadurango.com
http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/parent.html
http://rinkworks.com/bookaminute/bedtime.shtml www.cynthialeitichsmith.com www.ToniBuzzeo.com www.verlakay.com www.marisamontes.com www.smartwriters.com
Writing Poetry:
This is a legitimate form which has been published widely in the last ten years.
Steps: 1. Find a particularly great piece of prose-whether in a speech, descriptive paragraph, or any novel. 2. Go through and highlight (or just copy) the smallest amount of words you need for meaning. Be spare... Less really is more in poetry. 3. Experiment with the meaning by where line breaks and punctuation occur. 4. You CANNOT add your own words though... that's cheating Click here to see a Student Example: This is an especially good form for a highly emotional content. Students can learn to "lean in" on their own writing. And, this is the ultimate goal, of course!
Steps: 1. Have students free write on ONE topic. Time the writing and try for at least 5 minutes... preferably a whole ten- never letting the pencil off the page, and repeating the phrase I've got nothing to say if they are stuck. Then, just like a found poem, go through and find any parts that particularly "sing" and then experiment with line, form, and punctuation. 2. Possible topics:
3. The bigger it is the smaller you write is an old adage for writers. Tell your students that this can help their writing if they try to focus on small images or details of an event or person. For example, when my Grandmother died, it didn't seem real until I saw her purse hanging in the closet. This small detail is what finally brought it home to me. After all, Grandma never went anywhere without that purse. Click here to see a Student Example: Have you seen those expensive magnetic poetry kits? Well, they are a great idea but much too expensive for wide use in a classroom. Instead, give students small tickets or index cards cut into 2x2 squares. Then, pass out old newspapers and magazines. Let the students cut and glue on any words they like (that of course follow the school codes;0) . Put all the results into a shoe box and then put students into pairs or small groups. Hand them a handful of words and see what they come up with... you'll be surprised, and so will they!
This form can teach kids to see the poetry in their everyday language! It is also fun and creative way to become a keen observer, which all poets aspire to be. 1. Tell students to divide a piece of paper in half lengthwise. 2. Then, they need to pick two people who they'd like to record for posterity. You can brainstorm possible combinations. I've even seen students have a dialogue with themselves! 3. Simply flip the paper back and forth and record verbatim what they hear... or pretend to hear! 4. Revise to filter out any unnecessary words or boring additions. 5. Then, you can play with form... words can be in separate columns or just follow line by line switching characters. Click here to see a Student Example:
Some of these exercises were adapted from the excellent book: Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Exercises by Stephen Dunning and William Stafford |
|
Email Tracie? TVZIMMER (at) MAC (dot) com |
