POETRY
[Letting Your Voice Be Heard]
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
A boy named Jack discovers his love of poetry through the exploration of famous poets in Miss Stretchberry's classroom. Both the reader and Jack go on a journey of self discovery, where the wonders of poetry are illuminated. Jack finds that poetry can help express the joys and sorrows of loving a dog. Click on the cover of the book to learn more.
Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York, NY: HaperCollins Publishers.
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman
Joyce Sidman provides an anthology of poems written by elementary students. The collection consists of poems about apologizing and forgiveness, based on the poem "This is Just to Say" by Williams Carlos Williams. Everything within the book is written by the elementary students; from the introduction to the individual poems, Sidman's collection show how age does not define a poet. Click on the cover of the book to learn more.
Sidman, J. (2007). This is just to say: Poems of apology and forgiveness. Boston: Hougton Mifflin Company.
The Way A Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith
Told through the poerty of Hope Anita Smith, thirteen-year-old C.J. learns the difficult lessons about family, community, and life. When his father walks out on the family, responsiblity is thrusted onto C.J. who watches his family fall apart in the wake his father's absence. However, his friends and family ban together and learn to cope with the change and continue to find the beauty in life.
Smith, H. A. (2003). The way a door closes. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company
Poetry for Elementary School
Poetry offers a type of text to read and interpret creatively. Each of these books demonstrates how poetry can be approached in different ways. Poetry is an oral tradition, and therefore the beauty of a poem is enhanced by reading it orally. All these books can be used to build fluency and prosody. However, the text themselves, or individual poems, can be read like a story to help build comprehension skills. By exposing students to different types of poems or poetry books, students recieve a wider variety of text that exist in the world. They can gain inspirtation through these books to break through the traditional bounardies that define a genre and can become innovative writers of the future.
Ubiquitous by Joyce Sidman
Ubiquitous is a unique look at the natural world of science through the lense of poetry. Joyce Sidman introduces a variety of biological topics involving the development of the natural world, such as bacteria, sharks, grasses, and humans. Each significant step in the evolutionary process of the world around us is explained through a poem, as well as informative text.
Sidman, J. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating nature's survivors. Boston: Houshton Mifflin Harcourt.