MODULE 3—POETRY BREAK--A POEM THAT DOES NOT RHYME

MODULE 3—POETRY BREAK--A POEM THAT DOES NOT RHYME


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Soto, Gary. 1995. CANTO FAMILIAR. Illustrated by Annika Nelson.
New York: Harcourt Brace. ISBN 0152000674


INTRODUCTION
Look at a map of the world and discuss the physical features of each continent and/or country.






TORTILLAS LIKE AFRICA
When Isaac and me squeezed dough over a
Mixing bowl,
When we dusted the cutting board with flour,
When we spanked and palmed our balls of dough,
When we said, “Here goes,”
And began rolling out tortillas,
We giggled because ours came out not round,
Like Mama’s,
But in the shape of faraway lands.

Here was Africa, here was Colombia, and Greenland.
Here was Italy, the boot country,
And here was Mexico, our homeland to the south.

Here was Chile, thin as tie.
Here was France, square as a hat.
Here was Australia, with patches of jumping kangaroos.

We rolled out our tortillas on the board
And laughed when we threw them on the comal,
These tortillas that were not round as a pocked moon,
But the twist and stretch of the earth taking shape.






EXTENSIONS

Have the students “perform” the actions in the poem by providing dough and letting them create the world. This is a great follow-up to a Social Studies unit on the continents/countries of the world.




Read other poetry books by Gary Soto including but not limited to:
GARY SOTO; NEW AND SELECTED POEMS. 1995. New York: Chronicle. ISBN 0811807584
PARTLY CLOUDY: POEMS OF LOVE AND LONGING. 2009.
New York: Harcourt. ISBN 0152063013
NEIGHBORHOOD ODES. 2005. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 015205364
A FIRE IN MY HANDS: A BOOK OF POEMS. 1992.
New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0590445790


Try these poetry books:
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1998. THE TREE IS OLDER THAN YOU ARE: A BILINGUUAL GATHERING OF PEOMS & STORIES FROM MEXICO New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689820879
Myers, Walter Dean. 1996. BROWN ANGELS: AN ALBUM OF PICTURES AND VERSE. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0064434559
Grimes, Nikki. IS IT FAR TO ZANZIBAR: POEMS ABOUT TANZANIA.
New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688131573