POETRY BOOK REVIEW: CURRICULUM CONNECTION

POETRY BOOK REVIEW: CURRICULUM CONNECTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1997. MARVELOUS MATH: A BOOK OF POEMS.
Illustrated by Karen Barbour. New York: Simon and Schuster.
ISBN 0689806582

SUMMARY
In this delightful Lee Bennett Hopkins has selected 16 poems, two of which are penned by him that relate to the topic of mathematics. The poems range from how math makes us feel to how numbers help us make sense of the world around us.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hopkins has a natural knack for selecting poems for an anthology that will appeal to children. Most of the poems have a two-page spread and the ones that do not get their own two-page spread go so well together that the illustrations seem to have been meant for that poem even though there was no previous collaboration between each individual poet and the illustrator. For example, J. Thomas Sparough’s poem HOURGLASS is paired along side Ilo Orleans poem TIME PASSES. Since both poems deal with time it is natural to place these two together. What is interesting about pairing these two together is the fact that while Sparough’s poem is about time it is more about time over centuries and how weather over time has reshaped the earth while Orleans’ poem has more to do with time that children can physically see on a clock and get a sense of a twenty-four period.



In Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s poem MARVELOUS MATH she uses an abcb pattern to describe some of the purposes of mathematics. While students may not be wondering about these exact questions she illustrates in language that children will understand and that will spark their curiosity to learn the answers to her questions if they do not already know the answers. Her poem reads as follows:


MARVELOUS MATH
How fast does a New York taxi go?
What size is grandpa’s attic?
How old is the oldest dinosaur?
The answer’s in Mathematics!

How many seconds in an hour?
How many in a day?
What size are the planets in the sky?
How far is the Milky Way?

How fast does lightning travel?
How slow do feathers fall?
How many miles to Istanbul?
Mathematics knows it all!


Lillian M. Fisher’s poem TO BUILD A HOUSE provides a wonderful lead in for a unit on using all four math operations to complete a project in addition to learning some new vocabulary—in this case the construction of a model house. Many children may not be familiar with the word cupboard so will have to use another important skill-research-in order to learn what this word means and what a cupboard actually looks like.
The students will also have to figure out how to build a house to scale as well as researching the various types of materials that are used to build homes. This could also tie-in with a social studies and science unit on the types of materials found in various parts of the world and then each student or group of students could be responsible for building a home suitable for that part of the world.

Barbour has created delightful illustrations with her depiction of a house and a ruler running around the perimeter of the two-page spread. She uses bright bold colors that appeal to children of all ages. This illustration like all the others for this book are done by using gouache paint which is described as an opaque watercolor.

TO BUILD A HOUSE
Here on this plot
Our house will rise
Against the hill
Beneath blue skies

Ruler and tape
Measure the size
Of windows and cupboards
The floors inside

We add, subtract,
Multiply, divide
To build closets and stairs
The porch outside

Without numbers and measure
Would our house ever rise
Against the hill
Beneath blue skies?

Note: This is probably not the picture the poet had in mind but I was trying to find an interesting unusual house to show the variety in the types of homes.



This gem of a book will make a great addition to a teacher or librarian’s collection.


REVIEW EXCERPT
School Library Journal-“Barbour's lively illustrations dance and play around the poems... Children will enjoy studying the oddly colored animals, numbers, and stylized, arched-browed people.”

CONNECTIONS

Some other math related poetry books:
Franco, Betsy. 2006. MATH POETRY.
Tucson, AZ: Good Year Books. ISBN 1596470720
----. 2006. MATHEMATICKLES. Illustrated by Steven Salerno.
New York: Aladdin. ISBN 1416918612
Holub, Joan and Heather Boyd. 2003. RIDDLE-ICULOUS MATH.
Illustrated by Regan Dunnick.
Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company. ISBN 0807549967
Tang, Greg. 2003. MATH-TERPIECES. Illustrated by Greg Paprocki.
New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439443881

Some other curriculum connection poetry books:

Asch, Frank. 1996. SAWGRASS POEMS: A VIEW OF THE EVERGLADES.
Illustrated by Ted Levin. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt ISBN 0152001808
Fletcher, Ralph. 2005. A WRITING KIND OF DAY: POEMS FOR YOUNG POETS.
Illustrated by April Ward.
Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Boyds Mill Press. ISBN 1590783530
Goldish, Meish. 1999. 101 SCIENCE POEMS & SONGS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0590963694
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2002. SPECTACULAR SCIENCE: A BOOK OF POEMS. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 0689851200
Prelutsky, Jack. 1997. RIDE A PURPLE PELICAN.
New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688156258
Scieszka, Jon. 2007. SCIENCE VERSE. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0670062693

MODULE 4—POETRY BREAK—BIOGRAPHICAL POEM

MODULE 4—POETRY BREAK—BIOGRAPHICAL POEM

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1999. LIVES—POEMS ABOUT FAMOUS AMERICANS. Illustrated by Leslie Staub. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 006027767X



NOTE: All but one of these sixteen poems is written by poets other than Hopkins. These poems have been selected by Hopkins to be included in this anthology.

INTRODUCTION
Discuss with the students why Dr. Martin Luther King was so important in America’s history. This poem would be especially appropriate on January 15, his birth date.





MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
X. J. Kennedy

Solemn bells in steeples sing:

Doctor
Martin
Luther
King.


He lived his life
He dreamed his dream:
The worst-off people
To redeem,

He dreamed a world
Where people stood
Not separate, but
In brotherhood.

Now ten-ton bells together swing:

Remember
Martin
Luther
King.


EXTENSIONS

Discuss and perhaps even have the children locate information on other important African-American people in United States history.

Other books that would help expand the topic on America’s history and important people in history are:

Katz, Bobbi. 2000. WE THE PEOPLE: POEMS. Illustrated by Nina Crews.
New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688165311

Meltzer, Milton, Ed. 2003. HOUR OF FREEDOM: AMERICAN HISTORY IN POETRY. Illustrated by Marc Nadel.
Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills Press. ISBN 1590780213

Lewis, J. Patrick and Jim Cooke. HEROES AND SHE-ROES: POEMS OF AMAZING AND EVERYDAY HEROES. 2005.
New York: Random House. ISBN 0803729251

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Complier. HAND IN HAND: AN AMERICAN HISTORY THROUGH POETRY. Illustrated by Peter M. Fiore. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 067173315X

MODULE 4—POETRY BREAK—SPRING-A POEM ABOUT THE SEASON OF SPRING

MODULE 4—POETRY BREAK—SPRING-A POEM ABOUT THE SEASON OF SPRING


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fletcher, Ralph. 1997. ORDINARY THINGS—POEMS FROM A WALK IN EARLY SPRING. Drawings by Walter Lyon Krudop.
New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689810350


INTRODUCTION
If at all possible read this poem outside so that the students can observe Mother Nature while listening and enjoying this poem.





birds’ nest (Note: The title is written as Fletcher has done)


You see birds’ nests
like unpicked fruit
in branches bare
of any leaves.

When I was small
Grandma cut my hair
and tossed the clumps
onto our lawn.

“Birds will use it
to line their nests
and keep the eggs
safe and warm.”

An amazing thing:
my ordinary hair
woven into a bird’s
wild tapestry.



EXTENSIONS

While outside after reading the poem look for birds’ nests and observe what the birds have used for building material(s)


Read other books by Fletcher which include but are not limited to:

POETRY MATTERS: WRITING A POEM FROM THE INSIDE OUT. 2002.
New York: Harper Collins ISBN 0380797038

TWILIGHT COMES TWICE. 1997. New York: Clarion ISBN 0395848261

HELLO, HARVEST MOON. 2003. New York: Clarion ISBN 0618164510

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

Module 3--A Verse Novel

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic Press
ISBN 0590360809


SUMMARY
This poignant historical fiction novel written in free verse form tells the story of fourteen year old Billie Jo Kelby and her family’s struggles during the 1930’s dust storms. The story starts out from the view point of Billie Jo and her reflections on her birth and how she has always been a disappointment to her father because she was born a boy and hence how she was named.

As the story progresses the reader learns of the hardships, devastation, and struggles that the people of this time lived through during this time in America’s history. For example, Billie Jo’s father leaves a bucket of kerosene near the stove and the mother picks it up thinking it is water and catches the stove and the surroundings on fire. The mother runs outside and Billie Jo thinking that she is helping throws the bucket outside; however, at the same time her mother is returning to the kitchen and catches on fire. She and her unborn fetus suffer for several days before eventually dying. Billie Jo’s hands gets burned in the process of saving her mother but the people are not as concerned about that as what happened to the mother and fetus. What is so ironic is the fact that all the neighbors and mourners at the funeral and lunch afterwards at the Kelby’s home focus on what Billie Jo did not on the carelessness of her father.

Before the accident Billie Jo had with the reluctance of her parents developed the talent of playing the piano. She inherited this trait from her mother who used to play at home before marrying and raising a family. After her hands were severely burned she gives up pursuing this dream due to charred and scarred hands as well as the painful memories playing the piano brings of her mother.

Billie Jo’s disconnect from her father, her destitute surroundings, along with her own grief lead to her to run away from home and try to find a better life away from all the sadness and poverty that surround her constantly. She hops a train illegally, which was termed a hobo and meets up with a fellow hobo. Through her conversations with him she discovers that home is where she longs to be. The kindness of others allows her to return to her beloved home and reconciliation with her father.

Once home she discovers that her father and a local single woman named Louise, who turns out to be her father’s night school teacher, have become friendly and are developing a close relationship. At first, Billie Jo is angry about this but through the slow, gentle, kind, unobtrusive ways of Louise Billie Jo warms up to her and by the end of the novel the reader is aware that not only are the Daddy and Louise going to be married but that Billie Jo will be alright and has come to terms with the death of her mother. Billie Jo is once again playing the piano as she did before the tragedy.



CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Hesse is a master at using concrete and abstract meanings in OUT OF THE DUST. Most readers will have had experience at one time or another with having dust covering some part of their body and at the same time through Hesse’s creative use of abstract thinking we also get a sense of what it must have been like to live day to day, month after month, with multiple layers of dust covering everything and everyone day and night.

The unmetered and unpatterned rhythm lends itself well to the free verse type such as this one. Hesse also has a gift for creating a powerful voice for her characters. She knows how to speak the language that a child during this era would talk and yet the language still is understandable and appealing to students today. Billie Jo and the other characters comes alive and even though they are fictional characters the reader is pulled into their lives and roots for them during times of triumph, and feels their pain and sadness during the tragedies that confront each and every one of them that lived during this time period in America’s history.

Each “mini” poem within the novel lends itself well to allowing the reader to use their mind’s eye and recreate the sense imagery. Many children have had similar experiences of using their senses to explore and experience the world around them. For example, from an excerpt on page 18 when Billie Jo has been sent to the local grocery store to get supplies for a cake her mother was making for Billie Jo’s father she states

I could smell apples,
ground coffee, and peppermint.
I sorted through the patterns on the feed bags,
sneezed dust,
blew my nose.


Hesse also has a wonderful way of creating a tone and mood that draws the reader from the first page and grasps him/her until the turning of the very last page. A reader makes an instant emotional connection with the characters in the story through the eloquent moving language that Hesse uses.

Every reader at some point in their lives, no matter their age or circumstances, has experienced a situation that to them was a crisis. Therefore, it is easy to identify with Billie Jo when she exclaims


The way I see it, hard times aren’t only
about money,
or drought,
or dust.
hard times are about losing spirit,
and hope,
and what happens when dreams dry up.


REVIEW EXCERPT
Publishers Weekly-"This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust and wind of Oklahoma. With each meticulously arranged entry Hesse paints a vivid picture of her heroine's emotions."


CONNECTIONS

There are many excellent verse novels available if you want to continue with your students in this genre. Here are four that I have selected:

Creech, Sharon. 2001. LOVE THAT DOG.
New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0060292873
Frost, Helen. 2003. KEESHA’S HOUSE.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374400121
Grover, Lorie Ann. 2007. LOOSE THREADS.
New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1416955623
Sones, Sonya. 2003. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW.
New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN 0689855532

A couple of other books by Hesse include:
BROOKLYN BRIDGE. Illustrated by Chris Sheban.
New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0312378866
WITNESS. 2003. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439272009

MODULE 3--POETRY BREAK: UNUSUAL FORM— A poem written in picture book form

MODULE 3--POETRY BREAK: UNUSUAL FORM—
A poem written in picture book form

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Siebert, Diane. 1981. TRAIN SONG. Paintings by Mike Wimmer.
New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0690047282


INTRODUCTION
This poem is written as a picture book. First, read SEYMOUR SIMON’S BOOK OF TRAINS then read TRAIN SONG.

Simon, Seymour. 2004. SEYMOUR SIMON’S BOOK OF TRAINS. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0064462234




out in back
railroad track
clickety-clack
clickety-clack
locomotives
cars in tow
going places:
Buffalo
New York City
Boston, Mass.
slowing ‘neath the overpass
Dallas
Fort Worth
Abilene
with stops at all points
in between
steel wheels rolling
on steel trails
rumbling
grumbling
on steel rails
engineers with striped hats
head-of-the-line aristocrats
up in front
sitting high
see them wave as go by
great trains
freight trains
talk about your late trains
the 509
right on time
straight through to L.A.
whistle blows
there she goes
slicing through the day
boxcars
flatcars
going-to-North Platte cares:
Cotton Belt
Santa Fe
New York Central
on their way
long trains
strong trains
singing-clickety-song trains
cars with lumber
cars with cattle
clickety-clacking
to Seattle
cars piled high with automobiles
wheels
on
wheels
on
wheels
on
wheels
tank cars hauling gasoline
diesel oil and kerosene
thirty hoppers in a row
hauling spuds from Idaho
caboose of yellow at the ends
disappearing 'round the bend
trains with passengers on board
clickety-clacking
rolling toward
their destinations far away
clickety-clacking
night and day
coaches
club cars
diners, too
dome cars with a perfect view
signal lights
green
yellow
red
railroad station up ahead
rolling
rolling
into town
toward the platform
slowing down
creaking
clanking
air brakes squeal
moaning
groaning
steel on steel
Overnighter to the bay
arrive at noon on Saturday
get a sleeper
don't be late
she's waiting on Track number 8
head conductor
dressed in black
peering up and down the track
checks his watch
now hear him shout:
"ALL ABOARD"
she's pulling out!
through the tunnel
going fast
clickety-clack
she's roaring past
the cities, suburbs, little towns
past forest greens and desert browns
spikes and crossties
smooth, worn rails
through the twilight
whistle wails
feel the rhythm
hear the sound
clickety-clacking
homeward bound
say good night
and
wave good-bye
hear the railroad lullaby







EXTENSIONS

Have the students make their own trains. The pattern is available at http://familyfun.go.com/printables/craft-templates/printable/train-engine/train-engine.html.


Also this book could be paired with:
O’Brien, Patrick. 2000. STEAM, SMOKE AND STEEL: BACK IN TIME WITH TRAINS. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing. ISBN 0881069698
Sobel, June. 2006. THE GOODNIGHT TRAIN.
Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 0152054367

Poetry Book Review--Multicultural

POETRY BOOK REVIEW

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Janet S. Wong. 1996. A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED AND OTHER POEMS. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689807880


SUMMARY
She has a background of Korean, Chinese and American. She has divided her book into three sections—one section per culture. She has written poetry about each and helps the reader/listener gain a better understanding of what is like to have such a varied heritage.

In the first section the Korean poems help her connect to her mother’s background. The next section is about her father’s Chinese heritage. Finally, in the last section she writes about her American heritage.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS
All of the poems written in this book are written in free verse form. Not only does she speak and write from the heart but she writes about topics that she is familiar with which packs a powerful punch. Wong has a powerful way with words and through her poems expresses a wide range of emotions.
For example, in LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, which is in the first section of her book, the love that her mother and father have for each other as young lovers is evident and instantly a reader can envision the two running into each other’s arms after a playful chase once they have reunited after her father’s return from war.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

I like to imagine Mother
when her face was full and smooth
and she wore her hair in a long braid,

and I like to imagine Father
with his crooked smile and his crooked crew cut,
wearing an American uniform,

running after her
in the narrow dirt streets
of her Korean village,

as she rushes away
laughing,
her long braid

wagging like the tail of a dog
that has found
a fresh bone.













One of my favorite poems in her second section is MONEY ORDER. It is like the saying goes “the pasture is always greener on the other side.” In the poem her family works hard, scrimps and saves to send money back to her family in China. How ironic that her family later learns that the money that was sent to the family members was used to purchase a television set so they could learn about all the possessions that Americans have and see how wealthy the American people live.

MONEY ORDER
We eat salt fish and rice,
night after night after night,
to save some money
to send
to cousins
I never have seen

who used our money last year
to buy a color TV,
so they could watch
rich Americans
eating
steak and potatoes.


REVIEW EXCERPT

School Library Journal-“Wong was born in America of Chinese and Korean heritage, but the basic subjects she addresses in neat stanzas of free verse aim at the heart of any family, any race.”


CONNECTIONS

Explore the various cultures that make up the fabric of the United States. Have the students write poems that express their heritage.

Bring in a variety of foods that are native to Korea and China and have the students see them precooked, taste raw if applicable, cook in a wok if applicable, and then have a feast with the prepared foods.

Read, enjoy, and explore other poetry books written by Janet S. Wong such as:
YOU HAVE TO WRITE. 2002. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689834098
ALEX AND THE WEDNESDAY CHESS CLUB. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689858906
TWIST: YOGA POEMS. 2007. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689873948
GOOD LUCK GOLD AND OTHER POEMS. 1994. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689506171
KNOCK ON WOOD: POEMS ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS. 2003.
New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0689855125