Here are a number of creative and inexpensive suggestions for making poetry a more important part of school life during April and throughout the year.
These tips were developed with the help of the Dodge Poetry Festival, the National Council of Teachers of English, and Teachers & Writers Collaborative.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation
Meet with other teachers and local poets to talk about how to teach poetry to young people.
Talk with your school librarian about ordering books and creating a poetry book display.
Order a poetry anthology or other poetry books for your class.
Attend poetry readings in your community.
Contact your state arts council or your local literary center.
Reread some favorite poems.
Post favorite poems in faculty and staff lounges.
Write at least one poem before beginning a unit on poetry.
Preview audio and/or video tapes for use in class or a special school-wide assembly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading
Begin each class with a poem by a different poet.
Ask students to memorize poems and then write them out or recite them from memory.
Read poems aloud to your students.
Ask each student to create his or her own anthology of favorite poems.
Organize a poetry contest for teachers and administrators and select students to act as judges.
Introduce a new poetic form each week and give examples of poems that use -- or reinvent -- the form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing
Publish student poetry in your school newspaper or magazine, or on your website.
Publish a special anthology of student poems.
Create a school poem and ask each student to contribute one line.
Give students a list of words and ask them to create a poem using those words.
Invite students to write poems in response to their favorite poems (or to songs, TV shows, or artworks).
Encourage students to write in the voice of someone else -- a parent, friend, or teacher.
Hold poetry workshops where students discuss one another's work.
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Other Activities
Tape students reading their own poems or poems by others; encourage them to share the tapes with parents and friends.
Organize a student poetry reading at the local library or bookstore.
Decorate the classroom or the school with illustrated poems and pictures of poets.
Hold a poetry exchange day with poems wrapped as gifts.
Invite local poets to your school for readings, workshops, or discussions.
Create a poetry book display in the school library.
Have your students write lines on small pieces of poster board and make them into poetry mobiles.
Encourage your local newspaper to sponsor a contest for student poets.
Read a poem over the public address system each morning.
Create and send poetry greeting cards to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Have your students write short poems, put them in balloons, and set them free.
Xerox a different poem for each day in April and hand them out at lunchtime.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
How to Write a Dream Poem
by Bruce Lansky
When you're asleep, the logical part of your brain is shut off while the wild and crazy part of your brain does whatever it darned well wants. That's why poems about dreams can be so much fun. They can be rich in creative imagery, written in a stream of consciousness style, or "wouldn't it be great if..." wish lists.
I think my favorite dream poem was published in Sweet Dreams. It was inspired by a Robert Louis Stevenson poem my mother used to read when she'd tuck me into bed.
My Bed is Like a Sailing Ship
My bed is like a sailing ship-
when I'm tucked in, I take a trip.
I leave behind my busy day
and sail to places far away.
I sail past beaches, gleaming white,
with palm trees swaying in the night.
I watch the waves break on the shore,
and then I see my bedroom floor!
I blink my eyes, I scratch my head-
my ship is home, I'm back in bed.
My ships goes sailing every night
and sails home in the morning light.
© 1996 by Bruce Lansky, reprinted from Sweet Dreams with permission of Meadowbrook Press
In this lesson, I'm going to give you several starters you can use to get your students to write different kind of dream poems.
Here's a poem that's fairly easy for kids to write because it's written in free verse. It is simply a collection of dreamy images woven together. All your students have to do is imagine some dreamy place and then weave together images they might encounter there. Like the poem above, I suggest that your students end the poem with the writer waking up in bed after dreaming.
Tropical Dream
After tossing and turning for what must have been an hour or so,
I find myself lying on a tropical beach,
the waves gently licking the sand.
I gaze up at the sky and notice some pelicans
soaring and swooping, looking for lunch.
There's a catamaran sailing offshore,
swept by the wind that is cooling my brow.
etc.
Here's another free-verse poem starter. This time, it's a collection of sleepy thoughts a child might have before drifting off to sleep.
Sleepy Thoughts on a Cold Winter Night
I'm cold.
I pull my blanket over my head.
That's better.
I find a comfortable position
and start breathing slowly.
I wonder what it would be like
to be a bear and sleep all winter.
I guess you'd have to have a pretty big last supper,
or you'd have to wake up in January to find something to eat.
I wonder what it would be like
to be a fish and sleep at the bottom of a lake.
I guess you'd have to have gills,
or you'd have to come up to the surface every ten seconds or so
to get a breath of air.
etc.
Here's a starter for a different kind of free-verse dream poem. It could be a dream narrative or it could simply be a "dream" in the sense of "I wish I were rich and famous." I was going to call it "I Have a Dream," but it's not exactly what Martin Luther King had in mind (I was in D.C. when he made that speech), so I changed the title.
My Dream
Every kid needs help with homework.
Well, most of us anyway.
So I start an Internet company called "Homework Helper."
I've lined up the smartest kids in school
to explain math and science, edit papers,
and correct homework before it's turned in.
Anyway, as soon as the kids at school find out,
they flock to my website.
When kids from schools around the country start logging on,
I know I'm on to something.
But my parents have no idea what I'm doing,
until the day that a reporter from People magazine calls my mother
and says he wants to interview her "brilliant" son
for their next issue!
etc.
Here's another wish list. If you've read any of my list-poem lessons, you already know that these are easy and fun to write. Again, there's no need for your students to worry about rhythm and rhyme.
I May Be Dreaming, But Wouldn't It Be Great If...
…I were a genius who could get straight As in school without having to do any homework.
…My parents let me eat dessert first and then anything else wanted.
…My little sister moved to an island off the coast of Madagascar and I never heard from her again, except on my birthdays, when she'd send me a card with money in it.
…Instead of making me go to Sunday school, my parents would take me and my girlfriend to the amusement park, where I could practice the Golden Rule on the roller coaster by holding her hand whenever she got scared.
etc.
I could go on, but I've been up all night. It's almost time to go to work. I had trouble sleeping, and after reading a dull book, I got out of bed and decided to do something productive-like writing a poetry lesson. If you can't dream, the next best thing is to write dream poems. Funny, I suddenly feel sleepy.
Maybe I'll just close my eyes and.....
When you're asleep, the logical part of your brain is shut off while the wild and crazy part of your brain does whatever it darned well wants. That's why poems about dreams can be so much fun. They can be rich in creative imagery, written in a stream of consciousness style, or "wouldn't it be great if..." wish lists.
I think my favorite dream poem was published in Sweet Dreams. It was inspired by a Robert Louis Stevenson poem my mother used to read when she'd tuck me into bed.
My Bed is Like a Sailing Ship
My bed is like a sailing ship-
when I'm tucked in, I take a trip.
I leave behind my busy day
and sail to places far away.
I sail past beaches, gleaming white,
with palm trees swaying in the night.
I watch the waves break on the shore,
and then I see my bedroom floor!
I blink my eyes, I scratch my head-
my ship is home, I'm back in bed.
My ships goes sailing every night
and sails home in the morning light.
© 1996 by Bruce Lansky, reprinted from Sweet Dreams with permission of Meadowbrook Press
In this lesson, I'm going to give you several starters you can use to get your students to write different kind of dream poems.
Here's a poem that's fairly easy for kids to write because it's written in free verse. It is simply a collection of dreamy images woven together. All your students have to do is imagine some dreamy place and then weave together images they might encounter there. Like the poem above, I suggest that your students end the poem with the writer waking up in bed after dreaming.
Tropical Dream
After tossing and turning for what must have been an hour or so,
I find myself lying on a tropical beach,
the waves gently licking the sand.
I gaze up at the sky and notice some pelicans
soaring and swooping, looking for lunch.
There's a catamaran sailing offshore,
swept by the wind that is cooling my brow.
etc.
Here's another free-verse poem starter. This time, it's a collection of sleepy thoughts a child might have before drifting off to sleep.
Sleepy Thoughts on a Cold Winter Night
I'm cold.
I pull my blanket over my head.
That's better.
I find a comfortable position
and start breathing slowly.
I wonder what it would be like
to be a bear and sleep all winter.
I guess you'd have to have a pretty big last supper,
or you'd have to wake up in January to find something to eat.
I wonder what it would be like
to be a fish and sleep at the bottom of a lake.
I guess you'd have to have gills,
or you'd have to come up to the surface every ten seconds or so
to get a breath of air.
etc.
Here's a starter for a different kind of free-verse dream poem. It could be a dream narrative or it could simply be a "dream" in the sense of "I wish I were rich and famous." I was going to call it "I Have a Dream," but it's not exactly what Martin Luther King had in mind (I was in D.C. when he made that speech), so I changed the title.
My Dream
Every kid needs help with homework.
Well, most of us anyway.
So I start an Internet company called "Homework Helper."
I've lined up the smartest kids in school
to explain math and science, edit papers,
and correct homework before it's turned in.
Anyway, as soon as the kids at school find out,
they flock to my website.
When kids from schools around the country start logging on,
I know I'm on to something.
But my parents have no idea what I'm doing,
until the day that a reporter from People magazine calls my mother
and says he wants to interview her "brilliant" son
for their next issue!
etc.
Here's another wish list. If you've read any of my list-poem lessons, you already know that these are easy and fun to write. Again, there's no need for your students to worry about rhythm and rhyme.
I May Be Dreaming, But Wouldn't It Be Great If...
…I were a genius who could get straight As in school without having to do any homework.
…My parents let me eat dessert first and then anything else wanted.
…My little sister moved to an island off the coast of Madagascar and I never heard from her again, except on my birthdays, when she'd send me a card with money in it.
…Instead of making me go to Sunday school, my parents would take me and my girlfriend to the amusement park, where I could practice the Golden Rule on the roller coaster by holding her hand whenever she got scared.
etc.
I could go on, but I've been up all night. It's almost time to go to work. I had trouble sleeping, and after reading a dull book, I got out of bed and decided to do something productive-like writing a poetry lesson. If you can't dream, the next best thing is to write dream poems. Funny, I suddenly feel sleepy.
Maybe I'll just close my eyes and.....
How to Write an"I Can't Write a Poem" Poem
by Bruce Lansky
This is one poem every one of your students can write. Why? Because it's so easy and so much fun.
All they have to do is to make a list of their favorite excuses/complaints they make every time you ask them to write a poem. Add just the right title and ending and voila! They've written a terrific list poem.
Here's how it might turn out:
I Can't Write a Poem
Forget it.
You must be kidding.
I'm still half asleep.
My eyes keep closing.
My brain isn't working.
I don't have a pencil.
I don't have any paper.
My desk is wobbly.
I don't know what to write about.
And besides, I don't even know how to write a poem.
I've got a headache. I need to see the nurse.
Time's up? Uh oh!
All I have is this dumb list of excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding.
Thanks a lot. Would you like to see another one?
-Bruce Lansky
See what I mean?
I bet your students will love writing this one. To get them started, give them the title and the lines from "Times up?" to "Thanks a lot." Then ask them to come up with some excuses-- the more ridiculous, the better. If you're lucky, they'll come up with the last line on their own: "Would you like to see another one?"
--Bruce Lansky
This is one poem every one of your students can write. Why? Because it's so easy and so much fun.
All they have to do is to make a list of their favorite excuses/complaints they make every time you ask them to write a poem. Add just the right title and ending and voila! They've written a terrific list poem.
Here's how it might turn out:
I Can't Write a Poem
Forget it.
You must be kidding.
I'm still half asleep.
My eyes keep closing.
My brain isn't working.
I don't have a pencil.
I don't have any paper.
My desk is wobbly.
I don't know what to write about.
And besides, I don't even know how to write a poem.
I've got a headache. I need to see the nurse.
Time's up? Uh oh!
All I have is this dumb list of excuses.
You like it? Really? No kidding.
Thanks a lot. Would you like to see another one?
-Bruce Lansky
See what I mean?
I bet your students will love writing this one. To get them started, give them the title and the lines from "Times up?" to "Thanks a lot." Then ask them to come up with some excuses-- the more ridiculous, the better. If you're lucky, they'll come up with the last line on their own: "Would you like to see another one?"
--Bruce Lansky
Break Into Song To Help Your Students Write Rhyming Poetry
Break into Song to Help Your Students Write Rhyming Poetry
by Timothy Tocher
As all teachers know, the easiest way to teach something new is to base it on knowledge your students already possess. Writing rhythmic, rhyming poetry is a daunting challenge for most students, but running through their heads are dozens of songs. Here's how to capitalize on the familiar tunes your students sing in music class.
Stand in front of your classroom and sing, "Row, row, row your boat." Have your students respond by finishing the four-line lyric. Print the first line on the board, and point out that all the words have one beat or syllable. Next, brainstorm one-syllable action verbs: ride, walk, run, jump, etc. Before you know it, your students will create new first lines such as:
Ride, ride, ride your bike
Walk, walk, walk the dog
Drink, drink, drink your milk
Print the rest of the original "Row Your Boat" lyrics on the board as a model for students to follow. As students write new lyrics, they will hear the song running through their heads. This will help them find not only the rhyming pattern but also the rhythmic structure of each line.
What are some other good tunes to use? I've had success with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." My students have asked to be taken out to the "bookstore," "arcade," "state park," "playground," and "food court."
It's been a long time since many Americans could truthfully sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad," but thanks to music class, kids still know the song. Sing a line, and before you know it, your class will be "building with their Legos," "playing with their best friend," or even "writing silly verses" all the live-long day. Here's an example:
I've been writing silly verses,
all the live-long day.
I've been writing silly verses,
having fun in ELA.
Here's a poem Bruce Lansky based on a song:
Class Dismissed
(sing to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic")
We have broken all the blackboards
so the teachers cannot write.
We have painted all the toilets black
and all the lockers white.
We have torn up all the math books
and we've locked the school's front door.
There won't be school no more.
Glory, glory hallelujah!
School is closed now, what's it to ya?
There won't be no more homework
and there won't be no more tests.
There won't be school no more.
© 1997 Bruce Lansky, reprinted from No More Homework! No More Tests! published by Meadowbrook Press
One final point: Don't worry if you can't sing in key. The great thing about teaching elementary school is that the worse you sound, the more hilarious the kids will find your performance. So loosen up those vocal cords and help your students write rhythmic, rhyming poetry.
--Timothy Tocher
by Timothy Tocher
As all teachers know, the easiest way to teach something new is to base it on knowledge your students already possess. Writing rhythmic, rhyming poetry is a daunting challenge for most students, but running through their heads are dozens of songs. Here's how to capitalize on the familiar tunes your students sing in music class.
Stand in front of your classroom and sing, "Row, row, row your boat." Have your students respond by finishing the four-line lyric. Print the first line on the board, and point out that all the words have one beat or syllable. Next, brainstorm one-syllable action verbs: ride, walk, run, jump, etc. Before you know it, your students will create new first lines such as:
Ride, ride, ride your bike
Walk, walk, walk the dog
Drink, drink, drink your milk
Print the rest of the original "Row Your Boat" lyrics on the board as a model for students to follow. As students write new lyrics, they will hear the song running through their heads. This will help them find not only the rhyming pattern but also the rhythmic structure of each line.
What are some other good tunes to use? I've had success with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." My students have asked to be taken out to the "bookstore," "arcade," "state park," "playground," and "food court."
It's been a long time since many Americans could truthfully sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad," but thanks to music class, kids still know the song. Sing a line, and before you know it, your class will be "building with their Legos," "playing with their best friend," or even "writing silly verses" all the live-long day. Here's an example:
I've been writing silly verses,
all the live-long day.
I've been writing silly verses,
having fun in ELA.
Here's a poem Bruce Lansky based on a song:
Class Dismissed
(sing to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic")
We have broken all the blackboards
so the teachers cannot write.
We have painted all the toilets black
and all the lockers white.
We have torn up all the math books
and we've locked the school's front door.
There won't be school no more.
Glory, glory hallelujah!
School is closed now, what's it to ya?
There won't be no more homework
and there won't be no more tests.
There won't be school no more.
© 1997 Bruce Lansky, reprinted from No More Homework! No More Tests! published by Meadowbrook Press
One final point: Don't worry if you can't sing in key. The great thing about teaching elementary school is that the worse you sound, the more hilarious the kids will find your performance. So loosen up those vocal cords and help your students write rhythmic, rhyming poetry.
--Timothy Tocher
How toi Write an "If I" Poem
by Bill Dodds
It can be tough coming up with an idea for a poem and harder still to figure out a first line. "If I…" can be just the boost a writer needs to clear both hurdles in a single bound.
A Fundamental Rule
The "If I…" poem works so well because it allows your students to follow one of the principles of creative writing: Write what you know.
Whenever I share this principle with a class, at least one student immediately responds, "I don't know anything." That simply isn't true. Each of us knows a great deal. Because we're so familiar with that knowledge, we tend to brush it aside. We argue, "Yeah, but everyone knows what I know…" or "Okay, I know about something, but it isn't interesting to anyone else."
One time I was teaching an adult writing class, and a fellow told me his life was boring and he didn't know much about anything. No, he couldn't write about his work. It was so routine. He had been on the job for thirty years. Same old, same old.
"Well," I pressed, "what is your job?"
"I work for the city."
"Doing what?"
"Fire department."
"What!"
"I'm a lieutenant."
"So, for the last three decades you've been…fighting fires and handling life-threatening medical emergencies?"
He shrugged and gave me a what's-the-big-deal? look. "Everybody I work with does that," he said. "That's not interesting."
I would have to do a lot of research before writing about firefighting. He had all that information firsthand. With just a little more prompting, the stories poured out. Some sad, some touching, some very funny.
What he didn't know was how much he knew.
What do your students know? They know about being in this particular grade in this year. They know about soccer or band or scouts. About baby-sitting or being baby-sat. They know about computers and cell phones and the Internet. They know about having a pet dog and a little brother and visiting Grandma. They know which school cafeteria lunch is dreadful, which TV cartoons are the funniest, and what makes the coolest shoes the coolest shoes.
Every child is a walking encyclopedia on countless subjects. Each is an "expert" on his or her own opinions and life. The "If I…" poem allows students to write about that very knowledge in a creative, expressive, and entertaining way.
(Picture this: A young Laura Ingalls Wilder whining to her teacher: "But everyone lives in a little house on the prairie.")
The Big "If"
That takes care of the "I" part of the "If I…" poem What about the "if" before it and the ellipsis that follow? Here a little imagination will fill in the blank.
It's the Cowardly Lion crooning, "If I Were King of the Forest."
It's the Fiddler on the Roof lamenting, "If I Were a Rich Man."
It's a grade-schooler explaining, "If I Were Ruler of the World."
That's one of my poems in Kids Pick the Funniest Poems. What does the narrator talk about? His little brother, older sister, icky vegetables, household chores, his school, a park. Nothing extraordinary there. The twist is how he would use his newfound power in relation to each.
(Illustrator Stephen Carpenter does a great job taking it even further. Mom's on bended knees offering ice cream; Dad--looking peeved--waves the royal fan. Even the family dog is eager to please, delivering a comic book.)
Have the students write "If I ______" on a sheet of paper, and then ask them to fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind. If your students aren't too sure about how to fill the blank on their own, you can offer a list of examples or choices:
"If I Were Invisible."
"If I Knew How to Fly."
"If I Had a Million Dollars."
"If I Had Done My Homework Last Night."
"If I Were Teacher for a Day."
"If I Played in the NBA."
(Of course, the "If I…" poem doesn't have to be humorous. Allowing your students to choose how they will fill in that blank can lead to some serious and touching reflections.)
Meter, Monkeys, Rhyme, and Rock 'n' Roll
The meter and rhyme I chose for "If I Were Ruler of the World" are ones that your students will find very natural. The meter--using an "iambic foot"--is basic. It's an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The English language is loaded with them, and we tend to speak that way. (We TEND to SPEAK that WAY.) The rhyme scheme is elementary, too: ABCB.
Here's what one stanza of an "If I…" poem looks like:
If I were ruler of the world,
I'd make some changes fast.
I'd say, "The ruler's always first;
His little brother's last."
© Bill Dodds, reprinted from Kids Pick the Funniest Poems published by Meadowbrook Press.
Add a tune that can be played with three chords on the guitar, and you have the makings of a lot of rock 'n' roll oldies. Many of those melodies sounded so similar because young songwriters listened to what was playing on the radio and unconsciously copied the beat and the rhyme scheme.
We all copy--imitate--what we hear. That's how we learned to speak. In a sense, we're all monkey see, monkey do. Monkey hear, monkey speak. Monkey read, monkey…write? Right!
Because--as you know--a poem is written to be heard (to be "performed" like a song or a play), reading an example to your students can get them thinking in that meter and rhyme. And if it's a very simple poem, which "If I Were Ruler of the World" certainly is, it can also encourage them to say "Hey, I can do that!"
They can.
--Bill Dodds
It can be tough coming up with an idea for a poem and harder still to figure out a first line. "If I…" can be just the boost a writer needs to clear both hurdles in a single bound.
A Fundamental Rule
The "If I…" poem works so well because it allows your students to follow one of the principles of creative writing: Write what you know.
Whenever I share this principle with a class, at least one student immediately responds, "I don't know anything." That simply isn't true. Each of us knows a great deal. Because we're so familiar with that knowledge, we tend to brush it aside. We argue, "Yeah, but everyone knows what I know…" or "Okay, I know about something, but it isn't interesting to anyone else."
One time I was teaching an adult writing class, and a fellow told me his life was boring and he didn't know much about anything. No, he couldn't write about his work. It was so routine. He had been on the job for thirty years. Same old, same old.
"Well," I pressed, "what is your job?"
"I work for the city."
"Doing what?"
"Fire department."
"What!"
"I'm a lieutenant."
"So, for the last three decades you've been…fighting fires and handling life-threatening medical emergencies?"
He shrugged and gave me a what's-the-big-deal? look. "Everybody I work with does that," he said. "That's not interesting."
I would have to do a lot of research before writing about firefighting. He had all that information firsthand. With just a little more prompting, the stories poured out. Some sad, some touching, some very funny.
What he didn't know was how much he knew.
What do your students know? They know about being in this particular grade in this year. They know about soccer or band or scouts. About baby-sitting or being baby-sat. They know about computers and cell phones and the Internet. They know about having a pet dog and a little brother and visiting Grandma. They know which school cafeteria lunch is dreadful, which TV cartoons are the funniest, and what makes the coolest shoes the coolest shoes.
Every child is a walking encyclopedia on countless subjects. Each is an "expert" on his or her own opinions and life. The "If I…" poem allows students to write about that very knowledge in a creative, expressive, and entertaining way.
(Picture this: A young Laura Ingalls Wilder whining to her teacher: "But everyone lives in a little house on the prairie.")
The Big "If"
That takes care of the "I" part of the "If I…" poem What about the "if" before it and the ellipsis that follow? Here a little imagination will fill in the blank.
It's the Cowardly Lion crooning, "If I Were King of the Forest."
It's the Fiddler on the Roof lamenting, "If I Were a Rich Man."
It's a grade-schooler explaining, "If I Were Ruler of the World."
That's one of my poems in Kids Pick the Funniest Poems. What does the narrator talk about? His little brother, older sister, icky vegetables, household chores, his school, a park. Nothing extraordinary there. The twist is how he would use his newfound power in relation to each.
(Illustrator Stephen Carpenter does a great job taking it even further. Mom's on bended knees offering ice cream; Dad--looking peeved--waves the royal fan. Even the family dog is eager to please, delivering a comic book.)
Have the students write "If I ______" on a sheet of paper, and then ask them to fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind. If your students aren't too sure about how to fill the blank on their own, you can offer a list of examples or choices:
"If I Were Invisible."
"If I Knew How to Fly."
"If I Had a Million Dollars."
"If I Had Done My Homework Last Night."
"If I Were Teacher for a Day."
"If I Played in the NBA."
(Of course, the "If I…" poem doesn't have to be humorous. Allowing your students to choose how they will fill in that blank can lead to some serious and touching reflections.)
Meter, Monkeys, Rhyme, and Rock 'n' Roll
The meter and rhyme I chose for "If I Were Ruler of the World" are ones that your students will find very natural. The meter--using an "iambic foot"--is basic. It's an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The English language is loaded with them, and we tend to speak that way. (We TEND to SPEAK that WAY.) The rhyme scheme is elementary, too: ABCB.
Here's what one stanza of an "If I…" poem looks like:
If I were ruler of the world,
I'd make some changes fast.
I'd say, "The ruler's always first;
His little brother's last."
© Bill Dodds, reprinted from Kids Pick the Funniest Poems published by Meadowbrook Press.
Add a tune that can be played with three chords on the guitar, and you have the makings of a lot of rock 'n' roll oldies. Many of those melodies sounded so similar because young songwriters listened to what was playing on the radio and unconsciously copied the beat and the rhyme scheme.
We all copy--imitate--what we hear. That's how we learned to speak. In a sense, we're all monkey see, monkey do. Monkey hear, monkey speak. Monkey read, monkey…write? Right!
Because--as you know--a poem is written to be heard (to be "performed" like a song or a play), reading an example to your students can get them thinking in that meter and rhyme. And if it's a very simple poem, which "If I Were Ruler of the World" certainly is, it can also encourage them to say "Hey, I can do that!"
They can.
--Bill Dodds
If-You-Were and If-Were Poems
by Charles Ghigna
The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems consist of 4 lines (quatrain) and 2 rhymes (lines 2 & 4). Each poem contains 2 comparisons (metaphor), one for the “I” of the poem and one for the “you.”
Instructions: Think of a person you like. Compare that person to some thing (inanimate object). Now compare yourself to some thing associated with the first object.
Examples:
The If-You-Were Poems
If you were a shining star
And I were your midnight,
I’d let you shine above me,
You’d be my only light.
If you were a scoop of ice cream
And I were an ice cream cone,
I’d put you on my shoulders
And hold you for my own.
If you were a grand piano
And I were a sweet love song,
I’d let your keys tickle and tease
My melody all day long.
If you were the pages of my book
And I were reading you,
I’d read as slow as I could go
So I never would get through.
The If-I-Were Poems
If I were a bumblebee
And you were a buttercup,
I’d buzz around until I found
Your bright face looking up.
If I were the summer rain
And you were a new rainbow,
I’d try to find the warm sunshine
So you would never go.
If I were the autumn wind
And you were a maple tree,
I’d lift your leaves with a gentle breeze
And hold them close to me.
If I were the first snowfall
And you were an evergreen,
I’d wrap you in my winter coat
And make you my Snow Queen!
Now you try it! The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems make great Valentines. Try writing several of them, one for each of your friends and family members. The titles of your poems can be your friends’ and family members’ names. You might want to make a little book of them and decorate it with your drawings.
Have fun writing, drawing and sharing!
For more examples of the If-You-Were poems, please see the new book If You Were My Valentine by Charles Ghigna (Simon & Schuster, 2005).
The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems consist of 4 lines (quatrain) and 2 rhymes (lines 2 & 4). Each poem contains 2 comparisons (metaphor), one for the “I” of the poem and one for the “you.”
Instructions: Think of a person you like. Compare that person to some thing (inanimate object). Now compare yourself to some thing associated with the first object.
Examples:
The If-You-Were Poems
If you were a shining star
And I were your midnight,
I’d let you shine above me,
You’d be my only light.
If you were a scoop of ice cream
And I were an ice cream cone,
I’d put you on my shoulders
And hold you for my own.
If you were a grand piano
And I were a sweet love song,
I’d let your keys tickle and tease
My melody all day long.
If you were the pages of my book
And I were reading you,
I’d read as slow as I could go
So I never would get through.
The If-I-Were Poems
If I were a bumblebee
And you were a buttercup,
I’d buzz around until I found
Your bright face looking up.
If I were the summer rain
And you were a new rainbow,
I’d try to find the warm sunshine
So you would never go.
If I were the autumn wind
And you were a maple tree,
I’d lift your leaves with a gentle breeze
And hold them close to me.
If I were the first snowfall
And you were an evergreen,
I’d wrap you in my winter coat
And make you my Snow Queen!
Now you try it! The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems make great Valentines. Try writing several of them, one for each of your friends and family members. The titles of your poems can be your friends’ and family members’ names. You might want to make a little book of them and decorate it with your drawings.
Have fun writing, drawing and sharing!
For more examples of the If-You-Were poems, please see the new book If You Were My Valentine by Charles Ghigna (Simon & Schuster, 2005).
what is poetry?
by Charles Ghigna
In order to grow as a writer, you've got to be willing to risk it all each time you sit down to write. You've got to be open and brave and curious. Whenever I'm asked, "When did you become a poet?" I'm always tempted to ask, "When did you stop?" When did you stop taking risks?
We're all born poets. We all enjoy the sounds of language. Every new parent knows that. We're all born with the need to "sound our barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world" as Whitman would have it.
Poetry is a natural part of our lives. It's not just something we have to memorize and recite in front of the class. Losing ourselves in a poem is one of the best ways of finding out who we are. The act of writing brings us to that point of discovery, of discovering on the page something we didn't know we knew until we wrote it.
Don't let reality cloud your imagination. Look up at the sky and find once again those long-tailed dragons and sailing ships. Wake up to the world as though you are seeing it each day for the first time. Find the wonder. Question the way things are. Imagine new choices. Write from the child in you.
Style isn't how you write. It's how you do not write like anyone else. You don't need a degree to be a writer. It doesn't take teachers or textbooks to show you how to write. One learns how to write by writing. There is no other way.
A Poem Is A Little Path
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.
From The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury, Knopf, 1999, © Charles Ghigna .
What do you think about when you hear the word POETRY? There are many kinds of poems:
Some poems make us LAUGH.
Some poems make us THINK.
Some poems are SHORT & FUNNY.
Some poems are LONG & SERIOUS.
Some poems RHYME.
Some poems DO NOT RHYME.
What KINDS of poems have you read?
What KINDS of poems have you written?
Here are some different KINDS of poems:
Couplets
Couplets have two lines that rhyme. Here are five couplets from poems in “Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose” by Charles Ghigna:
from LITTLE DADDY LONGLEGS
Little Daddy Longlegs played in the sun,
Climbing up the front steps just for fun.
from TURTLE TROUBLE
Tell me if you think you know
How to make a turtle go.
from TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY
Tomorrow's my birthday and I'll be four
And I won't have to stay home anymore.
from NATURE'S SHOWS
Nature puts on little shows
Every time it rains or snows.
from IT'S SNOW WONDER!
It's snow wonder that we cheer
Snowflakes when they fall each year.
Here is a poem that has four couplets from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna:
PUMPKINS ON GUARD
Look at all the pumpkin faces
Lighting up so many places.
On the porch and in the yard,
Pumpkin faces standing guard.
Looking friendly, looking mean,
With a smile or with a scream.
Orange faces burning bright
In the cool October night.
Tercets
Tercets have three lines. Here is a poem with two tercets from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna:
WITCH WAY
With warts on her nose
And sharp pointy toes,
She flies through the night on her broom.
With covers pulled tight
In the shadows of night,
I hide in the dark of my room.
Ballad Stanzas
A group of four lines is called a STANZA. The ballad stanza has a rhyme at the end of line number two and line number four.
Here are three poems that have ballad stanzas. The first poem has three ballad stanzas. The last two poems have two ballad stanzas. The first two poems are from “Tickle Day: Poems by Father Goose” by Charles Ghigna. The last poem is from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna.
THE BEE POEM
A poem is a busy bee
Buzzing in your head.
His hive is full of hidden thoughts
Waiting to be said.
His honey comes from your ideas
That he makes into rhyme.
He flies around looking for
What goes on in your mind.
When it's time to let him out
To make some poetry,
He gathers up your secret thoughts
And then he sets them free.
A POEM IS A LITTLE PATH
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I'd rather be foolish than ghoulish,
I'd rather dress up as a clown;
I'd rather wear clothes with polka dot bows,
I'd much rather smile than frown.
I'd rather be kooky than spooky,
I'd rather be friendly than mean;
I'd rather go greeting than tricking and treating,
I'd rather have fun Halloween!
In order to grow as a writer, you've got to be willing to risk it all each time you sit down to write. You've got to be open and brave and curious. Whenever I'm asked, "When did you become a poet?" I'm always tempted to ask, "When did you stop?" When did you stop taking risks?
We're all born poets. We all enjoy the sounds of language. Every new parent knows that. We're all born with the need to "sound our barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world" as Whitman would have it.
Poetry is a natural part of our lives. It's not just something we have to memorize and recite in front of the class. Losing ourselves in a poem is one of the best ways of finding out who we are. The act of writing brings us to that point of discovery, of discovering on the page something we didn't know we knew until we wrote it.
Don't let reality cloud your imagination. Look up at the sky and find once again those long-tailed dragons and sailing ships. Wake up to the world as though you are seeing it each day for the first time. Find the wonder. Question the way things are. Imagine new choices. Write from the child in you.
Style isn't how you write. It's how you do not write like anyone else. You don't need a degree to be a writer. It doesn't take teachers or textbooks to show you how to write. One learns how to write by writing. There is no other way.
A Poem Is A Little Path
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.
From The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury, Knopf, 1999, © Charles Ghigna .
What do you think about when you hear the word POETRY? There are many kinds of poems:
Some poems make us LAUGH.
Some poems make us THINK.
Some poems are SHORT & FUNNY.
Some poems are LONG & SERIOUS.
Some poems RHYME.
Some poems DO NOT RHYME.
What KINDS of poems have you read?
What KINDS of poems have you written?
Here are some different KINDS of poems:
Couplets
Couplets have two lines that rhyme. Here are five couplets from poems in “Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose” by Charles Ghigna:
from LITTLE DADDY LONGLEGS
Little Daddy Longlegs played in the sun,
Climbing up the front steps just for fun.
from TURTLE TROUBLE
Tell me if you think you know
How to make a turtle go.
from TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY
Tomorrow's my birthday and I'll be four
And I won't have to stay home anymore.
from NATURE'S SHOWS
Nature puts on little shows
Every time it rains or snows.
from IT'S SNOW WONDER!
It's snow wonder that we cheer
Snowflakes when they fall each year.
Here is a poem that has four couplets from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna:
PUMPKINS ON GUARD
Look at all the pumpkin faces
Lighting up so many places.
On the porch and in the yard,
Pumpkin faces standing guard.
Looking friendly, looking mean,
With a smile or with a scream.
Orange faces burning bright
In the cool October night.
Tercets
Tercets have three lines. Here is a poem with two tercets from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna:
WITCH WAY
With warts on her nose
And sharp pointy toes,
She flies through the night on her broom.
With covers pulled tight
In the shadows of night,
I hide in the dark of my room.
Ballad Stanzas
A group of four lines is called a STANZA. The ballad stanza has a rhyme at the end of line number two and line number four.
Here are three poems that have ballad stanzas. The first poem has three ballad stanzas. The last two poems have two ballad stanzas. The first two poems are from “Tickle Day: Poems by Father Goose” by Charles Ghigna. The last poem is from “Halloween Night” by Charles Ghigna.
THE BEE POEM
A poem is a busy bee
Buzzing in your head.
His hive is full of hidden thoughts
Waiting to be said.
His honey comes from your ideas
That he makes into rhyme.
He flies around looking for
What goes on in your mind.
When it's time to let him out
To make some poetry,
He gathers up your secret thoughts
And then he sets them free.
A POEM IS A LITTLE PATH
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I'd rather be foolish than ghoulish,
I'd rather dress up as a clown;
I'd rather wear clothes with polka dot bows,
I'd much rather smile than frown.
I'd rather be kooky than spooky,
I'd rather be friendly than mean;
I'd rather go greeting than tricking and treating,
I'd rather have fun Halloween!
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