Bibliography

Alarcon, Francisco. Iguanas in the Snow ill. Maya Christina Gonzalez, Childrens’ Book Press. 2001.

Alarcon, Francsio X . Poems to Dream Together. ill. by Paula Barragan. New York, NY. Lee & Low Books 2005.

Bagert, Brod, and Tedd Arnold. 2002. Giant children. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Handsprings by Doulas Florian, Greenwillow Books, 2006.

Florian, Douglas. Comets, Stars,the Moon, and Mars. Orlando: Florida, Harcourt Brace. 2007.

Franco, Betsy, and Steve Jenkins. 2008. Bees, snails, & peacock tails: patterns & shapes-- naturally. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Gerrard, Roy. Sir Francis Drake. Great Britain. Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1988.

Greenfield, Eloise. 1978. Honey, I love, and other love poems. New York: Cr
owell.

Greenfield, Eloise, and Jan Spivey Gilchrist. 1991. Night on Neighborhood Street. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust, New York:NY. Scholastic Press. 1997

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1997. Marvelous Math : A book of poems. Illustrated By Karen Barbour. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689806582.

Janeczko, Paul B., and Christopher Raschka. 2001. A poke in the I. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Janeczko, Paul B., and Melissa Sweet. 2001. Dirty laundry pile: poems in different voices. [New York]: HarperCollins.

Livingston, Myra Cohn. Cricket Never Does: A Collection of Haiku and Tanka. New York,NY. Simon &Schuster.1997

Paschen, Elise, Judith DuFour Love, Wendy Rasmussen, and Paula Zinngrabe Wendland. 2005. Poetry speaks to children. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.

Sidman, Joyce, and Pamela Zagarenski. 2007. This is just to say: poems of apology and forgiveness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co

Stepanek, Mattie J. T. 2001. Journey through heartsongs. [Alexandria, Va.]: VSP Books.

Honey I Love Baseball by Joseph , age 9, McKinney, TX

Paul Janeczko

A collection of concret poems

By: Paul Janeczko

Illustrated By: Chris Raschka

This collection of over thirty concrete poems advances readers through a welcomed trip on a play on words and white spaces. He celebrates a culmination of carefully selected concrete poems by several authors.


One featured author, John Hegley spotlights concrete poetry, I Need Contact Lenses, where he shapes his poem in a shrinking manor to depict a vision screening, telling readers that ; I/ NEED/ CONTACT/ L E N S E S / like I need a poke in the eye.

This clever, word rich book honor concrete poems in their finest showcases poems – associated with their titles- Eskimo Pie , where the words form the shape of the favorite treat or in She Loves Me…Where each line takes on the image of each seed plucked from a dandelion- with perfect words she loves me/ she loves me not/ she loves/ she loves me/ she/ she loves/ she.

Chris Raschka has beautifully illustrated the pages with watercolors and torn-paper collages that pull the readers deeper into the poem. He balances Janeczko’s words with just enough pictures and white spaces.

This is a must have in your childrens' poetry collection.

Janeczko, Paul B., and Christopher Raschka. 2001. A poke in the I. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Poetry by Children

Introduction: We studied as a class Honey , I love by Eloise Greenfield. We examined her poem in detail and then released them to write their own rendition of Honey, I love. Most children focused on 4 loves and 1 dislike focusing on different topics using their senses, but this student focused on one LOVE to the extreme. This is my favorite!

I love
I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things
Like

I hear the crowd is going loud
When I make the catch my heart starts to pound.
I will go down hard tasting the grass blades with the ball in my patch
But honey, let me tell you I LOVE to make a diving catch.
I love to make a diving catch

AND

I see the batter miss the ball,
Then his smile starts to fall.
I feel I don’t have to pout, because I struck that hitter out.
Honey, let me tell you I LOVE pitching a strike out
I love pitching a strike out

AND

The runners give it their all.
But I throw it so fast, just like a fireball.
I feel the other team is going to pay.
Honey, let me tell you I LOVE making a double play.
I love to making a double play,

AND

In my hands I feel the sting,
When I hear the bat ring
This is starting to get fun.
Honey, let me tell you I LOVE hitting homeruns
I love hitting homeruns,

AND

I hear the runner is getting close to me,
I scoop the ball at my knees.
Now I know I’m not the worst.
Honey, let me tell you I LOVE making a scoop at 1st.
I love making a scoop at 1st.

AND

I see they earned extra bases.
Everybody on my team has sad faces.
Do I want to quit……I say NO
Honey, let me tell you I DON’T like making a bad throw
I don’t like making a bad throw

But I love
I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things
And honey,
I love you , too.

Honey I Love Baseball by Joseph , age 9, McKinney, TX

Extension-I think just giving children the chance to share aloud is worth the time. Celebrate!

Serious Poem

Introduction: Death is a scary thing for children. They always wonder if death occurs as a result of something they didn't do. This poem is a great way to open up discussion lines about their emotions.

Unanswered Questions

My brother, Janie died
His muscles-and-bones
Did not work anymore.
His happiness and specialness
Went into Heaven and
His body got buried in
The hole that goes into the ground
And then into the sky and
And then to the Everywhere
And Forever that is Heaven.
I know why he died
But I also know don’t know why.
I really don’t.
He is happy.
And sometimes I am , too.
And sometimes I am sad.
Or angry or scared or confused.
And sometimes I think
That maybe
I didn’t hold his hand tight enough.

Extension: I think by showing the kids where this poem is in your class library gives a child a quiet resource that they can refer to if needed.

December 1993

Stepanek, Mattie J. T. 2001. Journey through heartsongs. [Alexandria, Va.]: VSP Books.

Refrain

Children should join in on a repeated line, stanza or word (in purple)
Movement could be encouraged on the repeated line.

Buddy's Dream

Not just one, but two of him
Side by side, limb by limb
Arms do the wiggle, legs kick the air
Moving to the music, he’s a mighty pair
A crowd is there
Saying

Go, Buddy, Buddy
Go, Buddy, Go
Go, Buddy, Buddy
Go, Buddy, Go

Not just two, but four of him
Back to back, limb to limb
Dancing on the tables, whirling on the floor
Turning like a turbo, he’s a terrible four
The people roar
Saying

Go, Buddy, Buddy
Go, Buddy, Go
Go Buddy, Buddy,
Go, Buddy, Go

He’s going, going, going
He’s gone

Greenfield, Eloise, and Jan Spivey Gilchrist. 1991. Night on Neighborhood Street. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

New Favorite Book since 2005

Joyce Sidman whose inspiration drew from a fourth grade teaching experience, writes a fictional book of apology poems from a sixth grade class. The author sets the idea in motion that the children were inspired by the This is Just to Say poem by William Carlos Williams. Sidmand carries out this anthology of apology and forgiveness poems in a fascinating collection that deals with friendship, losing pets, relationships with parents, and school drama.

Sidmand organizes this book into two parts; one for apologies and for section for forgiveness. It unfolds nicely for the reader to see the writer compose their “sorry” poem and them in the next section of the book see the response to their apology.

In this clever book of poems, the characters address their attempts to apologize to others and give forgiveness using both humor and empathy.

Sidman awakens the readers’ emotions with authentic language like in the poem addressed to "the class"

How Slow-Hand Lizard Died- I stole him. / Took him home in my pocket./Felt the pulse beating./In his soft green neck./Had no place good to put him./ A shoebox./ He got cold, I think./ Watched his life wink out,/ his bright eye turn to mud,/ Brought him back/Stiff as an old glove./ Hid him in the bottom of the cage./Left the money on Mrs. Merz’s desk./(Stole that, too)/ Won’t touch the new lizard./Don’t like to touch money either/

" Signed Anonymous"

The reader will then get to see the class respond to the anonymous writer- in Ode to Slow-Hand… the sad way he left us /the sad way you feel/ los perdonamos/ we forgive you/ signed Mrs. Merz’s class.

Sidman shows readers that she understands the relationships kids have in Dodge Ball- I Got Carried Away Kyle, I’m sorry/for hitting you so hard in dodge ball. / I just really get carried away/in situations like that/ . She shows the readers the ability we have to say sorry and forgive others.

Pamela Zagarenski adds just the right touch of artistic humor with her mixed media pictures. Her pictures range from actually clips of the dictionary definition of apology to items found in a school classroom. Her creative flair will keep the reader turning each page to see the inviting illustrations.

Sidman, Joyce, and Pamela Zagarenski. 2007. This is just to say: poems of apology and forgiveness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Newer Book Published 2008


Introduction:

Explain to the students that we can find a lot of math in nature. This poem would be the perfect relation when teaching a unit on geometric shapes. Tell the children as we read this poem be thinking of a beehive or honey cone and be ready to share the shape they see.




Study a beehive
And you will see
The mathematical genius of the bee.

The hexagons

you’ll find inside

fit side

by side

by side

by side.

This math
Is passed

mysteriously


from worker bee

To worker bee!


Extension:

Challenge to students to journal about other math found in nature (Ex. Butterfly wings)


Franco, Betsy, and Steve Jenkins. 2008. Bees, snails, & peacock tails: patterns & shapes-- naturally. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.