X. J. Kennedy’s “Snow Day”

Reminder: PoetryTagTime is the first ever electronic-only poetry anthology of new poems by top poets for children. You can purchase the book for 99 cents at Amazon and read it on your Kindle or through the downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: Jane Yolen

Next up: X.J. KENNEDY

Setting the Stage: Invite the kids to share “snow day” stories. What are some of the most memorable things they’ve done on unexpected days off from school?

Poetry Performance: In bringing X. J. Kennedy’s poem, “Snow Day,” to life, invite the whole group to make the sound effect of the firehouse horn, “Bawp bawp!” in the first stanza. (You may need to clarify that this is the way the community is informed when there is no school.) Then invite a volunteer to read the following line of “dialogue” also from the first stanza:

“Go back to bed!/ No school today! It’s snowing!”

A second volunteer can read the part of the friend calling in the third stanza:

“You want to build/ A snowman, I suppose?/ I’ve got some licorice jellybeans,/ You bring the carrot nose.”

The adult leader reads the rest of the poem out loud.

Just for Fun: Make a paper snowman, cut out paper snowflakes; eat licorice, try carrots-- some of the basics of snow man building. Compare and contrast winter fun with summer fun.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Dialogue
Winter
Snow
Butterflies
Food
Summer
Questions
Friends
Color
World
Onomatopoeia

Buy the book now, so you can share each poem along with the ideas and activities that follow here.

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Bobbi Katz

Image credit: PoetryTagTime

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Carol Boston Weatherford’s “Nosy Rosie”

Reminder: PoetryTagTime is the first ever electronic-only poetry anthology of new poems by top poets for children. You can purchase the book for 99 cents at Amazon and read it on your Kindle or through the downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: Helen Frost

Next up: CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD

Setting the Stage: Have any of the children had experiences with lost pets? (with happy endings!) Share a few. Then bring a map of the U.S. and guide the kids in identifying the states of Alabama and Kansas and all those in between the two.

Poetry Performance: If the children are getting comfortable reading poems out loud, it’s time to invite volunteers to read aloud Carole Boston Weatherford’s poem, “Nosy Rosie,” on their own—one two-line stanza per volunteer.

Just for Fun: Kids love story poems and this one shares quite an adventure. In addition, each stanza adds more and more to the character and plot of the poem story. In fact, each stanza could easily be the text for a page of a picture book. Invite the kids to choose their favorite stanzas (perhaps the one they volunteered to read aloud) and then illustrate that stanza with a page including a drawing and the two-line stanza. Combine all the pages to create a collaborative poem picture book. Share with another class or group.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Dogs
Lost
Home
Dialogue
Questions
Friends
Crow
Bugs
Sleep

Buy the book now, so you can share each poem along with the ideas and activities that follow here.

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Calef Brown


Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Betsy Franco’s “Crow”

Reminder: PoetryTagTime is the first ever electronic-only poetry anthology of new poems by top poets for children. You can purchase the book for 99 cents at Amazon and read it on your Kindle or through the downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: Lee Bennett Hopkins

Next up: BETSY FRANCO

Setting the Stage: Ask the children if they’ve ever seen a crow. Just one or many? How many? Where and when? What did they look like/sound like? How did the crows behave? If possible, look for crow sightings nearby (or on YouTube or nature web sites).

Poetry Performance: Read Betsy Franco’s poem, “Crow,” aloud first, showing the text, if possible. Then invite the children to practice their cawing crow voices to read the following key crow words and actions in the poem out loud (while you or a volunteer read the rest): Yippee/ you caw/ you drop/ and drop/ and drop/ and poke and peck/ yackity-yak/ raucous friends.

Just for Fun: Franco’s poem is a “poem of address,” as if she is talking to the crow itself. Invite the kids to look for other similar poems that “speak” to their subject as “you.” Aspiring writers may want to try their hands at creating their own original poems of address.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Birds
Crow
Food
Friends
Onomatopoeia

Buy the book now, so you can share each poem along with the ideas and activities that follow here.

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Douglas Florian



Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Nikki Grimes’ “Prairie Friend”

Reminder: PoetryTagTime is the first ever electronic-only poetry anthology of new poems by top poets for children. You can purchase the book for 99 cents at Amazon and read it on your Kindle or through the downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: Joyce Sidman

Next up: NIKKI GRIMES

Setting the Stage: Invite the kids to discuss what kinds (or colors or shapes) of flowers they see in their communities. What do they look like? Where are they located? How do they appear in the sun, in the wind, in the rain?

Poetry Performance: Nikki Grimes’s poem, “Prairie Friend,” is full of language that suggests motions for pantomiming: shimmies, leap, bow, dance. After reading the poem aloud once, ask for volunteers to act out the poem using simple movements and gestures while the rest of the group reads the poem out loud.

Just for Fun: Grimes mentions that her poem comes from a collection of poems she wrote about state flowers. Challenge the kids to look up which state has the sunflower (of this poem) as its state flower. Can they find other poems about other (state) flowers? They might also consider creating a new, original poem about a flower special to their own state, region or community.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Wind
Flowers
Sun
Body
Dance
Friends

Buy the book now, so you can share each poem along with the ideas and activities that follow here every day.

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Alice Schertle

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.