Leslie Bulion’s “Knock, Knock! Who’s There?”

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: April Halprin Wayland

Next up: LESLIE BULION

Setting the Stage: Invite the children to share any of their favorite riddles or read a few riddles from a selected book of riddles. Discuss how riddles work (question/answer; serious or humorous).

Poetry Performance: Divide the group into three smaller groups to read Leslie Bulion’s poem, “Knock, Knock! Who’s There?” out loud. The first group reads the first line in both stanzas. The second group reads the second line of both stanzas. The third group reads the final three lines of both stanzas (which go together). Once the poem has been shared, performed, and discussed, and everyone knows the answer to the riddle, end with asking “What am I?” and invite the whole group to shout out the answer, “the tongue,” after performing the poem.

Just for Fun: There are so many possibilities for following up this poem: researching more information about the tongue and how it works or digging for more poem riddles or experimenting with the limerick form that Bulion uses to create this poem. Offer the kids a choice of activities!

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Body
Food
Riddle
Questions
Sleep
Lost

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: J. Patrick Lewis


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.