J. Patrick Lewis’s “Edgar Allan Poe’s Apple Pie”

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: Leslie Bulion

Next up: J. PATRICK LEWIS

Setting the Stage: Ask the kids if they have ever had to share a yummy treat with someone else—like a sandwich, pizza, candy, apple, etc? How did they decide on dividing the portions?

Poetry Performance: For reading aloud J. Patrick Lewis’s poem, “Edgar Allan Poe’s Apple Pie” invite 2 volunteers to read the lines of dialogue (“How many cuts give me ten pieces?” and “Never four!” as they occur in the poem) while you read the rest of the poem in a very melodramatic voice.

Just for Fun: Find a recording of a reading of the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem, “The Raven,” and play it for the kids. Compare it to the parody that Lewis has created here. What other parodies of classic poems can you find? And of course you have to demonstrate the math in the poem, dividing a paper (or real) apple pie into 10 pieces with 5 cuts.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Onomatopoeia
Night
Food
Parody
Dialogue
Riddle
Questions
Sleep
Fear

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Avis Harley


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

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.

April Halprin Wayland’s “World Wide Wag”

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: Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Next up: APRIL HALPRIN WAYLAND

Setting the Stage: Invite the children to share any observations they have made of their pets sleeping. How do their sleeping pets look and behave? What to they imagine their pets might be dreaming about?

Poetry Performance: As you share April Halprin Wayland’s poem, “World Wide Wag,” invite kids to join in on only the repeated word, “if.” Invite them to chant it out loud while the adult reads the rest of the words and lines. Put the word “if” on a colored index card and hold it up when it’s their turn to participate (helpful for non-readers or ESL/ELL students).

Just for Fun: Each two-line stanza of the poem is highly visual suggesting an image or scene. Invite the kids to create a simple cartoon picture of what is described (perhaps working in pairs on their favorite stanza). Then hold up each picture to cue reading the accompanying lines. Aspiring poets might try writing an “if” poem about imagining being a sleeping dog or a cat (or other favorite animal) or about their own sleeping pet.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Dogs
Computers
Questions
Humor
Body
World
Sleep

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Leslie Bulion


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

Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s “Night Mail”

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 free downloadable Kindle platform for your computer, cell phone, etc.

Previously: Calef Brown

Next up: REBECCA KAI DOTLICH

Setting the Stage: Bring in different kinds of mail and communication as examples to show the kids: cards and letters, print outs of email, text messages, or tweets, a (mock) telegram, etc. How long do each of these take to reach their recipients?

Poetry Performance: Read Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s poem, “Night Mail,” in a whisper voice in the dark (or as dark as possible to suggest nighttime). Invite the kids to close their eyes and pretend they’re asleep while they listen.

Just for Fun: If everyone is not familiar with email, explain how it works. Discuss the particulars of “netiquette” and the use of icons and “emoticons.” Send a favorite poem to a friend via email.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Computers
Sleep
Mail
Onomatopoeia
Body
Color
Night
World

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: April Halprin Wayland


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.