Pat Mora’s “Maybe Tomorrow”

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: Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Next up: PAT MORA

Setting the Stage: Ask the kids to share what they consider signs of spring? Warmer weather? Flowers blooming? Sunny skies? What about turtles lumbering?

Poetry Performance: The title of Pat Mora’s poem, “Maybe Tomorrow” is also a repeated refrain throughout the poem that is perfect for the whole group to chime in on again and again while the librarian or teacher reads the poem aloud.

Just for Fun: Do turtles really eat bananas or peanut butter? What other foods do turtles eat? Work with the kids to look up more information about the turtle’s diet. Insert surprising food finds into the places where “bananas” and “peanut butter” are mentioned. Read the new poem “version” aloud for fun.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Dialogue
Repeated lines
Turtles
Food
Sun
Winter
Spring
Onomatopoeia
Bugs
Home

If you haven’t gotten your own copy of PoetryTagTime yet, buy the book now for only 99 cents, so you can share each of the 30 poems along with the ideas and activities that are available here..

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Mary Ann Hoberman


Image credit: PoetryTagTime

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

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer’s “Moonlit Race”

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: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Next up: TRACIE VAUGHN ZIMMER

Setting the Stage: Invite the kids to share their knowledge of ocean animals. Make a list of the marine animals they know. Is the leatherback turtle on the list? Research facts about the leatherback turtle together.

Poetry Performance: Try reading aloud Tracie Vaughn Zimmer’s “Moonlit Race” with three groups, one for each stanza. The first group reads the first stanza, setting the stage. The second group reads the action-packed second stanza. The third group reads the satisfying final stanza.

Just for Fun: Several key “characters” populate this vivid poem. Use various colors of felt to create the sun, moon, ocean waves, turtle(s), cookie, gull, and crab. Invite the kids to place each figure on a flannel storyboard or hang on a short "clothesline" as you read the poem aloud.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Moon 

Night
Sun
Sea
Turtles
Food
Birds
Fear

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Pat Mora


Image credit: PoetryTagTime

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

Helen Frost’s “Winter Window”

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: Douglas Florian

Next up: HELEN FROST


Setting the Stage: If a window is nearby, invite the kids to join you in observing from the window for a few minutes. What do you see? What do they usually see out of their bedroom windows (if relevant)? How does the scene change depending on the seasons, weather, and other factors?

Poetry Performance: Read Helen Frost’s poem, “Winter Window” with multiple small groups by dividing the whole group into three smaller groups. The teacher or librarian begins by reading the first two lines which frame a question. Group 1 reads the rest of the first stanza. Group 2 reads the second “bird” stanza and Group 3 reads the third “animal” stanza. Group 1 finishes the poem by reading the final stanza aloud.

Just for Fun: Is there a window in your classroom or library? Use it as the backdrop for a poem display (or simply create a “faux” window with large, blue craft paper framed by strips of brown paper to create the effect of a window). Then add (spray) snow and cut outs of the birds mentioned in the poem: a blue jay, nuthatch, cardinal, starling, finch, and wren, as well as the poem’s other animals: squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk, skunk, and mouse.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Snow
Birds
Sun
Moon
Questions
Color
Night
Winter
World

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Carole Boston Weatherford



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

Alice Schertle’s “Sunquain”

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: Nikki Grimes

Next up: ALICE SCHERTLE

Setting the Stage: As you introduce the Schertle’s poem, “Sunquain,” invite the children to share their associations with the word “sun.” What comes to mind? Heat? Color? Shape? Summer?

Poetry Performance: Challenge the artists in the group to create a graphic novel-like page to accompany this poem with one image for each line of the poem. Then copy and project each image as the poem is read aloud in unison.

Just for Fun: Alice Schertle’s “Sunquain” poem title is a clever play on the word “cinquain” (and the poem is a cinquain poem). Look up the rules of the cinquain form and research other examples of the form. Work as a group to create an original sun-focused companion cinquain to Schertle’s.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Sun
Cinquain
Summer
Sky

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Lee Bennett Hopkins

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.

Joyce Sidman’s “Maybe”

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: Jack Prelutsky

Next up: JOYCE SIDMAN

Setting the Stage: Joyce Sidman’s poem, “Maybe” asks the reader or listener to wonder “what if?” What if the world started with an egg? How might that happen? What could that look like? Bring an egg (hard-boiled) as a prop to hold, examine, and ponder.

Poetry Performance: Read the poem aloud to the children first without showing the poem. Then invite the children to join in each time you read the word “maybe.” (Write the word “maybe” on egg-shaped paper and hold it up when it’s time for them to pipe in for non-readers, ESL/ELL students, or just for fun.)

Just for Fun: Joyce’s poem is a shape poem or concrete poem written in the shape of the poem’s subject. Look for other collections of shape poetry (including Sidman’s Meow, Ruff) to read, share, and discuss. Kids can work with a partner to take a favorite poem and write it on shaped paper or try their hands at creating their own original shape poems.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Egg
Food
Sun
Sky
Shape poem
Earth
Light

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Nikki Grimes


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

Jack Prelutsky's "If the Moon"

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.

First up: JACK PRELUTSKY

Setting the Stage: Jack Prelutsky’s poem, “If the Moon” raises questions about what the moon is-- and is not. Ask the kids if they have ever heard the expression, “the moon is made of cheese.” Discuss why the moon might seem like cheese. (Bring in a block of swiss cheese, in particular, as a visual prop, if possible.) What other things might the moon seem like? Make a list. Look for more poems that compare the moon to other things.

Poetry Performance: Divide the class/group into two equal groups. After reading the poem aloud to the kids, invite the two groups to read the poem antiphonally (back-and-forth). There are two possibilities: each group reads one stanza or two groups alternate, reading 2 lines at a time.

Just for Fun: Create a moon poem display. Write favorite poems about the moon (like this one) on yellow or orange circle-shaped paper and tie them to helium-filled balloons as a hanging moon poetry exhibit.

Poem Links: Here are key words that connect this poem with other poems in the PoetryTagTime collection:
Moon

Smells
Sun
Sky
Food
Earth

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

Next up for PoetryTagTime: Joyce Sidman

Image credit: PoetryTagTime

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