What’s New in Children’s Literature
Poetry – April 15th, 2009
“Kids who struggle with writing surprise you the most with poetry. A lot
of my writers really bloom with poetry”. Kristine Stottlemyer
Created by: Kelly Bohri, Lisa Gridley, Jen Harton, Kelly Hosonitz, Sarah Kelly, Rhonda Moyer,
Kristen Newill, Audrey Nolte, Kelly Radzai, Ronnie Rother, Maureen Schafer, Sue Stauffer,
Kristine Stottlemyer, Kristen Swanson, Lisa Treffinger, Katie Zorzi
Ideas for Integrating Poetry into the Curriculum
1. Best Part of Me Share the best part of me poems. – Free verse (Maureen)
this is a great way to motivate kids to write poetry.
2. Utilize some professional resources:
a. 101 Science Poems and Songs for Young Learners ( touches on
everything science and reading themes) (Lisa T)
b. A Poem for Every Day (Kristen Newill)
c. The Poetry Break (Audrey)
d. Poetry Matters (Ralph Fletcher) Ronnie Rother
e. Teaching with the Rib Tickling Poetry of Douglas Florian (Nolte)
3. Take 2 characters from a book and write a poem between 2 characters.
4. Websites:
a. www.poets.org/pocket
b. www.webenglishteacher.com
c. http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/index.htm
d. http://www.education-world.com/a_special/poetrymonth.shtml
Concrete Poems
Doodle Dandies (Ronnie Rother)
A Poke in the I (concrete poems)- get kids to think of things in a different
way.
Technically It’s Not my Fault (concrete poems)
There’s a Frog in My Throat (idioms) Jen H
Free Verse
Hate that Cat (Creech) good for looping teachers, boys can write poems
too! (Rother)
Love that Dog- Sharon Creech Kelly Hosonitz & Audrey
Out of the Dust Karen Hesse- Newbery Award- Historical Fiction. ( Kelly
Bohri & Audrey)
A River of Words- (a biography of William Carlos Williams, the inspiration
for Love that Dog) –Audrey
Partner Poetry
A Joyful Noise– great insects- book writing. Kids wrote poems for 2
voices. (Kelly Bohri)
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You Great for young readers.. Kristen Newill
Parts of Speech Books (Brian P. Cleary) Jen Harton
Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely; What is an Adverb?
Hairy, Scary, Ordinary; What is an Adjective?
I and You and Don’t Forget Who; What is a Pronoun?
A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink; What is a Noun?
To Root to Toot, Parachute; What is a Verb?
Slide, Slurp, Scratch and Burp; More about Verbs
Under, Over, By the Clover; What is a Preposition?
Poetry
Behold the bold Umbrellaphant – great connection to Dr. Seuss (Ronnie
Rother)
The Butterfly Jar (Jeff Moss) funny- former Sesame Street. Writer (Katie
Zorzi)
Dogku (Andrew Clements) Haiku about dogs (Kristen Swanson)
My America - regions of the US (Ronnie Rother)
Poems Just for Us good integration with holidays (Rhonda)
7 hours of sanity – Russell Rooster Valentini; a collection of poems about
homeless children
Poems for Young People Lewis Carroll- simplified poems- great
illustrations (Lisa Gridley)
Random House Book of Poetry- Great variety of poems (Audrey)
Seven Hours of Sanity – Russell Rooster Valentini; a collection of poems
about homeless children ( Ronnie Rother)
A Sip of Aesop (fables into poetry) Lisa Gridley
Poets too Good to Forget
Douglas Florian
Jack Prelutsky
Shel Silverstein
Mattie Stepanek
Science and Math
Animal Sense (Ackerman). Nonfiction based poems (Lisa G)
Bees, Snails, Peacock Tails Maestro (Kelly R)
Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones – Ruth Heller (Katie Z)
Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars -Florian (Audrey)
Math Fables Tang (Kristen Newill)
Zoo Doings –Prelutsky (Kelly Radzai)
Special Poems for Special Moments (Sue Stauffer)
“In Which House Do You Live?”
“Be Careful”
“When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking”
“Hugs”
“I am Looking for a Teacher”
By Marilyn Pattison
I am looking for a teacher
Who encourages children to have a dream;
To work at solving problems,
Building their self-esteem.
There are some teachers out there;
The kind I’m looking for
For their students’ future success,
They’ve opened up the door.
Contributed by Sue Stauffer