Most students will not have a clue about the genocide that took place or the Guatemalan Civil War, so it’s important to provide background information. Pair this book with an article that further elaborates on the situation in Guatemala at this time. Try using this fast read in conjunction with Social Studies lessons about war. This one will make you and your students think about the realities and complexities of war. Mastery of poetic devices (rhythm, repetitions, arrangement) and vivid language make this reading experience a standout. Told from Carlos’s point of view, the poems range from calm and fluid to racing and intense, simulating Carlos’s experiences and creating an extremely emotional read. Set in 1981 during the Guatemalan Civil War, this novel in verse tells the story of Carlos, a village boy who is thrust into the middle of a war that is not his or his people’s. Now, challenge your students to find a poem that speaks to them. Explain the poem and how its words, in particular, mean so much to you. Now’s your chance to show your students what you’ve got! To kick off a poetry unit, climb atop your desk and recite the words of your most beloved poem. Well-known poets like Hughes, Shakespeare and Shelley show up along with several new voices too. Organized into ten groupings of similarly themed poems (e.g., poems about nature, wartime poetry, poems about the self), each section has a thoughtful opening about the common themes. Before you groan, listen to this quote from the intro: “Poets distill life’s lessons into the fewest possible words…If we learn poems by heart, we will always have their wisdom to draw on, and we gain understanding that no one can take away.” Kennedy explains that a certain empowerment comes with memorization. This exceptional anthology is built around the idea of memorizing poems. Revisit the poems for inspiration and talk about the attitude and point of view of each article of clothing. If your students are up for it, progress to a full poem. Next, add words in a speech bubble! Help each student imagine what their clothing would say. Your students can have fun recreating their favorite piece of clothing. Print out design-your-own templates for hats, t-shirts and pants (check out sites like Teachers Pay Teachers for free downloadable sheets like this one). From Bertie the otter’s shoelaces to Emily the mouse’s undies (gasp!), students will be sure to find a favorite among one of the 15 poems in this collection. Each rhyming ode expresses a unique viewpoint. What if one of your articles of clothing had a voice and could write poetry? This illustrated collection of poetry imagines just that! The clothes belong to an adorable troupe of animals who sometimes love and sometime ignore their garments. You can create an unforgettable activity around a local flower, a story and newly written poem. Can you find a flower name that you can connect to a story? Use “Lady’s Slipper” as an example for your students. In Forest Has a Song, “Lady’s Slipper” makes a literary connection to (you guessed it) Cinderella! Research some of the local wildflowers in your area. Fantastic rhythms, rhymes, language and a wonderfully unique take on forest life accompany each poem. Many of the poems are just plain fun to read aloud. Another depicts the snow-blanketed forest floor as the “Forest News,”-a newspaper of tracks that you have to read before they disappear. One imaginative poem voices the concerns of a young owl about taking his first flight. Author Amy Ludwig VanDerwater takes common forest-dweller experiences and makes magic. Readers can experience a year in the forest in this lovely poetry anthology. The books include a wide array of poems that have all the potential to stick with a person for a lifetime.Ī girl and her dog are invited into the forest by, “wildly waving rows of friendly trees,” and from here it only gets better. They still supply me with delight (“I went away last August to summer camp in Maine, And there I met a camper called Eat-It-All Elaine.”), help me ponder deep, important questions (“What happens to a dream deferred?”) and inspire me to live with passion (“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.”) and conviction (“Tell me not, in mournful numbers, life is but an empty dream!”) Do you have your own list of favorite poems? Below is a list of new standout poetry titles for the classroom. Many poems have stuck with me from my youth.
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