Presenting Poetry, by Sandy Meagher

There are so many ways to help your students fall in love with poems

Throughout the school year I am asked to make presentations to teachers and parents about new books. Recently a teacher who is a representative of the National Pennsylvania Reading Association asked me to present at a regional meeting. The members taught preschool through eighth grade; some were reading specialists, some classroom teachers and some librarians. I had to choose an area to interest everyone and I chose poetry.

The presentation began with my reading from Please Bury Me in the Library by J. Patrick Lewis (Gulliver Books, 2005. ISBN: 0-152-16387-5). The book and the poem of the same title are delightful. Some of the poems present some fun activities like "What if Books Had Different Names?" It mentions Furious George and Alice in Underland. We had some fun doing exactly this in our library classes recently and students came up with some funny, serious and creative new titles.

A year of poetry
So often, teachers ask for a book of poems to keep on their desk for the entire school year. The collection I've recommended this year is A School Year of Poems: 180 Favorites from Highlights (Boyds Mills Press, 2005, ISBN: 1-590-78313-1). The poems are selected and annotated with teaching ideas by Walter B. Barbe, PhD. The table of contents includes poems about animals, seasons, sun, moon, stars, gardens and flowers, weather, humor, holidays, family, friends, wishes and dreams. Dr. Barbe gives an introduction for teachers on reading aloud, reading along, reading alone and reciting from memory. His thoughtful and helpful tips are great for all ages of students. Teachers will also appreciate a collated list of themes and skill-building exercises that can be used with the poems in the book.

Learning in chunks
Preschool and primary teachers work hard at improving children's fluency through phonics. A book that is helpful is Plum Gum and Other Chunk Poems by Adele Tolley Wilson (Authorhouse, 2004, ISBN: 1-414-05441-6). Adele taught for 25 years and wrote Plum Gum for a colleague who couldn't find kid-friendly poems with enough phonics chunks.

Funnybone poems
Laughter is so important in the school day. Many times we are so involved in covering curriculum and aligning standards with our lesson plans that we forget to smile and lighten up. Funny poems are just right to foster some fun. Be sure to try When the Teacher Isn't Looking: And Other Funny School Poems by Kenn Nesbitt (Meadowbrook Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-684-03128-0). Just the poem titles make the corners of your mouth turn up: "Patricia Brought Her Parakeet," "Home- work, I Love You" and "Rest in Peas."

One more for laughs is the classic Kids Pick the Funniest Poems by Bruce Lansky (Meadowbrook Press, 1991, ISBN: 0-671-74769-X). Bruce did something interesting we can all try with our students: To find poems that kids love, he asked 10 elementary teachers to read poems to their students and have the children grade the poems A, B, C or D. More than 300 kids rated over 500 poems. It isn't surprising that they chose poems by Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, but they also chose some less famous ones. Try this during poetry month or any month; students love seeing what other students choose. Have a poetry committee made up of students and teachers and compile funniest poems for your school. Bruce Lansky's popular poetry website for kids is www.gigglepoetry.com.

It's raining rhymes
Springtime evokes all kinds of wonderful energy and ideas, so encourage your students to find poems to go with the season. Perhaps put the fifth graders in charge of the display case; you'll be amazed at what they will find. Some new books of poetry the fifth graders in my school included along with their original art were I Heard It From Alice Zucchini: Poems About the Garden by Juanita Havill (Chronicle Books, 2006, ISBN: 0-811-83962-1); Squeeze: Poems From a Juicy Universe by Heidi Mordhorst (Boyds Mills Press, 2005, ISBN: 1-590-78292-5); and Good Dog by Maya Gottfried (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2005, ISBN: 0-375-83049-9).

As spring unfolds, don't forget to test your senses, enjoy nature and especially get outdoors. It's also the season to get familiar with all sorts of critters, like those in Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs by Douglas Florian (Voyager Books, 2005, ISBN: 0-152-05248-8). Geckos, komodo dragons, poison dart frogs and those lesser-known lizards, skinks, are included and the artwork is fantastic.

When we begin research for science projects I start with a poem. The children always smile and the research ends up being a fun learning experience. Our fourth grade curriculum includes invertebrates in science. Students were assigned an invertebrate to research. We used different databases to do this – www.factmonster.com; www.awesomelibrary.org – and the book I began the research with was Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water by Kurt Cyrus (Harcourt, 2005, ISBN: 0-152-16771-4). The poems are witty so older students will catch some humor and the illustrations are outstanding. On the last page each sea creature is identified.

As our school librarian I encourage students and teachers to love poetry, not only for a month but all year long. There is so much to love.

Sandy Meagher is the Library Department Chairperson and School Librarian in the Wayne Highlands School District, Honesdale, PA.