Friday, January 9, 2015

Teach Poetry with Love that Dog


I love Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. It is one of my all-time favorite resources for poetry and teaching poetry. January is traditionally when I do a full-blown poetry unit with my third graders (although we have been celebrating Poetry Friday since the first week of school).

My current poetry unit is a mish-mash of many different poetry units and practices, but it is based around an all-class read aloud of Love that Dog. I use a digital copy of the book so that all students can see and appreciate the layout as well as the words of our narrator, Jack.


I find that all students can relate to Jack, whether it is with his initial hesitation with poetry or fear of sharing his poems or love of his big yellow dog. My students love analyzing how Jack uses words and language to express his thoughts and feelings.

As we read, I pair each selection with the poems referenced in the book (and, helpfully, already included in an appendix in the back). We open with free response time, as everyone writes their thoughts, questions, or responses to a given poem in their writing notebook. Then we have some time for sharing before we read on to find out about Jack's reactions and responses to the same poems.

The remaining class time is for poetry writing. Sometimes I will ask students to try a certain poetry type or format (we write our own "So much depends upon ..." poems), but many times students are free to pursue poetry writing in their own way. Here are two student examples, inspired by poems from Love that Dog.

So much depends on
A notebook
Filled with words
In the classroom


So much depends upon
An owl flying in the starry night
Silent as the wind
Swooping though the sky
Like a hawk with its wings
Gleaming
     In
                       The light

If you do choose to use Love that Dog as a read aloud, I strongly recommend also checking out some of the books of poems mentioned and used in the story. These are a few of my favorites:

  
  


Street Music by Arnold Adoff, All the Same Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers, River of Words: the story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Forgive Me, I Meant To Do It by Gail Carson Levine and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, and, of course, some poems by Mr. Walter Dean Myers. (It will be so hard this year, for the first time, having to explain the Mr. Walter Dean Myers has died.)

Have you used Love that Dog with students? I'd love to hear your thoughts about it too! (And don't forget to check out the sequel, Hate that Cat, which follows Jack and Mrs. Stretchberry through another school year.)

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being curated by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference. See the whole list of hosts at Poetry Friday by Kitlitosphere.

13 comments:

  1. I am also a third grade teacher who celebrates Poetry Friday! I have taught for many years but only just starting my third grade experience. Have always loved teaching poetry. Can't wait to read "Love That Dog." Thank you for sharing your ideas which I can picture my students embracing!

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    1. Thanks so much, Kim! This is my third year of doing Poetry Friday activities with my third graders, and I can't imagine giving up a minute of it. I am sure you kids will absolutely love Love that Dog too!

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  2. Love That Dog would make an excellent entry point for a poetry-writing unit! I love projecting read alouds so kids can see the text! So important!

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    1. Agreed, Mary Lee, thanks! I love how Sharon Creech uses line breaks and word spacing throughout the book, so it really is one you need to "see to believe."

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  3. Your class sounds great! My kids would have loved it.

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    1. Thanks for the huge compliment, Tabatha! One of my favorite things about sharing this book this late in the year is how confused my students are to the opening lines - my boys are often my most enthusiastic poets!

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  4. Wahoo- perfect timing! We are just starting a poetry unit TOMORROW and Love That Dog is a favorite book. I like the idea of projecting it, because you are right, so much depends on the layout:) Now, to wrest my copy of Love That Dog from whoever has it! Maybe our students could share poetry?

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    1. I know your kids will LOVE it! Do you use KidBlog? My kids would love to have others to share their poetry with.

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  5. We had a novel-in-verse reading theme two or three years back, and I believe Fats shared how much she also enjoyed Love that Dog. I have yet to read it though, thanks for sharing snippets that makes me want to grab the book now! :)

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    1. Thanks. Myra! Especially since many poems are short (or have short lines), you will find this is one you can whip through quite quickly. A gem!

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  6. This post is a very timely connection for me because I am working with 4th grade teachers on Tuesday on the genre of poetry. NYS' curriculum module 1B is centering around the book, Love That Dog. Your 3rd grade poem is charming and I will show the teachers.

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  7. How long do you spend on the Love That Dog unit? The teachers that I am working with are trying to synthesis the 8 week unit on the engageNY site. Any additional information that you can offer would be helpful. My email address is cvarsalona@gmail.com. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks for your interest, Carol! I've sent you an email.

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