The Logonauts: poetry

Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Friday, November 18, 2016

Poetry Friday: Freedom in Congo Square

Freedom in Congo Square (2016) by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie.

I love picture books that are truly poems. Freedom in Congo Square tells a rhythmic interpretation of the weekly countdown to the one half-day of free time granted to slaves in New Orleans. Each day of the week is represented through the grind of the work and abuse heaped on different slaves in different situations. This acknowledgement of the tough conditions helps emphasize the importance of Congo Square and the relative "freedom" it represented, as slaves were allowed time to themselves to freely sing, dance, and host markets.

The book opens with a full-page spread setting the historical context, and it ends with a lengthy author's note about the history and the actual location of Congo Square (now a part of Louis Armstrong Park). This one is a favorite of our school librarian and may make it into the running for our school's Mock Caldecott conversation as well.

Visit Friendly Fairy Tales for more Poetry Friday posts or click the Poetry Friday tag for more of my poetry posts.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Poetry Friday: The Odes of Pablo Neruda

My seventh graders are studying the geography of Latin America in Social Studies, so I knew that I wanted to feature Latin American poets in our poetry unit. This past week I introduced them to the odes of Pablo Neruda, and they created some incredible Neruda-inspired odes of their own!

Books on Pablo Neruda

2011 was the year of Neruda, as both of these books were published that year. I shared the picture book aloud with my students, and we discussed Neruda's life and influences. I also shared part of the Author's Note from The Dreamer, as it goes into more detail about Neruda's political issues and exile.

Pablo Neruda: poet of the people (2011) by Monica Brown and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. This biography of Pablo Neruda provides a look at his life and how they influenced his poems. The amazing illustrations complement and extend the text, as they are also overflowing with English and Spanish words. This book is also available in Spanish.

2011: The Dreamer (2010) by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís [Pura Belpré Award winner]. This fictionalized biography of celebrated Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (née Neftalí Reyes) focuses mainly on his childhood, interweaving chapters in an intimate third-person voice with illustrated poetry in the style of Pablo Neruda. Excerpts from actual poems are provided at the end, following an Author's Note about her research and inspirations. It is an interesting and emotional story that also draws attention to the focus on ordinary workers and social justice that defined his writing career.

Books by Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda published several books of poetry. I shared several poems with my students from his Odes to Common Things, which is probably the best-known of his books. Other books include Odes to Opposites and Twenty Love Songs and a Song of Despair. More recently, selected translations of his poems have appeared, including The Essential Neruda and All the Odes.

Ode to French Fries

What sizzles
in boiling
oil
is the world's
pleasure:
French
fries
go
into the pan
like the morning swan's
snowy
feathers
and emerge
half-golden from the olive's
crackling amber.

Garlic
lends them
its earthy aroma,
its spice,
its pollen that braved the reefs.
Then,
dressed
anew
in ivory suits, they fill our plates
with repeated abundance
and the delicious simplicity of the soil.

How could you not be inspired? Have you ever written odes or had your students write them? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Visit Karen Edmisten for more great Poetry Friday posts!

Friday, August 5, 2016

New Novel in Verse: Applesauce Weather

Last month I shared a lengthy list of novels in verse with the Poetry Friday community. Well, mark your calendars, because this Tuesday, August 9th marks the debut of another great addition to the list.

Applesauce Weather (2016) by Helen Frost and illustrated by Amy June Bates is a short middle grade novel in verse. The poems alternate between several voices: brother and sister pair Peter and Faith, their great-uncle Arthur, and chapter breaks labeled "Lucy's song" in the voice of their recently-deceased great-aunt Lucy. The action of the story happens over the course of the brief applesauce-making season with digressions into family stories (or perhaps tall tales) from the past.

A sample poem from early in the story:

Uncle Arthur

A vee of geese high overhead,
a sunflower high as a house.
A small in the air - if Lucy were here,
she'd breathe in deep. She'd smile wide.
That's all it would take - we'd be on our way:
Applesauce weather, she'd say.

This is a lovely, quick read that touches on several deep topics, including love, loss, and the power of family. The illustrations are also charming and help with the mood and quaint feel of the story. This might be a "quiet" book, but one that many kids will enjoy. (A review copy of the book was provided by the Candlewick Best in Class mailing. All thoughts are my own.)

Tara has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at A Teaching Life.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Poetry Mentor Text: The Desert is My Mother

The Desert is My Mother / El Desierto Es Mi Madre (1994) by Pat Mora and illustrated by Daniel Lechon. This poem-in-a-picture book would be a wonderful choice as a mentor text for writing poetry about places. Each two-page spread follows the same repeating pattern:

I say ...

She ...

For example, the opening line is "I say feed me. / She serves red prickly pear on a spiked cactus." (In Spanish, "Le digo, dame de comer. / Me sirve rojas tunas en nopal espinoso.")

This simple structure would be easily adaptable for a wide range of ages and purposes. Students could write about a favorite place or a researched region, for starters.

I also appreciate that the author chose to include the full text of the poem one a single page at the back of the book (in both English and Spanish).

Do you have favorite mentor texts for teaching poetry?

Margaret has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Poetry Friday: Echo Echo

Echo Echo: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths (2016). Marilyn Singer has done it again! If you have not yet read either of her two previous poetry books: Mirror, Mirror and Follow, Follow, then you are in for a treat. These "reverso" poems will blow you away. Not only are they interesting an engaging poems in their own right, but they can be read in two ways: from top to bottom and from bottom to top. You have to see one to truly understand (click on the image to see it larger).

You can help but be both immediately amazed and inspired. Each poem is like a delicately-crafted jigsaw puzzle, with the pieces falling into place to create two contrasting points of view around a familiar story or myth.

I shared this poem with my students last week during our regular Poetry Friday time, and several of them decided to take up the challenge of writing their own reverso poems. I am delighted to share a few of their efforts here.

Cold Air, by: Gretta

Breathe breathe through the winter.
The smell of the cold smooth air.
Let it peacefully go through your nose.

Let it peacefully go through your nose.
The smell of the cold smooth air.
Breathe breathe through the winter.

Reverso, Yoda Translation, by: Nathaniel

Force you must learn
To become Jedi
When Jedi you are, awesome like a boss you will be

When Jedi you are, awesome like a boss you will be
To become Jedi
Force you must learn

Voldemort and Harry, by: Ava and Leila

Fear me
When I touch you
Pain you will feel
I shall kill you!

I shall kill you!
Pain you will feel
When I touch you
Fear me

Echo Echo proved so popular in our classroom that it made it to the championship round of our April Poetry Madness. Several students shared their thoughts about why it was their favorite:

"Echo, Echo inspired me to write reverso poems, and I think that reverso poems are so cool, the way that they are different and the same and beautiful!"

"Two voice poems are my favorite!"

Have you ever tried a reverso poem?

Monday, May 2, 2016

April Poetry Madness Winner Is ...

And the winner is ... Love that Dog (2001) by Sharon Creech!

As part of our poetry unit we read Love that Dog as a class, sharing and discussing the same poems as Jack and his classmates, as well as trying them out for ourselves. This meant that Love that Dog holds a special place in the hearts of many of my students. (Read a full review including how I use this book to teach poetry.)

Here are a few of their comments and thoughts about why they voted for Love that Dog:

"Because it was a great book and enjoyable to read."
"It is awesome!"
"I picked this book because it is about dogs."
"Even though it was sad, this is the better book."
"I think it is a good example of how you can tell a story with a poem."

Thanks so much to everyone who joined in and voted!

View All Previous Rounds

Thursday, April 28, 2016

April Poetry Madness: Championship!

The votes have been counted, and the final round is here! After some ballot-stuffing in the previous rounds (gotta love the enthusiasm!) we did a paper ballot in class in addition to the online vote. But I am happy to announce that both votes agreed on our finalists. Good luck to both books!