Poetry is not just the name of a town in Texas. From 3rd grade forward poetry knowledge will be tested and it will be a supporting standard even as far as College Readiness Reporting (Fiction and Expository).
Time to gather and have your students read all kinds of poetry, not just in form but in content and ability levels. We know Narrative, Lyrical and Free Verse are tested as part of the standards, but expose them to everything possible.
I have come across a few new poetry resources, including some from Dr. Sylvia Vardell out of Texas Women’s University. Her “poetry a week” collection in The Poetry
Friday Anthology is a wonderful collection of poetry for k-5 with TEKS and Common Core curriculum connections and she also has a version for middle school. Dr. Vardell’s The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists has lists of poetry bibliographies and strategies to follow. What I like about this book is you can find science poems too!
And John Grandits’ poetry book Technically, It’s Not My Fault well, it’s just fun! Poems here show meaning and emotion through text and visuals.
If you have a little downtime this summer take a look at these resources and be ready for next school year.
Help kids look at school from the funny side in the first two picture books and walk to school in wonder in the last.
Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Bus, by John Grandits, illustrated by Michael Allen Austin,
Clarion, $16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages. Kyle has no choice but to gulp down his worries and climb up the school bus. It's his first time on one and he's going to have face it alone, now that his big brother, James, is walking to middle school. Lucky thing James has armed Kyle with a list of dos and don'ts and some cheeky advice, "Just think of what I'd do and try to act like me." But when Kyle accidentally breaks every rule his brother gave him, including talking to a bully, he learns the most important lesson of all: never, absolutely never pay attention to your big brother's rules for the bus. Here's a fun, empowering story to inspire your child to skip up the steps of the bus (and maybe even sit in the first row).
Louise the Big Cheese and the Back-To-School Smarty-Pants, by Elise Primavera, illustrated by Diane Goode,
A Paula Wiseman Book, $16.99, ages 5 and up, 40 pages. Louise wants to be a smarty pants like her big sister and get straight As. But with a taskmistress for a second grade teacher, it's not looking good. If only a gorilla would grab up her teacher and run away with her. Then one day it seems like her wish could come true. Her teacher is absent. But now the substitute is giving everyone in class an A and suddenly an A doesn't feel that special. On top of that, the substitute is letting Louise get away with sloppy work. Could it be that Louise likes to be pushed to do better -- and may actually miss her teacher? Here's a book that shows that it's how hard you try that counts. Don't miss the endpapers for a parade of famous smarty pants. (Uh, Madonna, what are you doing there?)
A Few Blocks, written and illustrated by Cybele Young,
Groundwood, $18.95, ages 4-8, 48 pages. Ferdie doesn't want to
And John Grandits’ poetry book Technically, It’s Not My Fault well, it’s just fun! Poems here show meaning and emotion through text and visuals..jpeg?picon=3103)
