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Showing posts with label read aloud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label read aloud. Show all posts

2018 Poem #17 -- Save Favorite Words

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

I collect words.  And I keep lists of these collections in my notebooks. When I listen to people speak, read books, or think, I pause to consider the sounds and meanings of lovable and interesting words.  Just this week I've been enchanted by Albuquerque and resonant.  Last week I fell in love with seagull and periwinkle.  

We are changed when we pay attention to words, and while collecting words focuses our attention on language-music, word collections also offer writing ideas. 

Begin a list of favorite words in your own notebook.  Think about words you loved as a little child, words that call up fabric names and kitchen words.  Consider nature words or magical words.  Write these down. 


A sample favorite word list with connections.


Once you have a list, consider connecting pairs of words in surprising ways by drawing random lines between them.  If you desire, share your list with friends or colleagues, each of you saving each other's favorite words as you wish. Or simply choose one word, place it atop a page, and write from it.  You may find that the lines you have drawn will invite a curious connection that brings you somewhere new, as I did in the poem "Word Collection." 



"Word Collection" by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Allow yourself to be surprised.

Collect words always.  Words are the bricks of writing. 

I am grateful to Rebecca Kai Dotlich for teaching me to make and share my favorite word lists as she learned from Myra Cohn Livingston.  Pass it on.  Pass it on. 





Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is author of books including FOREST HAS A SONG, EVERY DAY BIRDS, READ! READ! READ!, DREAMING OF YOU, WITH MY HANDS, and POEMS ARE TEACHERS.  Amy lives in Holland, NY with her family, blogs for young writers at The Poem Farm and Sharing Our Notebooks and posts on Twitter and Instagram as @amylvpoemfarm. 

Enter our giveaway to win a free copy of Amy's book Read! Read! Read! by leaving a comment on any 2018 Go Poems post by 8:30AM on Saturday, April 6.  Many thanks to Boyds Mills Press for sponsoring this giveaway.  

2018 Poem #6 -- Our Many Worlds

by Rama Janamanchi

One of my favorite poems to teach is Joseph Legaspi’s “Amphibians.”It is a short poem which offers so many avenues for discussion and teaching that we often reference it as we go through our unit. The activity I am sharing below is one that I use when I introduce the poem.

We begin with reading the poem. Each student reads a line until punctuation indicates a significant stop (the period, the semi-colon, or colon). Then we read the poem again chorally. Once we are done with the choral reading, I ask them to list amphibians they know and picture those amphibians, their habitats, and whatever else they know about them.

The students then write down their own habitats: Where do you live? Then they list one activity they most closely identify with. Then we go into identity more broadly. Once they have listed about five or six words they use to identify themselves, we talk about similarities in the room. We begin with activity: all the basketball players stand together, all the gamers gather together and so on. Then they find them moving around the room and shifting groups based on race, hobbies, being the eldest, being adopted and so on. As they position themselves into different groups, they note the people with whom they share these groups.

Once the activity is done (about 7 minutes), we talk about Legaspi’s line: “Immigrants give birth to Americans.” Our many identities converge into the shared experience of the activity, of being students, of being learners. At the close of the activity, we read the poem again. I usually then ask them to reflect on the poem in their journals to give them more time with the poem.

Further Reading:




Rama Janamanchi teaches at a private high school for students with language-based learning differences. Twitter: @MsJanamanchi410

Go Poem #20 -- A Fluent "Inner Voice"

by Rose Birkhead


Prior to my middle school teaching days, I had the opportunity to teach self contained 2nd and 3rd grade. I learned about the importance of interactive, engaging lessons. Also, I learned about the importance of routine. My students expected a "Poem of the Week" each week. They loved to explore new words, learn new rhythms, and recite poetry. It certainly created more confident readers, and the welcome routine of reciting our poem each day helped improve fluency and overall reading skills.

I realized after my first “Poem in my Pocket Day" in middle school, that many middle schoolers needed fluency instruction as well. So began my fluency lesson with the poem "My Smartphone Isn’t Very Smart" by Kenn Nesbitt. Students appreciate this poem because it is about the beloved smartphone and our constant reliance on it. An added bonus: it makes my students laugh!

 I have found, when given the opportunity and a little bit of instruction, fluency can improve! Fluency builds confidence and reminds students to inject expression and rhythm into reading. When I help students discover their inner voices, I find comprehension improves dramatically. It also provides an opportunity to discuss how to appropriately use technology, which is an important topic of conversation in my classroom.

So, I start by projecting the poem on the board. I read it aloud, as the students follow along. Then, I read each stanza and have the students choral read back with me. I accent the rhythm of the poem, and clap my hands as I read.  Next, we practice individually for a about a minute. I call on volunteers to read each stanza. Students really have fun with this poem. It builds confidence, and reminds us to inject expression and rhythm into our reading. The inner voice can help us comprehend so much better!


Rose Birkhead is a Reading Specialist at Holland Middle School. She teaches 7th and 8th grade Literacy classes and  strives to create a positive learning environment where her students feel successful on a daily basis.


Further Reading:





Go Poem #10 -- Rhythm That Runs Downhill

by Michelle Ambrosini


by Edna St. Vincent Millay


I will be the gladdest thing  
    Under the sun!  
I will touch a hundred flowers  
    And not pick one.  
  
I will look at cliffs and clouds
    With quiet eyes,  
Watch the wind bow down the grass,  
    And the grass rise.  
  
And when lights begin to show  
    Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,  
    And then start down!


I project the poem onto the board, and first each student reads the poem independently.  Next, I ask students to notice what word or phrase stands out to them as I read the poem aloud.  


Students turn and talk to their table partners and share their standout words or phrases and explain their reasoning:  “Why did that word or phrase stand out to you?” I ask.


Students volunteer their standout words or phrases, which I underline on the board.  Their responses typically include “hundred flowers,” “cliffs and clouds,” “quiet eyes,” “grass rise,” and “lights begin to show.” The reasoning most students share for these words or phrases is these simple images are ones that they can easily visualize.  


We discuss how the writer does NOT describe each image with an abundance of figurative language.  I ask students to think about how the poet creates the sensation of standing at the top of the hill without this abundance of imagery.  


Now I re-read the poem aloud, asking students to notice the sound of the poem. Students typically begin by noting the rhyme pattern (2nd and 4th lines of each stanza).  


Students notice the poet’s use of repetition of “I will.” Repetition or pattern is a style choice that we have discussed throughout the year, specifically how writers can create rhythm through repetition as well as rhyme.  Students comment on the poet’s pattern in each stanza (longer line of 7 or more syllables, shorter line of 4 syllables).  We discuss how this pattern, too, creates rhythm.  


I then read the poem aloud a final time, asking students to close their eyes and to visualize themselves at the top of a hill.  When I finish reading aloud, I ask the students to share what happened in their visualization when they “started down!” Most comment that they run or roll down the hill at a fast pace.  I note that the poet created a rhythm using rhyme, repetition, and punctuation (students notice the exclamation points too) that propels them forward down the hill.  


Michelle Ambrosini teaches seventh-grade English at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA.  


Further Reading

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