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The coffee has yet to kick in and I’m a little weirded out by how affected I am by the humidity after the glorious Denver dryness, but, all in all, I’m happy to be back in Portland. The program was fabulous and the people wonderful, but I needed to get back to my own stuff. Dorm rooms don’t really promote a warm environment, you know?
I’m still mulling over the best way to sum up the program because the topics ranged widely over the whole publishing field and I’m not sure that all of it will be that interesting to you. Not to mention if there was a PowerPoint presentation involved and the lights were turned off, I got a serious case of the nods, which is not very conducive to note taking.
I’ve set aside today to get serious with my three-hole-punch to organize my notes into one cohesive whole, so that tomorrow we can launch into the Denver Publishing recap (as well as off-topic discussions on what occurred to me while I was listening to speakers). If you have any questions about the subjects I bring up, or on the program as a whole, please let me know.
Until later then, I must unpack all the stuff I managed to collect in a month’s time. Thank goodness I drove because I hate to think what I would have been charged for trying to get this all on a plane.
Well…here we are on the 30th day of April—the final day of National Poetry Month—my last day to post A Poem a Day! I thought I’d dedicate my poem today to my poet friend Janet Wong. It seemed most appropriate to dedicate a list poem to her. Last September, Janet wrote to tell me that another poet was compiling an anthology of list poems and suggested I submit some of my poetry for consideration. And just the other day she made mention of list poems in a comment at one of my posts.
This poem is for you, Janet. Thanks for all your help and support!
FULL OF…
by Elaine Magliaro
Shoes are full of feet.
Candy’s full of sweet.
A pig is full of slops.
A bunny’s full of hops.
A farm is full of cows,
Chickens, pigs, and plows.
April’s full of showers
That bring us springtime flowers.
Winter’s full of snow
And blizzard winds that blow.
A forest’s full of trees…
Leaves swishing in the breeze.
The sky is full of blue…
And all the oceans, too.
The dawn is full of light
And dark fills up the night.
Bees are full of buzz
And black and yellow fuzz.
A spider’s full of silk.
A cow? Chock full of milk.
Rain is full of drops.
It drips and plips and plops.
Dreams fill up your head
At night when you’re in bed.
“And you?” you ask of me.
WHY…
I’m full of poetry.
Today I have a fairy tale poem for MotherReader. I did try to write her a special poem about a book that told of the travails of a china rabbit—but I just couldn’t get past the first few lines. I think we all know how much MR loved that book! Who could forget her special Tulane Readers Theatre blog?
My failed first attempt at a poem for MotherReader:
That book about a bunny
Wasn’t funny.
That tale of Ed Tulane
Gave me a pain!!!
So...sad to say: There's no rabbit poem for MotherReader--just a poem about a wolf and a clever little piggy.
THOUGHTS OF THE WOLF AS HE DESCENDS THE THIRD LITTLE PIG’S CHIMNEY
by Elaine Magliaro
This Pig’s outwitted me before.
No, I won’t knock upon his door,
Won’t threaten him, won’t huff and puff.
I’m finished with that macho stuff.
WELL…down the chimney here I go.
I’ll get that little pig. Ho, ho!
Can’t wait to taste his tender meat,
His juicy snout, his porky feet.
I’ll serve him up with grated cheese,
Potatoes, parsley, parsnips, peas.
Yeh! That’s my kind of swiney grub.
Uh-oh!
Splish-splash!
Bubble!
GLUB!
I guess I’m in hot water now.
Goodbye, cruel world.
I’m piggy chow!
Today my poem is for Robin Brande--who most definitely has a terrific blog with some very interesting posts. One of my favorite “Brande’s” is Sometimes someone has to call you on your bull. Oh, yeh!
APRIL
by Elaine Magliaro
Days crackle with sunlight.
Tree buds burst tight jackets,
Stretch awake.
Jaunty daffodils announce
The return of spring.
Birds string themselves
Like beads along branches
Windows yawn open
And houses breathe deep
The warm green air.
My poem Yellow Days got me to thinking about the “golden” days of summer. I must admit that summer isn’t my favorite season. I hate when our weather here gets hot and sticky. It’s hard for me to concentrate on anything but the HEAT and HUMIDITY!
But children and teachers love summer because it means school vacation and lots of freedom to spend their days as they please. So today my poem is for all of my former students and all of the outstanding teaching colleagues, librarians, other staff, and parents that I worked with over the years (1968-2004) at the Bell School.
COOL POOL
by Elaine Magliaro
The sun beats down.
It sears.
It scorches.
Sweating neighbors sit on porches
Sipping ice-cold lemonade
Waiting for the day to fade.
BUT
When I’m hot as steaming tea,
I stand beneath our maple tree,
Remove my sneakers, socks…and wade
Into a cool green pool of shade.
POETRY LINKS
Why I Love to Write in Rhythm and Rhyme by Jean Marzollo
Poetry and Literacy by Glenna Sloan
The Power of Poetry by Lee Bennett Hopkins
We finally had some glorious days of fair and really springy weather here in Massachusetts. A few fine days interspersed amid weeks of cool, cloudy, misty, rainy weather are times to treasure...are better than a bag of gold--or even a box of bittersweet chocolates! With the sun shining down on me Monday as I sat out on my back deck for the first time this year, I felt enveloped in the warm yellow rays of the sun. Yellow, yellow, yellow days had arrived at last! It was mahvelous—as a true Bostonian might say. Ah, if only that spell of lovely weather had lingered!
Here is a poem for Grace Lin…a friend who is like a ray of sunshine. To Grace…who can make a cloudy day seem bright!
YELLOW DAYS
by Elaine Magliaro
Shower in the April sun.
Shower in the light,
Streaming down on yellow days.
Stand out in the pouring rays.
Like butter on a toasty bun,
Let the sunlight melt and run
In golden rivers on your skin.
Feel it glowing deep within.
Feel the gentle touch of spring.
Feel the warmth that April brings.
Shower in the pouring rays
Streaming down on yellow days.
My haiku today is for Bruce at Wordswimmer. Bruce served on the Cybils poetry-nominating panel with me. He always had thoughtful and perceptive comments to add to our group’s discussions about the poetry books we were evaluating. Bruce writes a lot about the writing process at his blog.
BEETLE
by Elaine Magliaro
Beetle on a rose
in shining armor…ready
to battle the thorns
Today I have a nursery rhyme parody for Liz B. at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy. Liz likes to note that she thinks I'm a poetry overachiever when she does the Poetry Friday roundup at her blog. For the record: I stand guilty as charged. I love children’s poetry...and sometimes I get carried away. That’s the way it is! Liz, love your blog. Hope you like the poem.
JACK AND JUNE
by Elaine Magliaro
Jack and June went to the moon,
Crash-landed in a crater.
Jack broke his nose and seven toes.
(He’s a crummy navigator!)
Jack cried in pain. June tried in vain
To soothe her injured mate.
She bound his toes and kissed his nose
And asked him for a date.
Jack and June began to swoon…
Fell mad in love and they
Returned to Earth, their place of birth…
And wed the very next day.
My poem on this 23rd day of April in the year 2007 is for Betsy at A Fuse #8 Production. Betsy is celebrating a special date in history. Yep…29 years ago this bouncing baby book lover was born. It seemed most appropriate to dedicate a poem to her on this momentous occasion. (The “you” I’m addressing in the poem is Betsy herself.) Happy Birthday, Betsy!!!
CRINKLE, CRINKLE, MY OLD FACE
by Elaine Magliaro
Crinkle, crinkle, my old face…
It’s got wrinkles every place.
It’s got crow’s-feet; it’s got creases.
The aging process never ceases.
Saggy, baggy, flaccid skin...
I’ve got a droopy double chin.
I need a facelift--botox, too.
Then I’ll look as young as you!
My poem today is dedicated to Miss Erin who enjoys ranting and raving about important things like books and reading. What a great way for a young lady to spend her time!
SPRING RAIN
by Elaine Magliaro
In March
a warm spring wind
blew by
coaxing showers
from the sky.
Silver raindrops
hurried down
tempting green up
from the brown.
They woke the sleeping
buds on trees
and tapped on hives
of honeybees.
They washed away
the winter snow
so all the waiting earth
could grow.
Today’s poem is for Kimberly at lectitans. Kimberly is a high school Latin teacher who may be interested in studying to become a librarian. She posts some excellent and thought-provoking questions for bloggers at lectitans.
GIRAFFE
by Elaine Magliaro
Giraffe is very tall—
but has a voice so small
you never hear him
bark or roar,
sneeze or snore,
screech or howl,
grunt or growl,
caterwaul…
or ever say a word at all.
Perhaps because his head’s so high,
his sounds get lost up in the sky.
Today I have another mask poem. This one is for Robin at A Fondness for Reading. Robin’s a teacher, a grandma, and a lover of books. Robin’s mother is a book lover, too. She has a blog called Mom’s Book Group. Robin’s mom has led a book club for the Mount Olympus Senior Center for ten years!
GRIZZLY BEAR
by Elaine Magliaro
I’m grizzly bear. I’m fierce and fat…
And dangerous. Remember that!
My teeth are sharp as sabers.
My curvy claws can cut like saws,
And when I prowl the woods I growl
And frighten all my neighbors.
I rule this land. These woods are mine!
I ain’t NOBODY’S valentine!
Don’t think that you can be my friend…
My dinner?
Yum!
GULP!
The End
Today I have yet another nursery rhyme parody. This one is for Camille at Book Moot. You may ask: “Who is the lady of this fine kidlit blog?” Why...she’s the blogger known best by her fab footwear—the sneakers a la pink swooshes. You can check them out here. Camille, may you have "happy feet" forever!
HUMPTY DUMPTY ON THE HOT SEAT
by Elaine Magliaro
Humpty Dumpty sat on a star.
Humpty Dumpty started to char.
All of the astronauts raced to his side…
But when they reached him
Poor Humpty was fried!
Today I have another nursery rhyme parody. This one is for Jen Robinson of Jen Robinson’s Book Page—another terrific kidlit blog. I especially enjoy Jen’s Sunday Afternoon Visits and her Children’s Literacy Roundups. Thanks, Jen, for all the support you’ve given me these past couple of months!
LUCKY MARY
by Elaine Magliaro
Mary had a lotta luck
At Shoot the Wad Casino.
She worked the slots and rolled the dice
And won ten games of keno.
When Mary cashed in all her chips,
She gotta lotta dough.
Now every fella in our town
Sure wants to be her beau!
Today I have an acrostic poem for Michele at Scholar’s Blog. Since Michele, who lives across the Atlantic in the mother country, is the anointed Queen of Fantasy, I thought this poem about a unicorn was most appropriate. Michele is also the author of the Scholar’s Blog Spoiler Zone, which is where she posts books reviews and hosts some interesting book discussion groups. Her personal physician is the famous Doctor Who!
UNICORN
by Elaine Magliaro
Unreal animal,
No one has ever seen you except
In the land of make-believe
Cavorting with maidens
Over flower-strewn fields and
Romping through woodlands in a world of
Never-ending days.
Cheerio, Michele!
Today I have another mask poem. This one is for Nancy at Journey Woman. Nancy has a great blog. I really wanted to participate in her Silly Words Contest—but I was too busy getting ready to launch Wild Rose Reader. Her Best Passages Contest last fall was a lot of fun. I even won a gift certificate to Starbucks! Thanks for your support, Nancy. I’ll be waiting to see what kind of blog contest you dream up next!
JUST A SCENTIMENTAL GUY
by Elaine Magliaro
I’m black and white.
My tail’s all fluff.
I never growl.
I don’t act tough.
I wander into yards at night.
I’m really harmless…
I don’t bite
Or snarl
Or scratch
Or kick
Or pounce.
I just dispense scents by the ounce.
That’s how I frighten foes away—
I lift my bushy tail and SPRAY!
I do not need long fangs or claws,
Bulging muscles,
Mighty jaws.
My malodorous defense,
I think,
Makes a lot of SCENTS!
So if you see me take my pose
To ward off predatory foes…
Just stand back and hold your nose!
My mask poem today is for Gail Maki Wilson of Through the Studio Door. Gail is an artist who also has her own website. You just may want to visit Gail’s website to have a look at her fine illustrations. Gail informed me the day I launched my new blog that she was adding Wild Rose Reader to her “good blog reads.” Gail, I appreciate your support. Thanks!
BLUE WHALE’S BOAST
by Elaine Magliaro
I’m the biggest whale
in the big blue sea.
I’m blubbery big
as a whale should be.
I’m bigger than
an elephant
three rhinos,
a giraffe.
I’m bigger than
ten walruses
twos hippos
and a half.
There’s nothing
in the world
that’s bigger than me…
except, of course,
for the big blue sea!
COLLABORATIVE CLASS MASK POEMS
I sometimes visited with other classes in my school to lead poetry-writing sessions. Here are collaborative poems I wrote with two different second grade classes:
PENGUIN
A Class Poem by Mrs. Berg’s Class
I am a penguin,
chubby in my black and white
suit,
waddling on the slippery ice,
sliding on my big belly
into the freezing cold sea.
SPLASH!
Here I come, fish.
I’m hungry as can be!
MONARCH
A Group Poem by Mrs. Baker’s Class
I chew on a milkweed leaf
so yummy.
I wiggle around on a green stage.
I hang upside down
like a bat
and shed my striped skin.
Inside my green and gold chrysalis
I grow my bright orange wings.
Someday I will be
a beautiful monarch
and fly around free
in a field of flowers.
Try writing a mask poem of your own. It's fun! I especially enjoy speaking in the voices of different animals. But you can imagine yourself to be the sun, the moon, a snowflake, the rain, the wind, the ocean, a tree...anything! Who or what would you pretend to be in a mask poem that you wrote?
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
WHEN RIDDLES COME RUMBLING: POEMS TO PONDER
Illustrated by Karen Dugan
Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press
2001
Many of the poems in this book are not just mask poems--they are riddle rhymes to boot! It would be fun to read these rhythmic, rhyming riddles aloud to children and ask them to guess whose "voice" is speaking in each poem. The voices include those of a snake, a pizza, fireworks, a trampoline, and a roller coaster. The illustrations will help children guess the answers to the riddles.
BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW
Illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin
2006
All of the poems in this book are riddles; many of them are also mask poems. Winner of the 2006 Cybils Award for Poetry, this book contains outstanding examples of mask poems. Some of the "voices" speaking to us in the poems are those of the dew, a grasshopper, a spittlebug, xylem and phloem, a milkweed plant, and a hawk. The illustrations in this book also provide clues for young readers to help them solve the riddles. You can read my review of BUTTERFLY EYES here.
ADDENDUM
Check out my
A Poem a Day #14 post for links to some collaborative class poems I wrote with students at the Malcolm Bell School. You'll also find recommendations for children's poetry books with some great mask poems that are sure to inspire children to write their very own poems.
Today’s mask (persona) poem is for Jone (AKA Miss Mac) at Check It Out. Jone was kind enough to to add Wild Rose Reader to her blogroll soon after I launched my solo blog. Jone served as one of the five Cybils poetry judges. There’s a profile of her at the Cybils website…so check it out! And thanks, Jone, for your kind words and support.
SNAKE SOLILOQUY
by Elaine Magliaro
I’m a slippery slitherer
silent and sleek
sliding and slinking
through grasses
I sneak...
weaving and winding
legless and low
I slip slyly hidden
wherever I go.
Wending and bending
by stalk, stem, and stone
like a ribbon of muscle
and skin without bone
tongue catching the scent
of a soft, furry prey.
Smells like it’s field mouse
for dinner today!
FOR TEACHERS
I love mask poems. My students had great success writing mask poems in the classroom. I also lead poetry-writing sessions with students when I was a school librarian. Here are links to some collaborative class mask poems written by students with me in my school library, to a lesson for a poetry writing exercise, and to a page at the Village Writer site that has a definition of a persona poem and some examples of persona poems.
Class Mask Poems 2001-2002
Class Mask Poems 2002-2003
Check out Tree Voices Writing Exercise at the terrific website of award-winning children’s poet Kristine O’Connell George.
Persona Poems at Village Writer
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
It is always wise to immerse children in mask/persona poems written by a variety of poets before asking them to write their own poems. Here are some books with mask poems that I used in the classroom and in the library to inspire my students.
BOOKS IN PRINT
DIRTY LAUNDRY PILE: POEMS IN DIFFERENT VOICES
Selected by Paul B. Janeczko
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
HarperCollins
2001
This nifty anthology includes poems by Karla Kuskin, Bobbi Katz, Tony Johnston, Patricia Hubbell, Lilian Moore, Marilyn Singer, Jane Yolen, Douglas Florian, Alice Schertle, April Halprin Wayland, and Kristine O’Connell George. In these poems we hear the voices of a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, the winter wind, a whale, a cow, a mosquito, a bacterium, a blue crayon, a snowflake, and trees.
DESERT VOICES
Written by Byrd Baylor
Illustrated by Peter Parnall
Macmillan
1981
In Baylor's collection, we hear the voices of desert animals—including those of a jackrabbit, a rattlesnake, a spadefoot toad, a buzzard, and a coyote. This is an excellent book!
INSECTLOPEDIA
Written & illustrated by Douglas Florian
Harcourt Brace
1998
I LOVE this book!!! Not all of the poems in this book are mask poems—but the nine that Douglas Florian wrote for this collection are really excellent examples for kids…and they’re a lot of fun to read to and recite for students. The mask poems in this book include The Dragonfly, The Inchworm, The Black Widow Spider, The Weevils, The Whirligig Beetles, and The Locusts. The other poems in this collection are terrific, too.
OUT OF PRINT BOOKS
Both of these books have exceptional examples of mask poems. If you can locate used copies--buy them. I found both books invaluable in the classroom and library.
ANY ME I WANT TO BE
Written & illustrated by Karla Kuskin
HarperCollins
1972
Kuskin speaks in a variety of voices in the poems in this book: those of a broom, a kite, a lion, the snow, the night, a dragon, a snake, a jaguar, a strawberry, a clock, and more.
TURTLE IN JULY
Written by Marilyn Singer
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Macmillan
1989
In this book, Singer captures the voice of a different animal for each month of the year. She also has a bullhead fish explain what her life is like during each of the four seasons.
My haikus today were written for
Cloudscome at
A Wrung Sponge. Cloudscome has posted more than fifty
original haiku poems at her blog. She writes her poems to accompany photographs she takes of flowers in her garden, of blossoming cherry trees, of a children’s book worn by loving hands, of a tricycle outside in the yard, of a monarch butterfly looking for nectar. Both her poems and her photographs are exceptional in their beauty.
I was inspired to write my haiku poems in response to some of Cloudscome’s lovely photographs. Cloudscome, thanks so much for the fine poetry you have brought to the world of kidlit bloggers. (Photographs used with permission of Cloudscome.)
HAIKU GARDEN
Look! A starting line
of crocuses ready
to sprint into spring
Sun rubs resting earth
with warm yellow hands…coaxes
forth petals of gold
Celebrating spring
cherry trees don party clothes…
look pretty in pink!
On petal wings,
monarch floats in air…like a
blossom in the breeze
Black-eyed-Susans
sunbathing in summer
staring at the sky
FOR TEACHERS
Check out the following website:
In the Moonlight A Worm
Quoting from the website: “This website offers teachers and students an introduction to writing haiku poems, a chance to study the history and nature of haiku poetry and an introduction to the fundamental principles of creative writing.” The website is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
CRICKET NEVER DOES: A COLLECTION OF HAIKU AND TANKA
Written by Myra Cohn Livingston
Illustrations by Kees de Kiefte
Margaret k. McElderry
1997
This collection of poems written by Myra Cohn Livingston, a recipient of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, has a variety of haiku for each season of the year. The book is now out of print—but used copies can be purchased from online booksellers.
HAIKU: ONE BREATH POETRY
Written & illustrated by Naomi Wakan
Heian
First American Edition 1997
This is a good resource book for teachers or anyone who is interested in the haiku and its history. It includes sections on Japanese Haiku and Haiku in English.
AT BLUE ROSE GIRLS
Check out my Poetry Friday Potpourri #2 post at Blue Rose Girls. I have The Joy of Writing, a poem written by Nobel Prize winning poet, Wislawa Szymborska.
Today’s poem is for Mary Lee and Franki at A Year of Reading. Having read some of the posts at their blog, I believe I can safely infer that these two ladies must be dy-no-mite teachers! Got to love their list of 100 Cool Teachers in Children’s Literature and their list of Books about Books and Reading.
From a longtime teacher to Mary Lee and Franki: Keep up the great work in school and at A Year of Reading!
Here's a poem of address written in the form of a FAX. I got my inspiration for writing poems about Pluto when I was working on my review of COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS, Douglas Florian’s most recent collection of poems and paintings about space.
INTERPLANETARY FAX
by Elaine Magliaro
TO: Pluto
DATE: August 24, 2006
RE: Demotion to Dwarf Status
Sorry, Pluto, you’re way too small.
You’re just an itty-bitty ball…
An insignificant cosmic dot…
A speck in the Milky Way. You’re not
Considered a planet anymore.
Here’s your pink slip; there’s the door.
You’re off the list. Goodbye! Adieu!
Don’t go making a hullabaloo.
There’s nothing…nothing…you can do.
Accept you fate.
FROM: IAU
I was inspired by Douglas Florian’s book to write the following poem, too. I posted it at Blue Rose Girls in my Update: Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars…and Pluto.
PLUTO POEM
by Elaine Magliaro
Pluto, Pluto, once a planet.
Made of ice…and, maybe granite,
A distant, tiny, frigid sphere
Demoted to a "dwarf" last year.
Pluto, Pluto, once a planet.
Astronomers said: "We should can it.
It’s much too small; it’s orbit’s odd
It’s named after a nasty god."
Pluto, Pluto, once a planet.
The IAU? It chose to ban it
From the planetary club.
That’s a solar systemic snub!!!
(IAU stands for the International Astronomical Union.)
Today my acrostic poem is for Jules and Eisha, the dynamic duo of the 7-Imp blog. The ladies give us book reviews for people of all ages, interviews, Poetry Friday posts, and their very popular 7–Imp's 7 Kicks weekend feature. Seven Impossible Things is one fine kidlit blog.
For Jules and Eisha, I’ve chosen a poem from WHAT’S IN A WORD, a collection of acrostics I finished work on last fall. Since the ladies of 7-Imp are such good friends, I thought the following selection would be most appropriate. We all know how close chums share secrets with each other.
Words
Hushed
In soft velvet
Sounds
Patter into your
Ear
Revealing deep secrets that no one
Should hear.
For years, I hadn’t been a big fan of acrostic poems. So many of the ones I’d read, written by both adults and children, seemed too prosaic. Few were lyrical in nature; few had figurative language; and few had any rhythm—which, to me, is a poetic requirement. But I changed my mind about acrostics when I read SILVER SEEDS: A BOOK OF NATURE POEMS. Written by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer and illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, SILVER SEEDS is the best book of acrostic poems for children that I have read. This collection of fifteen poems takes readers through one day. It opens with a poem about Dawn and closes with a poem about Night. It includes other poems about a shadow, a hummingbird, a butterfly, trees, clouds, stars and the moon.
SILVER SEEDS
Written by Paul Paolilli & Dan Brewer
Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher
Viking 2001
In this book, a falling leaf is a loose brown parachute, fog comes in folds and folds of spun sugar, the moon is a marvelous melon, trees tickle the sky with tiny hands, and stars are silver seeds that sprout wonder. The spare illustrations serve as a quiet backdrop for the poems and allow them to stand out on the page. Each acrostic is printed in large text and has its own two-page spread. This is an excellent feature because a teacher can show students the poems as she/he reads them aloud. In this way, children can easily grasp the concept of what an acrostic poem is as they listen to their teacher read and look at the book.
CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS: Writing Acrostic Poems
Share SILVER SEEDS with your students. If they have been immersed in lots of fine poetry with rhythm, imagery, and figurative language—they should have the tools to write acrostics that are “true” poems that will sing on the page.
Classroom Procedures
- Ask your students to suggest some topics for a collaborative acrostics writing exercise.
- With students, select a few of the suggested topics for your class poems.
- Guide students through the poem writing process two or three times—jotting down their ideas on chart paper.
- When each poem is finished, read it aloud with your students.
- Hang the poems up in the classroom where students can see them.
- Revisit the poems a day or two later.
- Read the class acrostics aloud again with your students.
- Tell students to look at their collaborative acrostics with a critical eye. Invite them to think of ways to make each poem stronger by adding comparisons, alliteration, imagery, etc.; by substituting more precise vocabulary for some “weak” words; and by working on the arrangement of words in each poem to see if they can make it “read” more rhythmically. (This exercise will help children to understand how to go about revising their own poems.)
- Then have students write their own individual acrostic poems.
Note: Whenever my students typed the final drafts of poems they had created for a particular lesson/class unit, I photocopied them and compiled them in an anthology. Each child got his/her own copy of the anthology for which they designed a front and back cover. I laminated the covers and bound the anthologies on spiral binders. My students absolutely loved seeing their own poems collected in a book, which they got to take home and share with their parents and siblings.
Here are acrostic poems that were written by two of my second grade students the last year I taught in an elementary classroom. Both poems won prizes in the 2000 Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest.
SUNS by Billy
Solar flares blast into space,
Untamed explosions of fire, in
Neverending galaxies where
Stars are born and reborn.
SPACE by Colby
Stars, jewels of light sparkle in the night.
Pluto, cold as an icy night, as dark as pitch, freezes in space.
Asteroids, worlds of rock and metal, play ring around the sun.
Comets of ice with fiery tails glow in the darkness.
Elegant Earth, a world of sapphire blue and green, spins around the sun.
Other Recommended Children’s Books with Acrostic Poems
Stephen Schnur has written four books of seasonal acrostic poems—which also happen to be alphabet books. Leslie Evans did the artwork for all four books. The illustrations, executed in hand-colored linoleum cut blocks, are colorful and striking. The text for each poem, set inside a white box framed in black, is large and easy to read. The books were published by Clarion.
Acrostic Books by Steven Schnur
AUTUMN: An Alphabet Acrostic (1997)
SPRING: An Alphabet Acrostic (1999)
SUMMER: An Alphabet Acrostic (2001)
WINTER: An Alphabet Acrostic (2002)Here is one sample of Schnur’s poetry from his book
WINTER:
Flakes so
Light they drift
Upward
Rise like smoke before coming to
Rest in the
Yard.
Today I have a parody for Anne at Book Buds. Book Buds was one of the first kidlit blogs that I became addicted to early last fall. I won Books Bud’s “First Words” contest with a humorous poem and received a signed copy of Catherine Thimmesh’s wonderful book TEAM MOON. How great is that? Anne is one of the bloggers responsible for creating the Cybils. I wonder if she’s got any other bright ideas planned for the kidlitosphere this year???
THIS LITTLE PIGGY
by Elaine Magliaro
This little piggy went to Saturn.
This little piggy went to Mars.
This little piggy zoomed his rocket ship
Around a zillion stars.
But THIS little piggy read comic books
At home
And smoked cigars.
I have always enjoyed parodies. One of my best friends and I used to make up silly lyrics to popular rock-and-roll tunes when we were in high school…during the Jurassic Period.
CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS FOR TEACHERS: Writing Parodies
Writing & Literature Connection
What could be more fun than having students write parodies of nursery rhymes in class? If you’ve got Judy Sierra’s book MONSTER GOOSE on hand, you’re all set with an entire collection of hilarious parodies to serve as models for your students’ writing.
MONSTER GOOSE
Written by Judy Sierra
Illustrated by Jack E. Davis
Gulliver Books/Harcourt
2001
Here are two parodies from MONSTER GOOSE:
JACK SPRAT
Jack Sprat
Ate some fat
And drank some gasoline.
He lit his pipe
And in one swipe
Invented lean cuisine.
CANNIBAL HORNER
Cannibal Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating a people potpie.
He bit his own thumb
And cried, “Oh, yum, yum,
A tasty young morsel am I!” First, you know the kids are going to laugh! They are sure to enjoy listening to their teacher read the parodies in
MONSTER GOOSE. Second, you can bet they’ll be inspired and eager to write their own humorous versions of the traditional verses.
Writing & Science ConnectionAnother great book to use to teach students about parodies is
Jon Scieszka’s SCIENCE VERSE. This is a collection of truly clever parodies of songs, nursery rhymes, and famous poems—including Joyce Kilmer’s
Trees, Lewis Carroll’s
Jabberwocky, Ernest Thayer’s
Casey at the Bat, and Robert Frost’s
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Scieszka's poems will serve as good models to show students how to incorporate their knowledge of science when writing their parodies.
SCIENCE VERSE
Written by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith
Viking
2004Here are a few excerpts from Scieszka’s excellent book:
From LOVELY
I think that I ain’t never seen
A poem ugly as a spleen.
A poem that could make you shiver,
Like 3.5…pounds of liver.
A poem to make you loose your lunch,
Tie your intestines in a bunch.
From SCIENTIFIC METHOD AT THE BAT
The outlook wasn’t brilliant for my experiment that day;
The only way to graduate was to come up with an A.
So when my lab exploded and turned to blackish gunk,
My chance of passing anything went Titanic—you know, sunk.
‘TWAS THE NIGHT
‘Twas the night before Any Thing, and all through deep space,
Nothing existed—time, matter, or place.
No stockings, no chimneys. It was hotter than hot.
Everything was compressed in one very dense dot.
When out of the nothing there appeared with a clatter
A fat guy with reindeer and something the matter.
His nose was all runny. He gave a sick hack.
“Oh, dasher! Oh, Dancer! I can’t hold it back!”Suggestion: In addition to
MONSTER GOOSE and/or
SCIENCE VERSE, a teacher would need to have a collection of nursery rhymes and copies of poems to be parodied on hand. Students should be immersed in parodies and the nursery rhymes and/or poems to be parodied for two or three days before the creative writing exercise is assigned. It is always best to model the writing process for students. One great way to do this is to work with the class in writing a collaborative class parody.
Writing a parody is one thing; writing a witty, clever, rhyming parody in verse is another. Students will need several writing/rewriting sessions and lots of teacher assistance during the parody-writing process.
Here are a few more of my own parodies that were posted previously at Blue Rose Girls:
A LOQUACIOUS ASTRONAUT WAXES POETIC AFTER STEPPING FOOT ON MARS
by Elaine Magliaro
(I wrote this poem for Book Buds "First Words" contest. My other poem won.)
Whose planet’s this? I know I know.
His home’s on Mount Olympus so
He will not see me stopping here
To go exploring to and fro.
The polar ice cap’s very near.
I spy three skaters. Drat! I fear
Some other life forms came before.
I’m NOT the first Mars pioneer.
I see a Super Star Trek Store…
And garish neon signs galore!
There’s garbage everywhere I tread.
Don’t want to be here anymore.
This trip’s a bust to “Planet Red.”
Yo, Earth, give me the go-ahead
To visit Jupiter instead,
To visit Jupiter instead. MARY HAD A LITTLE MOONby Elaine MagliaroMary had a little moon.
It shone just like a star.
And everywhere that Mary went
She brought it in a jar.
She sneaked it into class one day,
Which was against the rule—
But teacher smiled because it was
The brightest thing in school.HICKORY DICKORY DOCKET
by Elaine Magliaro
Hickory dickory docket,
I sped into space in a rocket.
I traveled past Mars
And seventeen stars
With a picture of Earth in my locket.
My poem today—a cinquain—is for Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children. Sylvia served with me on the Cybils poetry-nominating panel. She was also the co-chair of the 2006 Selection Committee for the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Sylvia usually posts at her blog once a week—but she’s been posting every day during National Poetry Month. You may want to stop by for a visit.
The following poem is my first attempt at writing a cinquain. It is not one of my old moldering poems. I wrote this one several months ago for a collection entitled TASTING THE SUN that I began work on about twenty years ago.
CINQUAIN #1
by Elaine Magliaro
Winter,
Weary and worn,
Wearing a muddy white
Robe, frees her icy grip…makes way
For spring.
ABOUT THE CINQUAIN
The cinquain is a poetic form that was developed by a woman named Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914). Most teachers know a bastardized form of the cinquain that is often taught in language arts classes. The true cinquain is a five-line poem of twenty-two syllables that does not rhyme. Visit Cinquain.org to read twenty-eight cinquains written by Adelaide Crapsey.
THE CINQUAIN
First line: two syllables
Second line: four syllables
Third line: six syllables
Fourth line: eight syllables
Fifth line: two syllables
Award-winning poet and anthologist Myra Cohn Livingston was a master of this poetic form. Alice Schertle and Kristine O’Connell George are two other children’s poets who have written some excellent cinquains.
Here are the titles of poetry books in which you can find some fine examples of “true” cinquains:
POETRY BOOKS WITH CINQUAINS
By Myra Cohn Livingston
Monkey Puzzle and Other Poems (Margaret K. McElderry, 1984)
Sky Songs (Holiday House, 1984)
I Never Told and Other Poems (Margaret K. McElderry, 1992)
Flights of Fancy and Other Poems (Margaret K. McElderry, 1994)
By Alice Schertle
How Now Brown Cow (Harcourt Brace, 1994)
By Kristine O’Connell George
Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems (Harcourt, 2004)
This limerick is for Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Tricia’s going to be my date for the prom—just ask Jules and Eisha at 7-Imp! They’ve got all the inside info on kidlit bloggers. The Miss Rumphius Effect is an outstanding blog and an excellent resource—especially for those of you who happen to be teachers or are studying to become teachers. Tricia has compiled some fine thematic book lists.
Since it’s Easter, I thought I’d get a little biblical with my verse.
Cruise for Twos
by Elaine Magliaro
Gorillas and camels and gnus
All hurried to line up by twos—
Couldn’t wait to embark
Upon Noah’s new ark
And relax on a forty-day cruise.
Today’s poem is for Kelly at Big A, little a. I don’t know how Kelly does all the things she does. She must be taking some magical megavitamins! She helped bring us the Cybils and The Edge of the Forest--and the extensive blogroll at Big A, little a is how I came to know of so many other wonderful kidlit blogs. Thanks, Kelly!
FOR SALE: FAIRY TALE ARTIFACT
by Elaine Magliaro
My magic mirror is for sale.
It’s such an awful tattletale!
It told me things about my foe
I’d really rather never know.
I MUST be fairest in the land…
Not second best! You understand?
I want to be the most divine.
My reputation’s on the line!
The seven dwarfs are little cretins!
They should be in the dungeon, beaten.
They foiled my plans to kill the lass.
So…now I’ll sell my looking glass
And spend the cash on wrinkle cream,
A nose job, and a health regime,
Two weekends at a beauty spa.
Then I’ll look like a movie star.
I’ll be the fairest in the land!
And Snow White? She can go pound sand!
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Welcome back! You've been missed. :o)
I for one am up for anything and everything you learned (not all at once, you gotta space it out so that we'll all keep coming back to your blog, of course...). While you have a mix, I think, of authors and booksellers among your readership (bloggership? Sounds like some kind of sci-fi sleeper spaceship...), among the authors I think many of us are always up to understand more of the publishing side of the biz.