Module 4 Social Studies Poetry: Lady Liberty: A Biography

Rappaport, Doreen. 2008. Lady Liberty: A Biography. Ill. by Matt Taveres. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN-10: 9780763625306 ISBN-13: 978-0763625306

Lady Liberty is the story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be. This book is told in poems from the viewpoint of the people involved, beginning with the idea to the final product. It is a story of a gift of friendship between nations. Young and old will enjoy hearing the story of the Statue of Liberty. God Bless America!

Doreen Rappaport begins this book by taking about her grandfather leaving his home to come to America and how he felt when seeing the Statue of Liberty after his long ocean voyage in seeking a new life. She provides a look at New York City today and ends the story with thoughts from immigrants when seeing the Statue of Liberty. Auguste Barhtholdi, the sculptor, tells about his vision of the statue and how Lady Liberty will be compared to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.(2008) The story continues with Maire Simon - Bartholdi’s assistant, Gustave Eiffel - structural engineer, Emma Lazarus - poet, Charles P. Stone - construction supervisor, Joseph Pulitzer - publisher, New York World, Florence De Foreest - a child willing to sell her roosters to help raise money for the statue, José Martí - journalist and poet, each telling the part they played in bringing Lady Liberty to America. Doreen Rappaport truly captured the essence of this wonderful piece of history through the short poems that flow through the spoken words, in first person, by the key players of the Statue of Liberty. Reading this book will allow students to hear it from the person’s view point, rather than reading out of a history book. Rappaport also includes Statue of Liberty Dimensions, important events from 1865 to 1986, more books to read about the Statue of Liberty and an official website of the State of Liberty. Matt Taveres rounds this book out with his wonderful pictures that capture the feel of the time frame of the 1800’s. This is an excellent historic book to be enjoyed by all ages.

Poem Excerpt

The flag falls.
Lady Liberty is visible in all her glory.
Cheering and shouting rip the air.
Roaring cannons, belching foghorns,
drumrolls, trumpet flourishes.
Arise, ye sons of France, to glory...
O say can you see...

Every part of her shouts freedom.
In one hand she holds a tablet,
engraved with July 4, 1776.
In her other hand she holds a torch.
These flames do not destroy.
Mon Americaine does not conquer with weapons.
True liberty triumphs through Truth and Justice and Law.

She wears a flowing robe
like the ancient goddess Libertas.
Her right foot is raised.
Liberty walks.
Freedom never stands still.
A broken shackle and chain lie near her feet.
America broke the links of slavery
to fulfill its promise of equality for all.
(Excerpt from Lady Liberty: A Biography)

This book of history and poems can be a great collaboration tool for combining research about great moments in American history. The students can research an historic event or current events and utilizing their research, they will compose a poem to complement the event. I feel that the students should be able to choose whatever type of poem they feel will heighten their work. Poems will be displayed on a wall of fame. This would also be a wonderful presentation at a PTA meeting or for the school, with the students performing the roles of the characters of this book and this historic event.

Module 4 Science Poetry: Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings

Florian, Douglas. 2007. Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings. Ill. Douglas Florian. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN-10: 9780152053727 ISBN-13:978-0152053727

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars is another great example of Douglas Florian’s love of science told through poems. The poems are fun, the information educational and accurate, and the pictures are amazing. Space is a mystery and children will love the poems, while exploring the universe.

Science is a subject that is sometimes overlooked. Douglas Florian’s books on science are wonderful ways to include science with language arts. The poetry in his books are fun to read with rhyming words that sometimes makes you want to sing his poems. It is obvious that he does the research and includes correct terminology. Pluto for example was changed from a planet to a dwarf planet and Florian truly captured this change in his poem, which when read, has a rap beat to it. Florian is also the artist and his unique way of adding words, hidden pictures, cutouts and color combinations to the pictures encourage children to want to look and read over and over again. This is a great way of learning facts and having fun reading with poetry. At the end he includes a Galactic Glossary of information on each aspect of space in this book and selected bibliography and further readings. He also includes an excellent website for NASA. I loved this book and wanted to include all the poems but I guess you will just have to read the book, which I feel you will do, more than once. Enjoy!

This book was also a bluebonnet nominee in 2008-09

Jupiter

Jupiter’s jumbo,
Gigantic,
Immense.
So wide
Side to side,
Bus gaseous, not dense.
With some sixteen moons
It’s plainly prolific---
So super-dupiter
Jupiterrific!
(Excerpt from: Comet, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings, pg. 28-29)

This book will be a great addition to a unit on the Solar System. How fun it will be to have the children write an acrostic poem using the planet names, the moon, the universe, black holes, comets, star, meteors, or galaxies. Creating a Solar System in the hall for all the school to see, the poems will be displayed to show how science and language arts can be

Module 4 Biographical Poetry: The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

Engle, Margarita. (2006) The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano. Ill. Sean Qualls. New York: Henry, Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN-10: 978080507763 ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7706-3

The Poet Slave of Cuba is based on the autobiographical notes of Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano, born a slave in 1797. Margarita Engel was haunted by Juan’s story and felt compelled to tell the story, as only a poet would want his story told - by another poet in verse form. This story is about childhood slavery expressed with the brutal truth of Juan’s suffering and his survival.

Slavery! Slavery is usually associated with African-Americans; however, there is and has been slavery in every culture. This story is a depiction of just one of those cultures. Slavery of a child – brutal, descriptive, repulsive and heart wrenching. Juan was born a slave and was taken by his wealthy slave owner to be her pet. He was shown off as a prized poodle, required to call her mama (although he had a mother) and was made to perform for her friends. Juan was a very intelligent boy who could memorize and recite what he had heard. He would recite stories and poems for his owner and her friends. Upon the death of his mistress, he became the property of an owner, who was much crueler, and who subjected Juan to beatings and starvation. His talents of his story telling helped him to survive. This story begins at age 6 and ends when he was finally able to escape at 16. Margarita Engle has taken Juan’s story and together with his voice tells us about himself, his mother, the cruel owners, the white boy who tried to help and Juan’s amazing strength to survive the unspeakable cruelty that a child should never have to experience. This story is told in verse displaying Margarita Engle’s strength in storytelling. Sean Qualls’ black and white pictures captured the expressions of the suffering Juan was experiencing. There is also a brief historical note at the end of the book. This book is for older readers, due to the content on child abuse.

Juan

These rhymes are mine
mine alone
never memorized
or copied
in any way

Rhymes about
soaring in spirit
a spark imprisoned
bursting its bonds
of clay

Rhymes about feeling delight
wrapped in love
alive
and able
to pray
(Excerpt from The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, p. 64)

This book will be great to partner with Social Studies on slavery. It would also work well having students read the characters out loud for poetry performance.

Module 3 Verse Novel: Love That Dog

Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog. (2001) Read by Scott Wolf. HarperCollins Publishers, New York. ISBN-10: 0-06-085278-X ISBN-13: 978-0-06-085278-8

Poetry! What boy enjoys writing poetry? Love That Dog is about a boy and his dog who, through some careful coaching from Miss Stretchberry, his teacher, finds out that through words he does have something to say. Sharon Creech’s novel of free-verse-poetry is a wonderful introduction to this look into a boy’s changing journey of himself.

I chose to listen to this book on CD performed by Scott Wolf who is also an actor. Wolf’s boyish voice truly captured Jack in this novel. His portrayal of Jack’s character allowed the book to come alive. You were able to sense Jack’s insecurities in his beginning attempts of poetry writing. This book was written in journal format which is great for students today, since journaling is really encouraged. This gives the student, whether listening to the novel on CD or reading the book, the opportunity to experience the journal format. Using free verse avoids the use of regular meter and is less ridged than typical rhyming poetry, but allows for the use of varied line length and no rhyme pattern. This allows the reader to see the difference in verse poetry, compared to the more traditional rhyming poems. Students will love listening to this book, but I recommend that they also read the novel. Sharon Creech also makes the book come alive by having the word small written really small and the word large written larger in the text for an example. My Yellow Dog by Jack on page 37 is in the shape of a dog with the words making the dog shape. There is also added sniffsniffsniff of the dogs nose. This is a wonderful depiction of how students can be creative while having fun with their writing. The added poems by William Carlos Williams, William Blake, Valerie Worth, Jack Frost, Arnold Adoff, S. G. Rigg and Walter Dean Myers give the reader a variety of poets to enjoy. Walter Dean Myers’ poem “Love That Boy” inspires Jack to write his poem “Love That Dog” about his dog that was hit by a car. This poem inspires Jack to write to the poet asking him to come to their school. The questioning that Jack does throughout the book should encourage children to realize that it is okay to question, which leads to understanding and confidence. Great book for teaching free verse poetry and inspiring children to understand it is okay to write about experiences whether they are sad, funny, scary, etc. and that asking questions is the way to find out answers. The story ends with Walter Dean Myers coming to Jacks school. I loved this book!

Love That Dog

Love that dog,
Like a bird loves to fly
I said I love that dog
Like a bird loves to fly
Love to call him in the morning
Love to call him
“Hey there, Sky!”
(Creech, pg. 86)

I enjoyed listening to this book on CD. I would like to have a class set of Love That Dog and have the students follow along as Scott Wolf performs this story. Before listening, I will go over the differences of rhyming and verse poetry. After they have listened to the book, while following along in their books, which will take a couple of days, we can then discuss the book and verse poetry. I would then ask them to think about something that has happened in their lives - good, bad, funny - and write a verse poem about their experience. They can chose to make it a shape poem, put it on colored paper, whatever, and then post them in the room. I would also like for them to choose a poet who is their favorite and write a letter to them. This will be a good extension activity that can incorporate research of the poet and journaling. The students will present their letters if they receive an answer, or present the research of the poet even if they don’t receive a response. This will also allow them to journal in their poetry journals. I like that this will be an ongoing activity that the students can work on independently as we move on to other areas of study.

If you enjoyed Love That Dog, then don’t miss Sharon Creech’s verse novel, Hate That Cat.

Module 3: Poetic Form - The Cuckoo's Haiku

Rosen, Michael J. 2009. The Cuckoo’s Haiku. Ill. by: Stan Fellows. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN -10: 0763630497 ISBN-13: 978-0763630492

The Cuckoo’s Haiku is a beautiful book about twenty four different North American birds, complemented by a haiku poem. If you weren’t a bird lover before, be prepared to look at them with a keen appreciation. The beautifully written poems that accompany each bird are truly the essence of haiku poetry. You will love the watercolor pictures while enjoying the poems. A calming read and beautiful book to be enjoyed by young and old.

Michael Rosen has taken his love of nature and created a work of art through his haiku poems. There is nothing more calming than sitting on the back porch and bird watching. The imagery, through Rosen’s and Fellows’ eyes of the beauty that birds represent, is captured in these pages of wonder. The book begins in spring with the Eastern Bluebird and ends in winter with the Purple Finch. There are twenty four birds showcased in this book enhanced by the beautiful watercolor pictures of each one by Stan Fellows. Michael Rosen includes the name and a short description of the birds. His poems truly capture the essence of the birds allowing you the reader to have the imagery that he saw, complemented by the pictures as if you were there watching and enjoying the beauty of nature with him. They both have brought the birds we know to us in an inspirational and vibrant way. Haiku has always been difficult for me, but after reading these beautiful poems I have a renewed appreciation for them. I know that this book should be read, displayed and enjoyed by all ages. A treasure for years to come!

Pileated Woodpecker

woodpecker knocks-knocks. . .

riddled with the same question

trees yawn, answering
(Rosen, pgs. 27-28)

I would do this book for each season, starting with fall, since that is the beginning of school and revisiting each season as the year progresses. This is a great book for combining poetry with nature. This also is a wonderful way of teaching imagery, which is sometimes hard for younger students to comprehend. As a lover of nature, I would include a unit on birds with the lesson on haiku poems. This is a wonderful opportunity to show how easy it is to write haiku using nature. Taking our journals we would visit the outdoor learning center and watch for birds or other forms of nature. The students could also draw the birds or have their poems on the shape of birds. This will allow the students to include nature in their writings. This is an opportunity to continue this lesson all year, while building on their competency in writing haiku poems with success.