M. Donlevy's Teacher Book Blog

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Poetry


I must admit, I wasn’t too excited about having to review a book of poetry for “My Top 10 Books” assignment. Frost, Cummings, eh, I could take them or leave them. However, once I started exploring our media center I was pleasantly surprised in what I found.
Marilyn Singer’s 2002 publication Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth (Knopf, New York) was a pure gem. It wasn’t just about the poetry. It was the unique blend of simple poetic rhythms accompanied by some absolutely captivating art. Illustrator Meilo So uses a distinctly minimalist Asian style of brush work to help the reader develop their own visions of the scenes that Singer describes. Each poem is a distinct snapshot of, well life on earth. What make it work is the variety of perspectives she gives. Topics range from mud to ice to fossils to the critters that live underground. I would highly recommend this to middle school readers and up.
Links of interest
http://www.marilynsinger.net/index.htm

http://www.theartworksinc.com/face/msface.htm

One of my personal challenges is to try to incorporate a larger variety of poetry, literature, and art into my curriculum. It is tough to find a place to start. How do we start? Or, do we just leave it the art teacher? Will it help them on FCAT? If not then what’s the point?
Thoughts?

posted by M. Donlevy @ 6:22 PM  

9 Comments:

  • At 9:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Michael-
    I enjoyed reading your comments about incorporating art and poetry into the classroom. As teacher we have a million jobs but I feel poetry, literature, and art are important.
    This is my 6th year teaching and my first few years of teaching I used very little poetry in the classroom. I never found time for it. It was in the plans but never got around to it. After going to several reading workshops I learned the importance of incorporating poetry into my 90 minute reading block. They say poetry helps with fluency. If students read so many words per minute it's a good predictor on how they are comprehending what they are reading. This past year we started giving the DIBELS to our students. There are two sections our students take. One is oral reading fluency. I think the poetry really helps. We have a Rhymes, Riddles, and Rythms folder that the students get in the beginning of the year with all types of poems inside. The kids love it! I think our poems help the struggling readers feel confident that they are successful in reading. If students are fluent readers hopefully they will do well on the reading section of the FCAT.
    As for art you bring up an interesting topic. We are learning 3D shapes in math and I was trying to show my 7-8 year olds how to draw rectangular prisms, spheres, cones,etc. It was an interesting lesson on Friday. I'm one of the worlds worst drawers but I love looking at art work. When we take a picture walk through a story we discuss if the pictures are photographs or paintings (etc.). When the students are picture walking they can let their imagination run with predictions before reading the story. Illustrations also help students when they are stuck on word and can't sound it out. A few weeks ago in reading we read a story called Abeula which was about a girl using her imagination and she draws pictures. I let my kids first draw pictures of a dream they've had or would like to have. Then they wrote a story about their dream I was amazed by the illustrations they made and the stories were incredible. The little girls drawings really inspired my kids to draw and write some amazing stories. Art really makes an impression on the children. Barbara Miller

     

  • At 9:46 PM, Blogger Ms. K. said…

    Michael,
    This sounds like a wonderful book. I will not only check it out for my own use, but will ask our Middle School LA teachers if they have read the book.

    When I first looked at your post I thought wow I love the cover! I am the art teacher at my school and I am a big advocate for integration of the arts across the curriculum. I use many picture books especially Caldecott books to enhance my lessons. I also love to have students write poems or stories to famous artworks. This is one art teacher who says "please don't just leave it to the art teacher". I just finished a unit with the MS Social Studies teacher on Ancient Egypt. The student worked is displayed where the entire school can enjoy "a step back into time"

    I think the arts are of vast importance to our society from studying our history to the very visual world we live in today.

    Janet

     

  • At 10:28 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Although I certainly understand its importance, I hate that we have to filter everything in education through the lens of the FCAT. Some things that are of valuable importance to the "true" education of students are not necessarily covered by FCAT review and drills.

    Even though I am an English teacher, and a great lover of literature, I have a problems getting excited about poetry myself - much less helping students to get excited about it. However, I do feel that poetry is important to read, understand, and discuss, so I feel that there should be MORE emphasis on poetry in the curriculum in order to help students understand and appreciate the art form.

    I have found that many students at the elementary school level love poetry, but that love is often lost by middle school age. By searching for and finding great poetry to share with students, teachers can encourage a love of poetry that can last years into the future.

    Courtney R. Unruh

     

  • At 4:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi...

    I agree with Courtney when she says that elementary school students seem to enjoy poetry but it diminishes as the students get older.

    It seems to be a focus in the elementary years. It can be fun for the students...the format is easy to read...it is quick...and the poems they read are often silly.

    Since I am not familiar with the middle/high curriculum, I don't know what poetry is included (if any). Perhaps the focus takes a more serious turn and we forget that poetry can be fun. Maybe a balance between the lighthearted and serious would help the students enjoy it more.

    Just a thought...

    Beth Cartlidge

     

  • At 5:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    As a media specialist with a bachelors degree in art education, I feel strongly that art should be part of most everything. There must be life beyond FCAT. It's obvious that when you see who is in the high school band (gifted kids), that music and intelligence correlate. I wonder if the same is true for other artistic expression.

    Nancy Phillips

     

  • At 5:31 PM, Blogger Gabriela said…

    Michael, I really like "Footprints on the Roof." I did not see it in the collections I browsed. I am glad that you pointed it out. How do you start poetry in the curriculum? As a primary teacher, poetry IS the way to start. With simple poetry that includes repetition and sillyness, we introduce little learners to the principles of the written language. As for "serious" poetry, I think that children are natural poets. They imagination and visual imagery is much more vivid than that of adults. They are not afraid to express what they really perceive, either thruout poetry, art, or senses. In primary grades (particularly Pre k and K) poetry, art and music and movement ARE the curriculum. After being for many years teaching Pre-k and K levels, last year I though second grade. They are still primary age students, but by second grade they are supposed to be fluent readers (most of them are). Fortunately, second graders don't take the FCAT. Unfortunately, they take the SAT. Fortunately, poetry is part of the curriculum. Unfortunately, we are mandated to teach poetry after the SATs are administered. Therefore, for the more substantial part of the year, we drill, drill, drill and test, test, test. After the SATs are over, we are mandated to teach all the science, social studies and language arts (poetry) not covered during the year. I say "we" because the school I work at follows the "cookie cutter" pattern. We have a curriculum map and all the grade level is supposed to do the same things at the same time. Originality and creativity? No part of testing. We are purposely killing all posibilities of alternative expression "for their own good."

     

  • At 9:10 PM, Blogger Jim said…

    Whatever you do, don't give up on poetry. Cummings may just seem needlessly eccentric, but try going back to reading Robert Frost - there's some substantial work there.

     

  • At 3:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Michael,

    I will try again with my comments.

    I read the poem "Homework" by Jane Yolen to my 7th grade students this week. This funny poem focuses on the evasive behaviors students choose to do rather than their homework. The poem is very approachable with its rhyming scheme and humor. Overall, they liked it and they understood it. I considered that selection for my "Poem of the Day" a success.

    I agree with the other comments posted about students losing interest in poetry as they grow older. I would add to that that I've witnessed the same response to reading and writing in general. I think middle school teachers have an enormous challenge in keeping students interested in reading and writing activities. My students have appreciated the opportunity to write poetry;I remember we were studying prepositions, and I asked them to write a short poem with every line beginning with a preposition. (The 7th grade language arts curriculum is heavy on grammar; I wish there was more time for the literature component.)

    Anyway, I appreciate your recommending Footprints on the Roof. I intend to look for it in my school library.

    And again, thank you for educating me about blogging.

    Julie Horrocks

     

  • At 1:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I will definitely check out that book you mentioned. My husband is an environmental scientist who uses computer models to monitor flows and levels of water for future use. He and my son will really enjoy reading poems about the earth.

    The way you describe the illustrations is wonderful – minimalist so the reader can fill in the gaps. The reason I don’t like music videos is that they control how a person ‘sees’ the music from then on.

    We read a lot of humorous poetry at our house – Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Dean Koontz (he wrote one book of children’s poetry). But I plan to look for different types based on things I’ve learned in this class. I want to try and avoid the decline of poetry reading in middle school. I think reading poetry helps enhance the rhythm and flow of all types of writing.

    Thanks for introducing us to blogging and for your thoughts.

    Carol

     

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