Appropriate for fifth graders or above

Introduction: Have history books available. Divide the class into groups and have each group find the answer to one question. Which Americans were allowed to vote when this country was founded? When were African Americans allowed to vote? When were women? Have the groups share what they found. Then, explain that although the Constitution gave minorities suffrage, the right remained theoretical for almost 100 years as local governments frequently circumvented the law. Then read Johnson's poem aloud.

Untitled
By Brandon N. Johnson

Black ancestors
died for my freedom.

My great uncle Jimmy risked
his life to help
Black people vote.

My great great grandmother voted
for the first time
when she was
80 years old.

Black is boldness.

From:
Adedjouma, Davida, ed. 1996. THE PALM OF MY HEART: POETRY BY AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN. Illustrated by Gregory Christie. Introduction by Lucille Clifton. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN1-880000-41-5

Extension:
Have everyone investigate events leading up to the Voting Rights Act thorough old newspaper stories. Have each child choose one incident and try to recap the actions and/or feelings that occurred. Ask them to arrange their sentences as if writing a poem. Can they add or change words to give a more vivid impression? Can they add white space or use font size to make the poem more dramatic?

Janeczko, Paul B. ed. HOME ON THE RANGE: COWBOY POETRY. Pictures by Bernie Fuchs. New York: Dial Books. ISBN 0-8037-1911-6

This collection of nineteen poems by different authors can be enjoyed on their own, but they are also perfect to use in conjunction with social studies lessons on Texas. Teachers are always searching for ways to make the cowman’s life come alive, to show students that the cowboys had a variety of experiences—not just those shown in movies, to show the hardships they endured. These poems bring those experiences to life through their rich imagery.

The collection starts with the too-familiar refrain from the 1873 title poem, “Home on the Range” by Brewster Higley. The other poems are by contemporary poets who know either the beef or dairy cattle trade. They are by turns admiring, sympathetic, funny, nostalgic or sad as they focus on differing aspects of this life style. Three of the poems use traditional cowpoke dialect (hoss for horse, ya or ye for you, a-playin’ for playing, gittin’ for getting), but the rest use standard English. Ted Steagal, who was Poet Laureate for the state of Texas in 2006, penned an ode to cowboys in “Hats Off to the Cowboy:”
The cowboy’s the image of freedom, / The hard-ridin’ boss of the range. / His trade is a fair one, he fights for what’s right, / And his ethics aren’t subject to change.

There is a poem on coyotes, another on the danger of chancing upon a bear, yet another on the difference between rodeo and ranching cowboys. One poem, “Old Vogal,” deals with the demeaning view of women in this male-dominated field:
“He assured me I was lucky / That my bales were done up tight / Lucky that I caught the dew / and chanced to bale it right.”
Several describe the hardship of working unprotected from the weather. For example, “Rain on the Range:”
“When you’re ridin’ on the cattle range and hit a rainy spell, / Your whiskers git plumb mossy, and you note a mildewed smell / On everything from leather to the makin’s in your sack; / And you git the chilly quiver from the water down your back.”
Not only does this conjure up the damp, irksome cold, the rhythm of the words also reminds readers of the rhythms of the horse’s gait.

Many of the poems in this collection use similar rhyme schemes and rhythms, but not all. Some are free verse including “The Barn Cats.” It contains wonderful memories of early life with milking cows:
“How you remember dull ringing sounds / As the first squirts hit bottom; / How the sounds changed to a quiet hiss / As foaming milk filled the shiny bucket; / How the smell of fresh warm milk / Rose to mingle with the clean-cow smell; / How the barn cats sat half-circled, / Mewing politely, insisting there was enough / To fill their little pan.”

Fuch’s illustrations combine pencil drawings with oil pastels and cover from one to three pages for each poem. There is an emphasis on the brown of the dry west with purples, greens and oranges used more sparingly. They blend well with the poetry and add to the poems’ impact.

Overall, this is a collection filled with the deeply felt love of the poets for ranch and farm work. Reading their words and seeing the illustrations bring this increasingly rare life.

Introduction: Children may face a variety of traumas in their young lives. Sadly some children deal with the death of a sibling through accident or illness. Others deal with the loss of potential siblings when their mother miscarries. When a child is dealing with that form of grief, they may wish to discuss their feelings, but be unable to find the words.

This poem may open the discussion. Explain first, that Mattie had three siblings that died. He misses not only what he remembers, but also what they would have become had they lived to get older. Then read the poem aloud.



Reality
By Mattie J.T. Stepanek

Sometimes
I really miss
Having a brother.
I miss
My two brothers and my sister,
And I don’t
Understand
Why they died.
Sometimes
It’s so sad
To not have
A brother, and
Another brother, and
A sister
When I should have them.
And I know that
Something
Will make me
Happy again.
But, right now,
I don’t know what, and
I don’t know when.

From:
Stepanek, Mattie J. T. 2002. HOPE THROUGH HEARTSONGS. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6944-5

Extension: After waiting for any reactions from the child, ask if it is all right to be happy after someone dies. Will different members of the family be grief-stricken for different lengths of time? What if anything might help at this moment? Next week? Next month? Would it help to write down what they are feeling at the moment? Let the child guide the discussion.

Introduction: Ask who has seen pizza made. Try to think of all the steps needed to make a pizza. Reorder the list so that each step is in order.

Pizza in Motion
By Laura Purdie Salas

Pizza making must be fun
Knead and pound, the dough is done
Make a whipping, spinning toss
Splash on tons of pizza sauce
Add sausage and some bacon, please
And extra, extra, extra cheese!

From: Salas, Laura Purdie. 2009. LETTUCE INTRODUCE YOU: POEMS ABOUT FOOD. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press. ISBN 1-4296-1703-9

Extension: Compare the directions the class made with the poem. Have cookbooks available on a table. Let everyone look through a cookbook to find a recipe they like. Everyone can then try to change the directions into a poem that gives a picture of how the good is created.

For another new poetry book on food, try Pat Mora’s book of haiku. Every double page has a haiku and an informational paragraph on a food native to Mexico or the southwest.

Mora, Pat. 2007. YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO! AMERICA’S SPROUTINGS. Pictures by Rafael Lopez. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN 978-1-58430-271-1

Lujan, Jorge. 2008. COLORS! COLORES! Illustrated by Piet Grobler. Translated by John Oliver Simion and Rebecca Parfitt. Berkeley, California: Groundwood Books / Libros Tigrillo. ISBN 0-88899-863-5

There are only eleven brief poems in this collection. Each poem is written in both English and Spanish on a double page painted with gentle watercolor illustrations. The poems and paintings work together to create a mood on each page. Rather than limiting the scope of the poems to the primary colors, these poems show the colors of nature starting with beige for sand and including pink, violet, black, white and pink as well as the more usual red, blue, orange and green.

Often English Spanish children’s books are criticized for their Spanish translations. In this collection, the poems were written in Spanish by Lujan. Lujan was raised in Argentina and now lives in Mexico. Therefore, the Spanish is unimpeachable. However, in May 2008, a School Library Journal Reviewer commented that something was lost in the English translation, “the alliterative wordplay of Vio un lago,/vio una flor,/vio el ocaso,/violeta ! becomes "I saw a lake./I saw a flower./I saw the twilight./…Violet!" Even with this minor quibble, the free-verse poems are lyrical wonders that evoke pictures in the mind.

Into a tiny seed / fits clover, fits a tree, / fits the whole jungle… / fits green.
The illustration that accompanies this poem seems to be an explosion of life, just as one imagines the spread of green, of life from the words in the poem. Similarly, the poem about black makes the darkness filled with twinkling stars seem immediate:
Night has put on / her black gown, / so the eyes of the universe / can shine more brightly.

The book also succeeds visually. In both Spanish and English the color names within the poems are written in a larger font and in the appropriate color. Also each page contains a small painting of an antelope in varying positions, so that readers can have the fun of spotting the antelope and seeing how he changes. The paintings are somewhat sophisticated for young children, but despite the simplicity of the topic and the brevity of the poems, the language and images are mature. For example, the poem about yellow describes the sun:
Yellow / rolls / through / the / sky / like / a / warm / gold / coin. This is only ten words, all of them one syllable, yet it is an image that will appeal more to readers who are teenagers or adults than to young children. Nevertheless, the illustrations and brief discussions will make the meaning accessible to them.

COLORS! COLORES! will appeal to readers of all ages and should definitely be included when reading to bilingual groups.

Introduction: Take a poll and find out how many in the audience like lizards, dislike or fear them, or have no opinion. Of those with an opinion, find out what their feeling is based on. Then take a second poll to learn how many in the audience have used each of the five senses while observing lizards. That is, how many have looked at a lizard, listened to one, smelled one, touched one or tasted one? Then read this poem that gives one unusual view of lizards. Ask everyone to read the chorus along with you.

Song of the Lizard Lovers
By Jack Prelutsky

Chorus:
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.
There’s no finer reptile to nibble or chew.
No toad ever tickled our taste buds like you.
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.

We love eating lizard, so savory and sweet.
A meal without lizard is quite incomplete.
We love lizard in onion and oil,
we love lizard simmered, or brought to a boil.

Chorus:
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.
There’s no finer reptile to nibble or chew.
No toad ever tickled our taste buds like you.
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.

We love lizard gizzard, we love lizard legs,
we love lizard pickled, or scrambled with eggs.
We love lizard casserole, lizard on rye,
tongue of raw lizard still stuck to a fly.

Chorus:
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.
There’s no finer reptile to nibble or chew.
No toad ever tickled our taste buds like you.
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.

We love munching lizard with carrots and peas,
slathered with ketchup, or dripping with cheese.
We love lizard dumplings, and lizard flambe…
there’s nothing like lizard to brighten our day.

Chorus:
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.
There’s no finer reptile to nibble or chew.
No toad ever tickled our taste buds like you.
Lizard, oh lizard, we love you, we do.

From: Prelutsky, Jack. 2008. MY DOG MAY BE A GENIUS. Illustrated by James Stevenson. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 978-0-06-623862-3

Extension:
After reading this poem aloud with the audience joining in during the chorus, someone is sure to notice that the poem could be made into a song. Have the children divide into groups and give different stanzas to each group. Have them try to find a tune that fits the words of the stanza. Several groups might work on the poem’s chorus. Let each group sing their portion of the poem.

A Year of Reading: Poetry Friday: What I Believe