Book Sharing Monday :: More Poetry Books!

This series is wonderful. The Poetry for Young People by Sterling Publishing is a great way to introduce poetry to children. Scholastic has reprinted many of the titles and I have been fortunate to find a few at our local thrift store!
We are reading through these this month. Each book has an introduction, which is a short biography of the poet, selected poems follow, some with explanations of the poem or words defined. 

Here are two of our favourites:

"I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!

They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

to an admiring bog!"

Emily Dickinson.

How Doth the Little Crocodile

"How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in,

With gently smiling jaws!

Lewis Carroll.

If you would like to participate in Book Sharing Monday, please include the link to your book sharing post below. Happy reading! 

Poem in Your Pocket Day :: April 14

Tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket Day, part of the celebrating of National Poetry Month. "The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends": that is the explanation from the Poets.org website.

When Celeste heard me talk about this, she said she wanted to share her current favourite poem. She has memorized a few this year, but her top favourite one is The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rossetti (the Well Trained Mind version). She wanted to recite it for you today:

The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rossetti

Brown and furry,

Caterpillar in a hurry;

Take your walk

To the shady leaf, or stalk.

May no toad spy you,

May the little birds pass by you;

Spin or die,

To live again a butterfly.

Book Sharing Monday :: Two Poetry Books!

This week I am sharing two poetry books! They both use haiku poems. The first book is about Ontario. "Great Lakes & Rugged Ground: Imagining Ontario" is written by Sarah Harvey and Leslie Buffam. The watercolour and coloured pencil illustrations are by Kasia Charko. 
This book is beautiful and we really liked that we were able to find a poetry book about where we live! This book celebrates 400 years of Ontario's history  through poetry, starting with the Iroquois all the way to 2010 and Toronto's Caribana celebrations.
The book includes historical notes and a fun seek and find, both can be found at the end.

"A park is for all.

The pictographs are sacred.

Pink orchids are too."



The second book I would like to share with you is fun! "Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys" is written by Bob Raczka and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. You might recognize the illustrator's work from "The Dot" or "Ish". We have enjoyed both of these titles in the past. This poetry book is filled with haikus about a young boy's fun in nature. Organized by seasons, the author shares some of of his own experiences when he was a boy or about something he saw his own sons do.

If you would like to participate in Book Sharing Monday, please add the link to your book sharing post below. Happy Reading!

Book Sharing Monday :: A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

April is Poetry Month in the USA and Canada! I thought I would share poetry books for the whole month of April to celebrate. We usually make a point of reading more poetry books from the library or study poetry during this month.

The Poets website has a great resource page, a list of "great poems to teach" with audio clips for each poem listed. There are many resources for celebrating National Poetry Month too on this page. Young Poets also has many useful links listed here. I had listed more helpful links in this post.

For the first poetry book I would like to share "A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms" selected by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Chris Raschka. This book has an unusual title, but it is interesting! Through selected poems, the author showcases 29 poetic forms from the couplet to the pantoum. The author gives a suggestion on how to read this book in the introduction, he writes to read the poem, then the explanatory note at the bottom of that page. He mentions the extra explanations at the back of the book and then suggests to read the poem "another time or two to see if you can tell how it follows - or departs from - the aspects of that particular poetic form. "

Tyger Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

"The Tyger" by William Blake.

A quatrain

If you would like to participate in Book Sharing Monday, please include a link to your book sharing post below. Happy reading!

IEW Poetry Memorization :: A Curriculum Review

Memorizing poetry is something I have always wanted to do with my children but it just wasn't happening on a regular basis these past few years. I read last year a review of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)'s Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization on Curriculum Choice. The review was written by Bar from Harmony Art Mom and after talking with her via e-mail and reading the company's website, I decided to give it a try this year.

So far, all three of my children love this. Here are two videos, Adrienne didn't want me to record her, but she is really enjoying memorizing poetry as well.







The program is divided into five different levels, and we started at level one. We aim to practice all the poems memorized so far every day, but some weeks, it has been less than five days.

The poems in level one are short and fun so far. We are planning on going through each level at our own pace, taking longer with the more challenging poems as needed. My youngest, Celeste, who is only six might not progress as fast as we get through the poems, or maybe she will!

The level five in this program gives recommendations of speeches and passages from some of Shakespeare's plays for memorization instead of poetry.

Level five seems far away right now, since we are only at the beginning, but it has been a great start so far!

Book Sharing Monday :: A Child's Introduction to Poetry

We are just about finished with our Poetry study for this month of April. I used this book "A Child's Introduction to Poetry" as our spine. It is written by Michael Driscoll and illustrated by Meredith Hamilton. It includes an audio CD that has many poems read by professional actors.

The book is divided into two sections, the first part explains the different styles of poetry, from nursery rhymes to the sonnet. The book explains over twelve different styles of poetry, all with examples and most with audio samples as well.

The second part showcases twenty-one famous poets, in chronological order starting with Homer and finishing with Maya Angelou.

I have never been a huge fan of poetry, but discovering it with this book, along with my children has made me appreciate it a lot more!

I have added tabs to the top of this blog (right under the header picture), you can now find all information about Book Sharing Monday under its tab. I hope you will join us!

Book Sharing Monday :: Monster Museum

As part of our poetry study this month (April is Poetry Month in Canada and the USA), we read "Monster Museum" written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Gris Grimly. I had shared a very similar book by the same author in January, Creature Carnival.

Monster Museum is a collection of poems about different monsters. You are taken on a tour of the Monster Museum. The illustrations in this book are great and match the poems perfectly.

Here is a short little poem, from the Giant page:

"Acting defiant

to a furious giant

is really a delicate issue

for he's far from petite,

he's got very big feet,

and he might be inclined

just to squish you."

Book Sharing Monday

April is Poetry Month!

I will be sharing some favourite poetry books over the month of April during our Book Sharing Monday, but I also wanted to list a few resources that I found online:

Poetry Idea Engine from the Scholastic website is just like a game, and helps you write four different types of poems.

At Time Warp Trio, there is a quick and fun poetry game called Wordsplosion.

An interesting short article about poetry for homeschoolers, also gives a few suggestions for books.

Poetry in Homeschool made by Jimmie (on Squidoo)

A great article by Karen Andreola explaining the Charlotte Mason way of enjoying poetry with your children

Past issues of Sparrow Tree Square , an online literary magazine for children, where many poems can be read and enjoyed.

Halfway Down the Stairs, another online magazine for children, also has a list of classic poetry.

and lastly, 30 poets in 30 days, a celebration of children's poetry hosted by Gottabook.

It is not April quite yet, but I am looking forward to it!