Module 6

Responding to Poetry

Poetry & Fiction

Bibliographic Citation

Beaumont, Jeanne Marie & Carlson, Claudia. 2003. The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press. ISBN  978-1-5865-4027-2.

Stein, David Ezra. 2010. Interrupting Chicken. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-4168-9

  

Critical Analysis

Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, the compilers of The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales, offers the reader a collection of poems that feature the contributions of one hundred and twelve living contemporary poets. This volume is the modern-day poets' response to the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s in Germany. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson offers that the Grimm Fairy Tales "share common roots of concision and communal energy derived from an oral tradition . . . that reveal the complex relationship that exists between contemporary poets and a received body of myth or lore."

David Ezra Stein, the author and illustrator of Interrupting Chicken , provides an excellent pairing to Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson's The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales.  Interrupting Chicken, humorously introduces three Fairy Tales to the reader: “Hansel and Gretel,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Chicken Little.”  Stein's children's book offers the reader an enjoyable and entertaining alternative to the scary, shocking, and on occasion, gruesome  Grimm Fairy Tales. 

Follow-Up Activity

For the upper grades, the students will read Grimm's Little Red Riding Hood. For kindergarten and the lower grades, the teacher will share several versions of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale with the students. Then, students will read or listen to the teacher read Stein's Interrupting Chicken.  Next, students will read or listen to Ali’s poem The Wolf’s Postscript of Little Red Riding Hood. The teacher will allow students to work in groups to act out the poem. Finally, the students will perform their version of the poem with the class.

Highlighted Poem

The Wolf's Postscript to 'Little Red Riding Hood'

By Agha Shahid Ali

First, grant me my sense of history:

I did it for posterity,

for kindergarten teachers

and a clear moral:

Little girls shouldn't wander off

in search of strange flowers,

and they mustn't speak to strangers.

And then grant me my generous sense of plot:

Couldn't I have gobbled her up

right there in the jungle?

Why did I ask her where her grandma lived?

As if I, a forest-dweller,

didn't know of the cottage

under the three oak trees

and the old woman lived there

all alone?

As if I couldn't have swallowed her years before?

And you may call me the Big Bad Wolf,

 now my only reputation.

But I was no child-molester

though you'll agree she was pretty.

And the huntsman:

Was I sleeping while he snipped

my thick black fur

and filled me with garbage and stones?

I ran with that weight and fell down,

simply so children could laugh

at the noise of the stones

cutting through my belly,

at the garbage spilling out

with a perfect sense of timing,

just when the tale

should have come to an end.

Interrupting Chicken
Little Red Riding Hood
By David Ezra Stein

"Take this basket of goodies to Grandma,"
said Little Red Riding Hood's Mother.
"But don't stray from the path. The woods are full of danger."
Red Riding Hood skipped along through the deep woods.
By and by she met a wolf who wished her
"Good morning."
She was about to answer him when-
Out jumped a little red chicken, and she said,
"Don't talk to strangers!"
So Little Red Riding Hood didn't.
THE END!
"Chicken."
"Yes, Papa?"
"You did it again. You interrupted two stories,
and you're not even sleepy!"
"I know, Papa! I'm sorry. But he was a mean old wolf."
"Yes, Now get back into bed."
Okay, Papa, Let's try one more little story, and I'll be good!"

Janeczko Collection

Bibliographic Citation

Janeczko, Paul B. 2002. Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets.  Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763608811.

Critical Analysis


Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets is compiled by Paul B. Janeczko. In this collection, Janeczko has comprised 132 pages of well written poems that are appropriate for children in upper elementary and middle school grades. The rhythm and rhyme in this collection is a mixture of conventional prose in the form of letters and a blend of free-style and rhyming verse. This volume provides the reader with letters from prominent a poet who offers advice and encouragement to budding young poets. In company with the letters are selections by each contributor's poems. The novice poet will gain knowledge from the experiences of established poets as they attempt to unearth their own poetic voice.

Paul B. Janeczko offers the reader a Table of Contents, which begins with the name of each notable poet, followed by their letter to the reader and their poetry selection. Janeczko’s forward provides the reader with encouraging words that offers advice on becoming an exceptional writer. Further, this collection ends with a section entitled "Notes on Contributors" which provides the reader with a black and white picture of each poet with a concise biography. Finally, a useful "index of First Lines" is also incorporated in conjunction with the "Acknowledgments.”

Follow-Up Activity

First, as an introduction to Jane Yolen’s poem, “Gingerbread Boy,” ask students to turn and talk to their partner and tell their partner what they know about gingerbread boys. Second, throughout the week, read several versions of the gingerbread boy story to the students. Third, write Jane Yolen’s poem “Gingerbread Boy” on chart paper and decorate the chart paper with five large gingerbread boy shapes.  Next, die cut five gingerbread boy shapes, number each gingerbread boy from one to five, laminate the gingerbread boys, and tape each gingerbread boy to a popcicle sticks.  Then, attach magnetic tape to the back of the gingerbread boys and place them on the whiteboard to use with the poem.  Each day the leader uses the pointer to read the poem to the class.  If he or she gets "stuck" on any of the numbers, the class will help the student back up and read the poem from the beginning until the leader is able to name the number.  This will provide the teacher an opportunity to assess the student’s ability to recognize the numbers from one to five.  The teacher will utilize the magnetic gingerbread boys on the whiteboard to have the students name numbers in random order and to put mixed up gingerbread boys in the correct number order. 

Highlighted Poem

Gingerbread Boy

By Jane Yolen

The world is one mouth.

So many teeth bite my heels

I run on my toes.

Poetry by Kids

Bibliographic Citation

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 2000.  Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems By Young Poets. Illustrated by Ashley Bryan. New York: Mifflin Greenwillow Books: An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.  978-0-688-161934.

Critical Analysis

Naomi Shihab Nye, the compiler of this volume of poems, selected the poems from the immense stacks that she has collected from her classes over the past twenty-five years and embodies students in grades first through twelve. This is great collection of poems that offers an assortment of topics and poetic forms. Ashley Bryan’s illustrations compliment the poems in this selection. Each illustration is full-color art achieved through tempera paints. This anthology is a terrific addition when introducing poetry to children. Naomi Shihab Nye’s volume will allow the students to see the many forms of poetry that exist as well as inspire them to create a poem book of their own creation.

Follow-Up Activity

Before introducing a unit on Spring, share the poem “Mixed-Up Spring” with the students. Then, after reading the poem, allow the students to take a nature walk to observe nature’s signs of Spring. Next, students will draw and write what they hear, feel, smell, and see that will show a mixed-up Spring. Finally, students will share their observations with the class. The teacher will display the student’s creations in the classroom science center.

Highlighted Poem

Mixed-Up Spring

By Jessica Caitlin Zachary

   The stone chases golden sunlight.

I chase the stone.

Sunlight crackles

and pebbles shine.

   The trees gleam

and grass whistles.

Leaves bud

and flowers flow.

Bees burn

and metal stings