1. Poetry: Reading & Writing Segue to Writing in Content Areas
Dr. Judy Barbour
Dr. Lucia Schroeder
Dr. Marie Fero
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920
Contact:

2. What is a poem? A Definition A poem Rhyme salad
Chopped by the word processor,
Garnished with pictures,
Sprinkled with adjectives,
Tossed by a poet-chef.
Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, images---
Gordon & Bernice Korman, The D-Minus Poems of Jeremy Bloom

3. No Child Left Behind Legislation is a Federal Mandate to Teach --
Comprehension
Strategies P
Vocabulary
Fluency
Intensive vocabulary development
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Language

4. How do POETS define a poem?
“. . . fireworks, packed carefully and artfully, ready to explode with unpredictable effects” Lilian Moore
“ . . .a packsack of invisible keepsakes” Carl Sandburg
“. . . Condensed, carefully selected language that explores anything with a fresh eye” Galda, Cullinan & Strickland
“”Poetry can involve hearts and heads, evoking feelings and provoking thoughts and ideas about complex social issues.”
Fifth graders in Mr. Damico’s class

5. What makes a poem a poem? Uses vivid language
Unique view
Poetic devices i.e. metaphor, simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc
Language patterns
Creates images in the mind
Evokes emotions

6. *intensive & extensive vocabulary
*comprehension via noticing details, metaphor, nuisances of language
*student interest
and
enthusiasm

7. poetry reading ←-→ writing ↕ quality writing in content areas

8. Reading & Writing Poetry
Develops Vocabulary
Exposure to new words
Examples of creative descriptions
Novel insights and ideas
Multiple encounters

9. The Turkey Shot out of the Oven Jack Prelutsky
and rocketed into the air,
It knocked every plate off the table
And partly demolished a chair.
It ricocheted into a corner
And burst with a deafening boom
Then splattered all over the kitchen
Completely obscuring the room.
It stuck to the walls and the windows,
it totally coated the floor,
there was turkey attached to the ceiling,
where there’d never been turkey before.

10. The Turkey Shot out of the Oven Jack Prelutsky
It blanketed every appliance,
it smeared every saucer and bowl,
there wasn’t a way I could stop it,
that turkey was out of control.
I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,
and thought with chagrin as I mopped,
that I’d never again stuff a turkey
with popcorn that hadn’t been popped

11. Limericks Oh, there once was a teacher of math
Who said, “Length is like measuring a path
Tile squares cover tops
And cubes look like blocks
But volume’s like filling a bath.
There once was a teacher of science
Whose students were full of compliance.
Predict and explore
Strive to see more
Curiosity out weighs reliance

12. Fibonacci Principle
Esbensen, Barbara J (1996) Echoes for the Eye
HarperCollins

13. Try It, You’ll Write It
Write a poem that would include vocabulary new to your students
A Quatrain has
4 lines [not lions]
a b a b rhyme scheme is most common; also a b c b
The rain is raining all around
It falls on bush and tree
It falls on all the dried out ground
And on the ships at sea.
Thanks, Robert Lewis Stevenson

14. Quatrain Some word ideas might be: energize, cycle, tornado,
humid, swirling, clockwise,
velocity, muggy, blizzard
Try a Quatrain
4 lines with a,b,a,b rhyme scheme &
Vivid imagery

15. Reading & Writing Poetry
Develops Comprehension
Offers exposure to different writing forms and perspectives
Involves inferring meaning
Topic
Succinct quality of poetry
Encourages comparing & contrasting
Train of thought

16. Free Verse: Color Doesn’t Matter
She took my hand. It wasn’t her color.
She eats. It’s not what I eat.
But when she laughs, it’s how I laugh.
And when she cries, it’s how I cry.
And color doesn’t matter.
Bruce Scott, Streator, Grade 5

17. I Think This is Where My Real Father Lives
It’s near a river.
I see a light in one of the rooms.
Someone is pulling up the drive way with a car.
The chimney is smoking.
I see an oak tree
In the back yard.
As I get farther and farther away, I see a shadow in the distance, now gone.

18. Three sides that touch each other
Haiku
Triangle Haiku
Three pointy corners,
Three sides that touch each other
A beautiful shape.

19. Try It, You’ll Write It
Write a poem that would require the use of higher level comprehension strategies
Haiku
Composed of 3 lines 5 – 7 – 5 syllables
Originated in Japan
Traditionally relates to seasons or nature
Encourages inference in order to understand
Emphasizes succinct writing, imagery

20. Poetry patterns & rhythms are
Haiku
five syllables
seven syllables
Golden summer sun Turns glistening green grass, brown and white skin crimson

21. Social Studies--Diamantes
Abe Lincoln
president, smart
producing, determined, loving
important, active, patriotic, clever
loving, sneaking, needing
fugitive freedom-lover
Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman
fugitive, patriotic
caring, loving, sneaking
died, movers, active, helpers
helping, working, strict
explorer, westward Meriwether Lewis

22. Poetry Patterns ---Diamante
Encourage compare and contrast:
Noun 1 (N1)
2 adjectives for N 1
3 participles –ing or –ed words for N1
4 adjectives or nouns to fit N1 and N2
3 participles –ing or –ed words for N2
2 adjectives for N2
Noun 2

23. Reading & Writing Poetry
Increases interest & enthusiasm
Rhythm and Rhyme
Novelty
Humor
Performance
Train of thought

24. Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith. (2004) Science Verse

25. Lobster by Joy N. Hulm He’s upside down and inside out;
He’s backwards and he’s sideways.
His bones are out; his skin is in;
He lives in ocean tide ways.
He walks on hairy, spindly legs
That smell and breathe and hear,
And scurries backward in retreat
Whenever danger’s near.
His jaws chew sideways, but his teeth
Are found inside his tummy;
And while he gobbles fishy fare,
His feet taste if it’s yummy
in Cullinan, Scala, Schroder (1995)
Three Voices: An invitation to poetry across the curriculum

26. Games Magazine published this poem by Leigh Mercer
A Ratio in Rhyme
A __ ___, a ______, and a score,
plus three ____ the square root of _____, divided by__ ___ , plus ____ times eleven, equals nine ________ and not a bit more.

27. A Ratio in Rhyme A dozen, a gross, and a score,
plus three times the square root of four, divided by seven, plus five times eleven, equals nine squared and not a bit more.

28. Shaped
Concrete
Poems or

29. Seven doesn’t take much time, Even though it is a prime.
Here is all you have to do,
First times 5, then add times 2!
Greg Tang
2002
The Best of Times
Scholastic

30. Words, Words, Words by Mary O’Neill
Period
When you come to the end of a written thought
You just sign-off with a polka dot.
Question Mark
Symbol of all I wish I knew
Polka dot under a curlicue ?

31. Poetry ←-→ Content Writing
Poetry Reading and Writing
Emphasize vivid words
Eliminate non-essentials, sentences optional
Create images, encourage thought
Content Area Writing
Eliminate non-essentials,

32. Poetry ←-→ Content Writing
For Content Area Writing Add
Format - Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Conventions: sentences, paragraphs
SEGUE
Free Verse

33. Free Verse The Eagle The constellation of the Eagle soars in the sky.
When I look, it sparkles in my eye. It is
as strong as the black hole as
it grabs a fish shape
in the sky.
And then, I say, “Sigh boy, I wish I could fly.”

34. Real Snow from Out of the Dust by K. Hess
The dust stopped,
and it
snowed.
real snow.
Dreamy, Christmas
snow,
gentle,
nothing blowing,
such calm,
like after a fever,
wet,
clinging to the earth,
melting into the dirt,
snow.
Oh, the grass, and the wheat
and the cattle,
and the rabbits,
and my father will be
happy.

35. Free Verse Try it, You’ll Write It
Emphasizes creating an image or feeling by using words
Line breaks provide emphasis
Some are lists, some more story-like
No rhyme scheme
No structured meter

36. Enabling Writers *Stress creating a vivid image for the reader
*Immerse students in examples
*Model
include 1 you wrote, [let them help revise] plan ahead,
show and explain your thoughts and writing
*Provide ideas – Use realia, brainstorm, respond to discussion, share an incident, a text, a
dream, a picture

37. Describe this scene or a part of it using free verse.
Use your verse as the basis for a descriptive paragraph.

38. Connecting to Writing Return to the Lobster Poem
Write a prose description of a lobster
Use vivid language to create the image
Sight
Sound
Smell
Feel

39. poetry reading ←-→ writing ↕ quality writing in content areas

40. *intensive & extensive vocabulary
Enable
*intensive & extensive vocabulary
*comprehension via noticing details, metaphor, nuisances of language
*student interest and enthusiasm

41. Sources:
A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul Janeczko
Poetry Workshop for Middle School by Michelle Ambrosini & Teresa Morrette
Three Voices by Cullinen, Scala & Schroder
A Jar of Tiny Stars NCTE, ed. B. Cullinen
Space Songs by Myra Cohen Livingston