STANZA - Fun Intro to Poetry Month in the Library

The ideas out there for Poetry Month amaze me every time I search! I have compiled a group of activities that I am enjoying greatly with every grade. I plan on posting those soon, but for now I wanted to share one of my favorite books - and it is a bonus that it is a perfect intro to Poetry Month!

STANZA, written by Jill Esbaum and illustrated by Jack E. Davis is the engaging story of a dog who learns to follow his true self. Who can not relate to listening to others' voices before their own? The actual poetic devices used in the book are a bonus when discussing poetry.

I am also pulling out Science Verse by John Scieszka to use in our STEM school - click here for the post from last year - I still love it as much!!

STEM Poetry - Who Knew?

 April is National Poetry Month and we are having a (surprisingly) exciting time with this in the library. For me this year it does not get more simple than the question on my blog header: How does MEDIA support STEM education?

To this end I am constantly planning through this lens. I really thought Poetry would be a time I would take a break from STEM.... WRONG, how great! Science Verse by John Scieszka and Lane Smith totally fit the bill in many ways. And really, a whole book about Science Poems? Hilarious, Informative and Engaging! Case in Point: 1st Grade has the privilege of having Meal Worms in their classrooms. This metamorphosis is fascinating for the kids to watch and they take away loads of knowledge.

Enter Science Verse: the poem Changes is all about that metamorphosis a meal worm undertakes. The kids could not BELIEVE that someone else knows about meal worms and created a poem from the meal worm's (and later beetle's) point of view.

The first graders first heard Changes (on CD, even more fun) on Tuesday. This Friday when they came to check out I was delighted when 3 of my kids had a surprise poem for me. During centers and their recess time they created a "sequel" poem to Changes. The boys read their poem to me together and it was a perfect fit with the original. That is some fun stuff, STEM or not.

Rap as Poetry - T Swizzle saves the day!

 This was tough, much more difficult than I anticipated. For some (crazy) reason I thought I would be able to find clean, current rap to share with my 4/5 classes while we discussed the age old question: is Rap Poetry? WRONG! Crazy wrong. Even the "clean" versions were full of actual bleeps or wildly inappropriate phrases.

After venting to my daughters (16 and 12) my oldest  looked at me and casually said "You should play that Taylor Swift rap." oh yeah, that Taylor Swift rap. I actually have heard that, looonggg ago. My younger daughter immediately backed up her sister and I knew without listening that it would be great.

And it is! Current, catchy, APPROPRIATE, funny and engaging. In the middle of a poetry month I can ask for nothing more.

There is a clip of JayZ discussing our exact question: is Rap Poetry? He makes valid points and is thoughtful in his presentation. The problem is that the song titles he discusses have titles such as "Pimping" and I don't want to discuss that with elementary kids. I would love to share this interview with my students and share JayZ's POV but that's more of a late middle school conversation.