Annie Peyronnet, Phoebe McGrath, Sophia Schneider, & Chelsie Blunt

Poetry
Poetry is all too often forgotten in collections of childrens literature.
What is Poetry?

A written work that uses artistic techniques to express a feeling, idea or story. Some
follow strict composition rules, while others are stylistically free.

Forms of Poetry

Narrative Poems tell a story.

Lyric Poems are melodic and songlike.
Limericks are humorous with rhyme scheme and verse pattern.
Haikus have 17 syllables.
Free Verse is mostly unrhymed and no consistent rhythm.
Reversos is two poems created with the same words. (Top to bottom and bottom to top)
Concrete Poems are written in the shape of the poems subject.
Explore the many more types of poetry on your own!

Some of Our Favorite Authors:

Dr. Suess
Born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, MA.
Grew to be one of the biggest childrens literature authors of the 1900s.
Attended Dartmouth and later Oxford University, but did not complete his PhD there.
Was interested in illustrating comics, even wrote for Dartmouths Jack-O-Lantern
Magazine.
Did not write solely childrens literature, but also wrote documentaries and other political
pieces.
Paul Janeczko
Born in 1945 in Passaic, NJ.
Attended St. Francis College in Biddeford Maine, and John Carrol University in Ohio.
Was a high school teacher for 22 years before focusing on poetry.
Wrote many forms of poetry for multiple education levels.
Roald Dahl
Born in Llandoff, Whales on September 13, 1916.
Left school when he was 18 and later joined the British Royal Air Force during WWII.
He is best known for his childrens stories and poems, although had success writing for
adult audiences as well.
Awarded both national and international recognitions for his work as an author.
Has a unique comic verse style using AABB rhyming patterns almost exclusively.
Shel Silverstein
Born September 25, 1930 in Chicago, Died May 10, 1999 in Key West, FL of a heart
attack.
First was established as a musician and composer.
Drafted for the US Army where he began his career as a cartoonist for Stars & Stripes
Magazine.
National Recognition for his work in Playboy.
No specific form of poetry; has his own unique style.

Titles from These Authors:

Dr. Suess:
Seuss. (1960). Green eggs and ham. NEW YORK, NY: Random House.
One of Dr. Seusss most popular stories, Green Eggs and Ham shows two very different men,
one trying to persuade the other to eat the green eggs and ham, and the other man refusing.

This narrative poem tells the story through rhyme, and location words. Both of these factors
make it a story that is worthwhile to teach to children. It also teaches the children that
sometimes trying new things can lead to learning new things about oneself. Lastly, Dr.
Seusss skillful illustrations will keep children engaged while reading the story.
Seuss. (1990). Oh, the places you'll go! New York: Random House.
This story is a good story for teaching children moral lessons- such as not going down any
not-so- good streets. it is a narrative poem that can help to teach students rhyming. by
engaging students throughout a read aloud of the story, they can help to identify rhyming
words in the story. The story teaches children to pick themselves up when they are feeling
down, take action when they feel like waiting, and to take the things that scare them and
face them straight on. This is an extremely motivational story that also doubles as a fun way
to teach children how to rhyme.

Paul Janeczko:
Janeczko. P.B., (2014). Firefly July: A year of very short poems. Candlewick Press.
This book is a collection of 37 very short poems that were chosen by Janeczko and illustrated
by Melissa Sweet. All of poems are separated into categories of the four seasons, spring,
summer, fall, and winter. Each poem paints a picture or scene that represents that particular
season.

Roald Dahl:
Dahl, R. (1982). Revolting rhymes. New York, New York: Scholastic Inc.
This is one of Dahls best-known stories. It tells the story of Charlie Bucket and the golden
ticket that won him a trip to the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. Along the way he meets
Oompa Loompas and other ticket winners as he explores the mysterious and magical factory.
This story contains a couple examples of the poetry style that Dahl would later become
famous for in his childrens poetry.
Dahl, R. (1964). Charlie and the chocolate factory. New York, New York: Alfred A.
Knopf.
This is Dahls first collection of childrens poems containing six different works. In this
collection, Dahl rewrites classic stories, like Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs, with a
humorous twist and unexpected endings.

Shel Silverstein:
Silverstein, S. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends: The poems and drawings of Shel
Silverstein. New York, New York: HarperCollins.
A collection of poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein that is full of whimsical, magical, and
outrageous ideas. The poems range from a boy who becomes a TV set to crocodiles going to
the dentist. His drawings add even more magic as a visual representation of his out of the
box ideas. Silverstein invites you to explore the world he has created where the sidewalk
ends.
Silverstein, S., (1996). Falling up: Poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein. New York,
New York: HarperCollins.
Shel Silversteins last collection of poems and drawings is just as whimsical as the others. He
creates more magic with poems ranging from Allison Beals twenty-five eels to the Nose
Garden. Once again, his drawings add description and magic to create a wondrous collection
of imaginative poems and show the whimsical nature of the collection as a whole. He invites
us to join in the fun one last time with this collection.

Useful Sites for the Classroom:

http://www.readwritethink.org/search/?resource_type=16&type=28

This website has many different aspects and allows you to create your own acrostics, haikus, and
other types of poems. (can be refined by grade level)
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/flash_pie.htm
This website allows students to pick words to put into a poem (similar to Madlibs)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/games/space_spins/big_no_sound/full.shtml
A fun way to show students alliteration and similar beginning sounds.
http://www.channel4learning.com/sites/waywithwords/environmentbase.swf
A great website for older grades. Very interactive and covers a wide domain of literary genres