The Firefly

Introduction:
Beast Feast is a collection of humorous poems about animals. The Firefly paints a mental imagine of the Firefly as it flies through the night sky. As the students meander in, dim the lights and pass out flashlights.

The Firefly
By Douglas Florian

On August nights
The firefly lights
Blink
ON and OFF
Amongst the trees
But have no need
For batteries

[From BEAST FEAST written and illustrated by Douglas Florian, 1994, 0152951784]

Extension:
Whisper as you read the poem, turning on and off your flashlight. The second time you read the flashlight, invite the students to ‘BLLINK’ their flashlight along with you.

Chile

Introduction:
Francisco X. Alarcon is an award-winning Chicano poet who boasts that a poem makes us see every thing for the first time. Hang various types of chilies around the reading area. As the students start to arrive, invite them to discover the chilies using some of their senses.

Chile
By Francisco X. Alarcon

Chile El chile
sometimes a veces basta
a bite is all it takes una mordida
for a supernova para que explote
to explode una supernova

[From LAUGHING TOMATOES AND OTHER SPRING POEMS by Francisco X. Alarcon, Illustrated, by Maya Christina Gonzalez 1997, ISBN: 0892391995]

Extension:
Read the poem in English and Spanish. After reading the poem, invite students to share their experiences they have had after eating something spicy and then invite the students to share their experiences after eating something bland. As a group, create a new poem only using something bland as the subject.

Martin Luther King

Introduction:
This poem would be perfect to share during African American Month or On Martin Luther King’s birthday. Invite children to share with each other what they know about Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King
By Myra Cohn Livingston

Got me a special place
For Martin Luther King.
His picture on the wall
Makes me sing.

I look at it for a long time
And think of some
Real good ways
We will overcome.

[From A JAR OF TINY STARS, POEMS BY NCTE AWARD-WINNING POETS Edited by Bernice E. Cullinan, 1996]

Extension:
After reading the poem, encourage children to share why Martin Luther King has a special place for the person in the poem and how he has made an impact in their life.

The Messy Room

Introduction:This is poem creates a mental picture of a extremely messy room. Before the group arrives, create a messy area around you. As the group starts to arrive, invite them to find a seat around you. Ignore the comments made by students on how messy the area is.

The Messy RoomBy Barry Lane

The Messy Room

Clothes wrestling on the floor,
The shirts and pants pinning the underwear,
The socks balled and stinky,
Sprinkled like black olives over the furniture.

In one corner
The mangled Barbies gather.
Malibu Barbie surfs a sea of headless Ken
Naked Hawaiian Hair Barbie drowns
in a mass of matted grass skirt
wadded with the grape bubble gum
that you tried to save.
A legless Skipper has skipped her last time.

Legos crunched beneath your feet as you
Proceed to the unmade bed,
The bed you were suppose to make every day,
If you were the kind of child
That made her bed every day
That puts her toys away,
And never drank milk from the carton
when no one was looking.

[from THE REVISER’S TOOLBOX by Barry Lane, Discover Writing Press, 1999 ISBN:0965657442, ]

Extension: Encourage students to share the vivid phrases that caught their attention. Have students compose their own vivid phrase that describe their room.

Mommies

Introduction:
This is poem expresses a feeling for a certain family member. Once the group has settled around you, share with them a fond memory of a relative. This poem could also be used around Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, and Valentine’s Day.

Mommies
By Nikki Giovanni

MOMMIES
Make you brush your teeth
And put your old clothes on
And clean the room
And call you from the playground
And fuss at daddies and uncles
And tuck you in at night
And kiss you

[from SPIN A SOFT BLACK SONG by Nikki Giovanni, Trumpet, 1985]

Extension:Invite students to share their own memory of a family member. Have students compose their own poem of a family member.

Climb Into My Lap

Climb Into My Lap

Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1998. CLIMB INTO MY LAP. Illustrated By Kathryn Brown. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689807155

Sharing poems with young children is the bases of Climb into My Lap. LeeBennett Hopkins assembled a group of poems meant to be read aloud and enjoyed. Some of the pomes are traditional (Eentsy, Weentsy Spider, This Little Piggy) while others offer a bit of an unusual spin (Whi Ever Sausage a Thing?). The book is divided into eight sections that relate to a young child’s life, starting with ME! and ending with Good Night. Each section offers a variety of free verse poems and rhyming poems, long poems (four pages long) and short poems (four verses Long). Some of the poems offer a glimpse into the past (When I was a baby I did that), comfort of knowing others do the same thing (I have a secret place to go), and permission to be silly (I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed).

Kathryn Brown’s illustrations give the reader and viewer a sense of actually being there in the poem by adding details to the characters on the pages. In the poem My Name, the little boy sports a smile missing a tooth and one cowboy boot on and the other one lying under the chair.