RE_3240_104

Isn't My Name Magical?
by James Berry

Nobody can see my name on me.
My name is inside
and all over me, unseen
like other people also keep it.
Isn't my name magic?

My name is mine only.
It tells I am individual,
the one special person it shakes
when I'm wanted.

If I'm with hundreds of people
and my name gets called,
my sound switches me on to answer
like it was my human electricity.
Isn't that magical?

My name echoes across playground,
it comes, it demands my attention.
I have to find out who calls,
who wants me for what.
My name gets blurted out in class,
it is a terror, at a bad time,
because somebody is cross.

My name gets called in a whisper
I am happy, because
my name may have touched me
with a loving voice.
Isn't it all magic?

http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=121

I love this poem. Every child can relate to the things mentioned throughout the poem. I do think all names are magical because they are such a big part of life, just like this poem describes. This poem doesn't rhyme, which I think is appropriate for this poem. This poem contains imagery, such as "my name echoes across playground, it comes, it demands my attention. I have to find out who calls, who wants me for what." The reader can sense the urgency to find out who called the child's name. I think this poem provides great insight to the simple importance of a name. This poem describes things all people have experienced, such as having your name called out in class or on the playground. Even though it is just a word, names are who we are. This would be a great poem to read in the classroom. It could be the basis for children finding out the origin of their names, what their names mean, etc.

"Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by."
--Christina G. Rossetti

This poem came out of Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems. This book is an anthology of poetry that ranges from traditional to modern poems. I chose this poem about the weather because it reminds me of the coming of winter, much like the season in Boone currently. Some of the elements of poetry I observed in this poem are rhyme, alliteration, images, and form. In the first stanza, "you" and "through" rhyme. In the second stanza, "I" and "by" rhyme. Some words that I saw consonance in, a form of alliteration, are "Who" and "wind" and "neither" and "nor". The images this poem forms are images of tress rustling in the wind. No one can see the wind but we can observe it blowing a tree which is normally serene and peaceful. Something interesting that I noticed about the form of the poem is that the second and fourth lines in each stanza are indented. I believe that this symbolizes the movement of the wind throughout the poem.

Notice to Myself

Don't procrastinate:
it's time to vacate
shilly-shallying
dilly-dallying
idling sidling
ambling rambling
piddling fiddling
twiddling diddling
doodling noodling
and get right down to
non-shirk
work.

Eve Merriam

I just love this cute poem! It correctly portrays my life at the moment as I am a huge procrastinate. Eve Merriam uses funny unique words that even though they may have no many it gets the point across of what procrastinating means. This would be a neat poem to share with children for them to learn about procrastination. The book I got this poem from is from Knock at a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry which was mentioned in our Temple Text. In this poem Eve uses great elements of poetry. She touches on a certain rhytm by her word usage. She makes this poem really fun for children of all ages.

Hug O'War
By: Shel Silverstein

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

From the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974)

Shel Silverstein’s poem “Hug O’War” always pops into my head when I think about poetry. I think this poem is just perfect. The poem is short, sweet, and simple with the point being very clear. Silverstein has taken a game that is has been given the reputation of being competitive and rough and turned it into a game of kisses and giggles. I love the idea of having a game where everything is positive, no competition, no fighting and no losing. This is an important poem to share with children because it teaches a lesson about kindness.

Bed Head

I can't do a thing with my hair-do.
I've tried but it's simply no use.
I can't make it stay where I put it today
with styling gel, hair spray, or mousse.

No bobby pin, brush, or bandanna,
can get my hair under control.
I've tried every comb, every clip in my home,
and covered my head with a bowl.

I've tried using forks in frustration.
I've tried using pokers and picks.
I've tried using straps; I've tried headbands and caps.
I've even tried shoestrings and sticks.

Regardless of how I attack it,
I simply cannot make it stay.
I guess I can't win, so I'll have to give in
and look like my students today.
--Kenn Nesbitt

I never really had a favorite poem as a child, because I never really got into reading poetry. I liked to write my own little poems, but I never got into reading them. So I browsed the internet and found this on www.poetry4kids.com. I read this poem and it automatically took me back to my "nappy headed childhood." I was born with naturally curly hair, and I was a very rough sleeper. So, my mom would always have the hardest time getting my hair to look decent. So this poem basically describes a typical morning for me when I was little. Now that I'm older, my hair has calmed down and I can actually manage it, but I can vividly remember screaming at my mom as she tried her hardest to comb a brush through my tangles, and just doing everything she could to make it look less messy. I love poems that rhyme. This poem has a ABCB rhyme scheme and I think it rolls off the tongue when I read it outloud. It's very catchy, and the words are just clever. I have so much admiration for poets, because anyone who can take a meaningful story and turn it into a catchy rhyme has talent. This poem is a new favorite.

"My Puppy"
by Aileen Fisher
from A Jar of Tiny Stars Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets

I have a playful
prankish pup:

When I stood down
he prances up

And snuffs my neck
and slicks my ear

As if I'd been
away a year.

I say, "Be good,
you prankish pup."

But he just smiles
and eats me up!

I absolutely love this poem because it reminds me so much of my dog back home. His name is Homer. He's a very playful fun dog that gets very excited every time he sees me! I think children can relate to this poem because children usually love animals and it also has a nice flow to it. This poem has both rhythm and rhyme. When you read this poem out loud it flows well uses rhyming words. For example, "pup" and "up" and "ear" and "year." This poem also uses imagery. You can visually picture this as you read this poem aloud. For instance, "When I stoop down he prances up." I think children relate well to poems that uses imagery because it allows them to picture it in their heads, therefore allows them to understand the poem better. The form used in this poem is real simple. There are two lines in each of the six stanzas.

"Oh Mother, I am Blue Today"
by Jack Prelutsky
from A Pizza the Size of the Sun

"Oh , Mother, I am blue today,
I don't know why or how.
There's never been another child
as blue as I am now."

"I see you're blue," my mother said,
"and this is what I think-
if you would rather not be blue,
don't bathe again in ink."

When I read this poem it made me smile because I was not really having a good day. It made me laugh and caused me to see things in a brighter light. I think that children would enjoy this poem because it uses a play on words with the word "blue". When you begin reading the poem, you think that the child is talking about the fact that they are sad, but in actuality they are talking about the color blue. I think that it would be fun to talk to your class about how words that look the same can often have different meanings. This poem also has simple rhyming in it that makes the poem flow well. For example, the poet rhymes "how" with "now" and "think" with "ink." Kids of all ages could easily come up with their own lists of words that rhyme and incorporate them into a poem using the structure that Jack Prelutsky demonstrates. I think that the humor in Jack Prelutsky's poems are the main thing that attracts children to them. It is important for students to see that poetry comes in all different forms, and that its okay for it to be funny!

My Backpack Weighs a Thousand Pounds
by Jack Prelutsky

My backpack weighs a thousand pounds,
It's fatter than a cow!
I don't know how I carry it,
But do it anyhow.
It's filled with books and papers
That my teacher says I need-
She never lets me lighten it,
No matter how I plead.

Sometimes it tips me backward,
It's a wonder I don't fall.
Sometimes I have to stop and rest
And lean against a wall.
I tell you, from experience,
It's not a lot of fun
When you have to lug a backpack
That's about a half a ton.

From: What a Days it Was at School, poems by Jack Prelutsky and pictures by Doug Cushman

I absolutely love this poem. I remember this is how I felt all through school growing up and I still feel like it today. I remember in high school when people pulled on my backpack I hoped I wouldn't fall over. Today walking across campus I felt like I needed to stop and take a break because my backpack was so heavy. The entire time I was reading this poem I kept thinking to myself and laughing because it is so true. This poem uses rhyming such as cow anyhow, need plead, fall wall, and fun ton. I would also say that this poet uses imagery. I can imagine how the backpack looks with all the books and papers. I can also imagine the backpack tipping someone backwards and that person having to stop and rest. I can also feel how heavy the backpack is even though it says it weighs a thousand pounds. I can imagine how heavy it is on my back and having to rest. I think the book this poem came from is a great book to have in the classroom. All the poems have to do with school but in a fun way where the children can relate.

Just Me
Nobody sees what I can see,
For back of my eyes there is only me.
And nobody knows how my thoughts begin,
For there's only myself inside my skin.
Isn't it strange how everyone owns
Just enough skin to cover their bones?
My father's would be too big to fit-
I'd be all wrinkled inside of it.
And my baby brother's is much too small-
It just wouldn't cover me up at all.
But I feel just right in the skin I wear,
And there's nobody like me anywhere.
-Margaret Hillert

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Selected by Prelutsky, Jack. 1983

What a cute poem! This is so good for children who are at that akward stage of trying to figure out who they are. I know when I was little I wanted to be "grown up" so bad. I would have really liked to have read this poem to find a perspective on being happy with who I was. This poem is written in an AABB format and is easy to follow. It has a flow of rhythm that makes it easy to read aloud. I think it is fun to imagine a child in their father's skin, kind of like a huge sweater that would swallow him whole. And the baby brother's skin, that would be like a shirt that is way too small. What great imagery for children. The imagery in this poem stands out more to me than the sound or the form, even though the flow in the rhythm and rhyme makes it fun and appealing to read.

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/fog.html

I know this is a cliché children’s poem by Carl Sandburg but it really is one of my favorite poems! As soon as we were told in class to find our favorite children’s poem, I immediately thought of this poem. Later I wondered to myself why this poem out of all the others I learned in school came into my mind. The answer was that the imagery in this poem has stuck with me ever elementary school. This poem contains one of the best metaphors I’ve ever read. The way Sandburg compares fog to a cat is so vivid. Sandburg definitely chose the right animal to use in this poem. After I read this poem I picture in my head this giant cat with little soft feet carefully walking on top of a city. Sandburg makes me think of a cat that is silently stalking his prey and stopping for a minute over each city on his way. Although this poem is short and does not rhyme it is still a very effective poem that creates a lot of imagery. I almost wish the poem was longer just because I like it so much and I want to read more of it. But if it was longer it probably wouldn’t have the same effect.