INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
“Eternity” pg 1 from Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen
“You Enter a Poem” – pg. 10 from FEG: Ridiculous Poems for Intelligent Children by Robin Hirsch
“I Am a Poet” by Malaysia – pg. 83 from Voices: Poetry and Art from Around the World selected by
Barbara Brenner
“I Write Poems” by Rochelle N. Spencer, 17 from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg16
“I am the Creativity” by Alexis de Veaux from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg15 8th
“I’m Telling You Now” by Jose’s Dad from This is Just to Say by Joyce Sidman pg34 7-8
Ever Thing On It – Shel Silverstein
Apple with One Bite Missing – pg 19 Idiom
Garlic Breath – pg. 57 Hyperbole
How Hungry is Polly – pg. 85 Personification, Idiom
Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love – Pat Mora
Songs – pg. 105 Metaphor, 6-8
Dumped – pg. 83 A,B rhyme scheme, mood, tone 7-8
Please – pg. 71 hyperbole, mood, tone 8
FEG: Ridiculous Poems for Intelligent Children Robin Hirsch
You Enter a Poem – pg. 10 introduction to poetry 6-8
Eye Rhyme – pg. 17 EYE RHYME - homophone, rhythm 6-8
Sonnet – pg. 33 – parody, but great example of sonnet; acrostic; humor 7-8
Learning to Drive – pg. 36 humor, repetition 6-8
Ah, Art – pg 45 punctuation, tone 6-8
Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls edited by Betsy Franco
Words – pg 56 tone, mood 6-8 These poems are very mature
Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen
Arithmetic by Carl Sandburg pg 55 repetition, simile, tone 6-8
What Great Grief Has Made the Empress Mute by June Jordan pg 43 importance of title, repetition,
metaphor, tone, mood 8
Pause by Nikki Grimes pg 19 metaphor, tone, imagery 8
Caroline by Allison Joseph pg 10 great statement on discrimination imagery, tone 8
Day Like This: A Collection of Small Poems edited by Simon James imagery, personification,
Simile, metaphor 6-7
“Sledding” by Wendy Elizabeth Johnson pg 15
“The Summer Sun” by Wes Magee pg30 6
“The Wind Came Running” by Ivy O. Eastwick pg 25 6
Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets selected by Lydia Omolola Okutoro
“I Write Poems” by Rochelle N. Spencer, 17 from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg16 simile
7-8
“I am the Creativity” by Alexis de Veaux from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg15 metaphor 8
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes
“Dreams” pg 4 metaphor 6-8
“Lincoln Monument: Washington” pg 67 symbolism 6-8
Vile Verses by Roal Dahl
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” pg 37 narrative, humor, heavy rhyme/rhythm 6-8
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” pg 26 narrative, humor, heavy rhyme/rhythm 6-8
“Concerning Violet Beauregarde” pg 55 narrative, humor, heavy rhyme/rhythm 6-8
Earth- Shattering Poems edited by Liz Rosenberg
“A Poison Tree” by William Blake pg 9 personification, hyperbole, metaphor 6-8
“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound pg 29 metaphor, symbolism 8
“The Talk” by Sharon Olds pg 73 simile, hyperbole 6-8
Swing Around the Sun by Barbara Juster Esbensen metaphor, simile, imagery, word choice 6-8
Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle…and Other Modern Poems edited by Stephen Dunning,
Edward Lueders & Hugh Smith
“How to Eat a Poem” by Eve Merriam pg 15 intro poetry 6-8
“Gone Forever” by Barriss Mills pg 18 words, tone, simile 7-8
“Steam Shovel” by Chrales Malam pg 37 personification 6-8
“Apartment House” by Gerald Raftery pg 39 personification, metaphor, simile, tone, mood 6-8
“The Builders” by Sara Henderson Hay pg 40 irony, point of view 6-8
“Reflections Dental” by Phyllis McGinley pg 52 Irony, humor 8
“Lost” by Carl Sandburg pg 69 personification, simile, imagery 6-8
“Fueled” by Marcie Hans pg 83 personification, irony, tone 6-8
“Hunting Song” by Donald Finkel irony, tone, imagery, form 7-8
“Foul Shot” by Edwin A. Hoey narrative, mood, tone, word choice 6-8
The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
“From the Diary of an Almost Four-Year Old by Hanan Mikha’il Ashrawi pg 40 hyperbole, tone
RHYME / RHYTHM
“Macavity: The Mystery Cat” from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot pg37 6-8
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 37 Humor, 6-8
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 26 Humor, 6-8
“Concerning Violet Beauregarde” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 55 Humor 6-8
INTERNAL RHYME – There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly 6-8
IDIOM
“Apple with One Bite Missing” from Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein – pg 19 Idiom
“How Hungry is Polly” from Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein – pg. 85 Personification, Idiom
CONCRETE POETRY
Technically, It’s Not My Fault John Grandits great images 6-8
Blue Lipstick John Grandits 6-8
A Poke in the Eye: A Collection of Concrete Poetry selected by Paul Janeczko 6-8
NARRATIVE
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 37 Humor, 6-8
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 26 Humor, 6-8
“Concerning Violet Beauregarde” from Vile Verses by Roal Dahl pg 55 Humor 6-8
ONOMATOPOEIA
*CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE, Doreen Cronin 6
*A DIRTY PILE OF LAUNDRY: POEMS IN DIFFERENCT VOICES, selected by Paul 6
B. Janeczko
*SNOW FAMILY, Daniel Kirk 6
*THE TRUCKER, Brenda and Mark Weatherby 6
A Rumpus of Rhymes: A Book of Noisy Poems Bobbi Katz 6
“Jazz Fantasia” by Carl Sandburg from Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg edited by Frances
Schoonmaker Bolin pg 43 8 (one line might be inappropriate)
ALLITERATION
Animalia Graeme Base 6-8 beautiful illustrations
F was a Faniciful Frog byEdmund Dulac 6-8
*BRUNDIBAR, Maurice Sendak & Tony Kushner
*HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, Dr. Seuss
*PRINCE CINDERS, Babette Cole
*SOME SMUG SLUG, Pamela Edwards
*TONGUE TWISTERS
HOMONYMS / WORD USAGE
“Rabbit” by Mary Ann Hoberman from Poetry Speaks to Children pg 39 6-8
Read by author on CD – trackes 21 & 22
HYPERBOLE
*THE RED TREE, Shaun Tan hyperbole illustrations
*ALL THE PLACES TO LOVE, Patricia MacLachlan
*WORDS WITH WINGS: A TREASURY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETRY AND ART, selected
by Belinda Rochelle
“The Snare” by James Stephens from Piping Down the Valleys Wild edited by Nancy Larrick pg 151
“Garlic Breath” from Every Thing on It by Shel Silverstein – pg. 57 6
“A Poison Tree” by William Blake pg 9 personification, hyperbole, metaphor 6-8
“The Talk” by Sharon Olds pg 73 simile, hyperbole 6-8
“From the Diary of an Almost Four-Year Old” by Hanan Mikha’il Ashrawi from The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East selected by Naomi Shihab Nye pg 40 hyperbole, tone
IMAGERY
“Sledding” by Wendy Elizabeth Johnson from Days Like This edited by Simon James - pg 15 6
*COLOR ME A RHYME, Jane Yolen
*SILVER SEEDS, Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer
*SWING AROUND THE SUN, Barbara Juster Esbensen
*WORDS WITH WINGS: A TREASURY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETRY AND ART, selected
by Belinda Rochelle
*THE RED TREE, Shaun Tan
*ALL THE PLACES TO LOVE, Patricia MacLachlan
*WHEN I GO CAMPING WITH GRANDMA, Marion Bauer
METAPHOR
“Dreams” from The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes pg 4 metaphor 6-8
“I am the Creativity” by Alexis de Veaux from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg15 8
“A Poison Tree” by William Blake pg 9 personification, hyperbole, metaphor 6-8
“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound pg 29 metaphor, symbolism 8
“Migrant Birds” by Moumin Manzoor Quazi from Is This Forever, or What: Poems & Paintings from
Texas selected by Naomi Shibab Nye pg 52 6-8
“The Summer Sun” by Wes Magee from Days Like This, edited by Simon James- pg 30 6
*FEARLESS FERNIE: HANGING OUT WITH FERNIE AND ME, Gary Soto
*THE GIRL WHO LOVED HORSES, Paul Goble
*LET’S GET A PUP! SAID KATE, Bob Graham
“Snowfall” from Swing Around the Sun by Barbara Juster Esbensen 6-8
*TEN-SECOND RAINSHOWERS: POEMS BY YOUNG PEOPLE, Compiled by Sandford Lyne
*THE ROUGH-FACED GIRL, Rafe Martin
*WHEN I GO CAMPING WITH GRANDMA, Marion Bauer
UP NORTH at the CABIN by Marsha Chall
COME ON, RAIN by Karen Hesse
KNOTS ON A COUNTING ROPE, Bill Martin
*THE RED TREE, Shaun Tan
*ALL THE PLACE TO LOVE, Patricia MacLachlan
*ENCOUNTER, Jane Yolen
*CHANTICLEER AND THE FOX, Geoffrey Chaucer and Barbara Perry
*THE EYES OF THE GRAY WOLF, Jonathon London
PERSONIFICATION
“A Poison Tree” by William Blake pg 9 personification, hyperbole, metaphor 6-8
“How Hungry is Polly” from Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein – pg. 85 Personification, Idiom
“The Unwritten” by W.S. Merwin from Poetry Speaks to Children pg 22 6-8
“The Wind Came Running” by Ivy O. Eastwick from Days Like This edited by Simon James pg 25 6
*THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT, Edward Lear – use w/ caution
“The Wind Woman” from Swing Around the Sun by Barbara Juster Esbensen 6-8
*WORDS WITH WINGS: A TREASURY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETRY AND ART, selected
by Belinda Rochelle
“There Will Come Soft Rains,” from The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury – short story
*THE ALLEY CAT’S MEOW, Kathi Appelt
*NIGHT OF THE GARGOYLES, Eve Bunting
Stella Luna, Janell Cannon
*THERE’S A HAIR IN MY DIRT, Gary Larson
*WHEN I GO CAMPING WITH GRANDMA, Marion Bauer
*THE LITTLE HOUSE, Virginia Lee Burton
SIMILE
“Migrant Birds” by Moumin Manzoor Quazi from Is This Forever, or What: Poems & Paintings from
Texas selected by Naomi Shibab Nye pg 52
“The Summer Sun” by Wes Magee from Days Like This, edited by Simon James – pg. 30
“The Talk” by Sharon Olds pg 73 simile, hyperbole 6-8
“I Write Poems” by Rochelle N. Spencer, 17 from Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets pg16
*FEARLESS FERNIE: HANGING OUT WITH FERNIE AND ME, Gary Soto
*COLOR ME A RHYME, Jane Yolen
*QUICK AS A CRICKET, Audrey Wood
*SWING AROUND THE SUN, Barbara Juster Esbensen
*TEN-SECOND RAINSHOWERS: POEMS BY YOUNG PEOPLE, Compiled by Sandford Lyne
*WHEN I GO CAMPING WITH GRANDMA, Marion Bauer
*THE EYES OF THE GRAY WOLF, Jonathon London
*LET’S GET A PUP! SAID KATE, Bob Graham
*THE GIRL WHO LOVED HORSES, Paul Goble
*CHANTICLEER AND THE FOX, Geoffrey Chaucer and Barbara Perry
*ALL THE PLACES TO LOVE, Patricia MacLachlan
SYMBOLISM
“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound pg 29 metaphor, symbolism 8
“Lincoln Monument: Washington” from The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes pg 4 metaphor 6-8
*FEATHERS AND FOOLS, Mem Fox
*FLY AWAY HOME, by Eve Bunting
*PINK AND SAY, Patricia Polacco
*RUMPELSTILSKIN’S DAUGHTER, Diane Stanley
TONE / MOOD
“The Crocodile’s Teeth” from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein – playful
*The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost from Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize – serious
“From the Diary of an Almost Four-Year Old by Hanan Mikha’il Ashrawi from The Flag of Childhood:
Poems from the Middle East selected by Naomi Shihab Nye - tone possibly juxtaposes mood 7-8
“The Snare” by James Stephens from Piping Down the Valleys Wild edited by Nancy Larrick pg 151
Tone is frantic / anxious; mood is angry / sad
“From the Diary of an Almost Four-Year Old” by Hanan Mikha’il Ashrawi from The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East selected by Naomi Shihab Nye pg 40 hyperbole, tone
BOOKS
*THE RED TREE, Shaun Tan hyperbole illustrations
*Pete’s a Pizza, William Steig – playful
*So, You Want to Be President, Judith St. George – conversational
*The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Christopher Paul Curtis – playful
*When I Am Old with You, Angela Johnson – respectful (of elders and animals)
*Yo! and Yo! Yes, Chris Raschka – informal
*Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket – witty
Declaration of Independence,
Little Men – formal
Cheyenne Again by Bunting – serious, solemn
Smells Like Nirvana – song by Weird Al Yankovich
From Off the Deep End – sarcasm
Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs by DePaola
The Spirit of the Maasai Man by Berkely