For our class on November 16, we are reading four books and one article. I like combining these two genres because both need to be read aloud in order to really appreciate them.
Folklore has to have a strong voice, as it comes from an oral tradition where storytellers have individual styles, just as today’s popular singers have their own ways of putting songs across. Poetry, too, needs to be heard to appreciate the sound of the words — and spoken aloud to feel their combinations in your mouth. And of course poetry needs to be seen on the page because the line breaks, indentations, and even the leading are as important. Each of these four books is expertly illustrated, as well. So there is lots to analyze and discuss this week!
Representing folklore stand-alone picture books, Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile is a hybrid of two story types: the trickster and the noodlehead. This story probably originated in northeastern Liberia where it was collected by Won-Ldy Pay. The second folklore book is Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, Paul Fleischman’s compilation of tales from a variety of origins, all of the Cinderella story type — persecuted heroins with supernatural helpers.
Representing poetry, we are reading Poetrees, one of Douglas Florian’s themed poetry books, this time about trees. For our poetry compilation, we have the über-collection of poetry forms compiled by Paul Janeszco, A Kick in the Head. There are plenty of compilations for children that feature one poetry type — haiku, concrete poems, etc. This one has one of everything — or as close to everything as I’ve found for an elementary-aged audience.
With Debra Smith’s help, I’ve written a special blog post about using poetry in school, including some poetry resources for teachers. In addition to helping me teach this class, Debra is a writer and has a background in Montessori education.
Finally, we are reading Susan Dove Lempke’s Horn Book article, “Purposeful Poetry” from the May/June 2005 special issue on poetry.
We invite all of you to join our discussion this week in the comments below.
Note: Students have been asked to research specific book creators and websites and add their findings in the comments.
- Shaina L. on Won-Ldy Paye
- Emily N. on Margaret H. Lippert
- Nell K. on Paul Fleischman
- Melissa C. on Julie Paschkis
- Shuwen L. on Douglas Florian
- Tim M. on Paul Janeczko
- Andrea M. on Chris Raschka
- Monique H. on Cinderella-type stories
