Classroom Connections with Randi Sonenshine (Giveaway!)

Ever since 2015, when Randi Sonenshine beat me in Round 3 of Madness! Poetry and went on to the finals, I knew this day would come—and I'm delighted that it has! I can't think of a more perfect way to celebrate the arrival of spring than by introducing Randi's debut poetry picture book The Nest That Wren Built. Beautifully written, this book also boasts gorgeous illustrations by Anne Hunter, whose work I fell in love with back in 2016. Read on to find out how The Nest That Wren Built can (and should) be used in the classroom.


TODAY'S READ

The Nest That Wren Built

Randi Sonenshine, Author
Anne Hunter, Illustrator

Candlewick Press (March 10, 2020)
ISBN: 978-1536201536

For ages 4-8

Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at Barnes & Noble
Purchase via Indiebound.org





SYNOPSIS

The Nest That Wren Built follows a pair of wrens as they build a nest and care for their young, from the first pile of twigs, to the day the fledglings fly off into the world. The lyrical text is woven with scientific details about the nest design and materials, and a glossary and back matter provide additional facts and insights.


A PEEK INSIDE

Click on image to enlarge. 

THE NEST THAT WREN BUILT. Text copyright © 2020 by Randi Sonenshine.
Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Anne Hunter. Reproduced by permission of Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Randi Sonenshine grew up exploring the magical “swamp” and woods behind her home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, developing an early sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world. This love of nature often appears in her writing and poetry.

A former high school English teacher and college reading instructor, Randi is currently a literacy specialist and instructional coach. She lives with her husband, two sons, and a spoiled schnauzer in Northwest Georgia, and does her best writing accompanied by birdsong and a good pot of Earl Grey tea.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Why is bringing poetry into the classroom important?

Language is the most powerful tool we have, and poetry is one of the most powerful ways to use it; simply put, it’s language distilled in its purest, most potent form. Giving students lots of opportunity to read, recite, explore, discuss, respond, and write has the capacity to nurture a love of language, as well as the knowledge and skill to use it effectively. It can also foster empathy and a sense of connectedness.

How might your book be incorporated into an educational curriculum?

There is a lot of science woven into the book, particularly about the structure and function of the nest, as well as the function of each of the different nesting materials, so it would fit very well in a STEAM curriculum, even in middle school. Other science themes include growth and development (life cycle), animal traits and heredity, patterns in the natural world, and interactions between animals and humans, as well as animals and the environment.

There are also many ways it could be incorporated into the language arts classroom. I’ve used a lot of poetic sound devices, imagery, and figurative language, so it could easily be used to teach or reinforce those concepts. It also has a strong chronological structure, so it could be used to teach sequencing. Using precise language - vivid verbs, adjectives, and nouns - is another way the book could be used in a language arts classroom.

Can you suggest a specific classroom exercise related to your book?

Part to Whole Refrain Poem

This is an activity for older children, but could be done with younger children as a whole group.

After reading the book and discussing the structure, go through the first half (up until the nest is built), and have students identify and list the nouns (nesting materials) and corresponding verbs (function), using a two-column chart. To challenge more advanced students, add a middle column and list the adjectives or other descriptors for each item.

For example:

Nesting Material (noun)                              Function (verb)
Twigs                                                                cradle
Bark, twine, rootlets, pine needles             shape

Create a poem together, modeling the process

1. Have students think of something that is made up of multiple parts. This could be something in the natural world, such as a tree or a coral reef, or something that is manmade, such as a school bus or a bicycle. It could even be a person. Another option is for the teacher to choose the object based on a current area of study. 
2. Next, have the students brainstorm the parts of the object and their function, using a chart like before. For older, more advanced students, this could be an opportunity for research.
3. Together, choose a refrain to go at the end of each line. For example: the tree that grows on the playground, or the bike I got for my birthday.
4. Draft the poem, using the nouns, verbs, and refrain. For example: These are the pedals that turn the wheels on the bike I got for my birthday. (The poem does not need to rhyme, but for older students who would like the challenge, it certainly could.) 
5. Revise the poem by zooming in on the verbs, using a thesaurus if necessary to make them more precise and using alliteration and/or assonance where possible.

Have students repeat the process to create their own poems then share and celebrate!

What is a simple, practical tip for teachers when it comes to incorporating poetry in the classroom?

I think the simplest, yet most powerful way to incorporate poetry in the classroom is to have a poem of the day for the opening routine. These poems should be relatively short (or could be excerpts of longer poems), and represent multiple formats, themes, styles, etc. After reading aloud, (or listening to an online recording of the poet reading aloud), have students do a choral or echo read, and then give them a minute to jot down the words and phrases that resonated with them. Follow this by allowing them to share and briefly explain their choices. For younger students, this can be done as a whole group activity.

In addition to the many wonderful picture book poetry collections and anthologies from which to draw poems, there are some excellent online options. Here are a few of my favorites:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
https://poets.org/poems-kids
https://www.poetry4kids.com/
https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/ (has recordings of poets reading their work)
https://poetryminute.org/
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16436/16436-h/16436-h.htm

Can you recount a specific instance of when poetry impacted a student or group of students in a positive way?

There are many experiences from my 25 plus years in education, but several stand out. I was teaching ninth grade English in 1999 when the Columbine shooting happened. The next day was somber and tense. Students were experiencing such a whirlwind of emotions, and they were struggling to verbalize what they were feeling. I was, too.  Instead of moving forward with the lesson I had planned, we all sat and poured out our feelings in a free-write, and then shaped those thoughts and images into poems. Afterwards, we pulled all the desks in a circle and those who wanted to (which was everyone) shared their poems with the rest of the class. It sparked some very emotional moments and heavy discussion, but it allowed all of us to verbalize what we couldn’t otherwise, and helped us to move forward together.


CONNECT WITH RANDI SONENSHINE

Website: http://www.randisonenshine.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rsonenshine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rsonenshine68/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randi.sonenshine

Stay tuned for more from Randi—a little wren told me she might have some exciting news to share soon!

And here's some exciting news in the meantime...

Please join me in congratulating Randi on her wonderful debut and thanking her for offering a signed copy of The Nest That Wren Built to one lucky Today's Little Ditty reader! To enter, leave a comment below or send an email with the subject "Wren House" to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com by Tuesday, March 24th. The winner will be selected randomly and announced next Friday, March 27th.

Click HERE to read more posts in the TLD Classroom Connections series.

Lots of wonderful poems about games were added to the padlet this week! Featured ditties included poems by Kathleen Mazurowski, Bridget Magee, and Dianne Moritz. Click HERE for more information about this month's challenge or to add your poem to the collection.

What a happy surprise to discover that Michelle Kogan, our host for this week's Poetry Friday roundup, is featuring springtime poems from The Best of Today's Little Ditty 2017-2018! Don't miss her beautiful "Ode to Spring Soil" and three more poems by Diane Mayr, Mary Lee Hahn, and Margaret Simon, plus a bonus poem from Michelle called "Mother Spring."

Classroom Connections with Helen Frost

TODAY'S READ

Hello, I'm Here!

Helen Frost, Author
Rick Lieder, Illustrator

Candlewick Press (March 20, 2019)
ISBN: 978-0763698584

For PreK-2nd grade and up
(Also ideal to welcome a new baby!)

Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at Barnes & Noble
Purchase via Indiebound.org


SYNOPSIS

A sandhill crane hatchling makes its first wobbly stand, then takes its first steps and meets its brother. With their parents close by, the two chicks flap their wings and begin to explore before enjoying treats of bugs and snails. Someday they will fly with the majestic cranes overhead, but for now, Mama’s soft feathers make a good place to rest. The rhyming text is paired with Rick Lieder’s beautiful photographs, with endnotes giving further information about sandhill cranes’ family life and migration.


A PEEK INSIDE

From Hello, I’m Here!. Text copyright © 2019 by Helen Frost. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Rick Lieder.
Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Read Helen Frost’s spotlight
interview on Today's Little Ditty HERE.

Helen Frost is the author of four previous collaborations with photographer Rick Lieder (Step Gently Out, Sweep Up the Sun, Among a Thousand Fireflies, and Wake Up!), as well as the picture book Monarch and Milkweed and nine novels-in-poems for early, middle grade, and young adult readers. Among her awards for her children’s writing are the Lee Bennett Hopkins Children’s Poetry Award, The William Allen White Award, the New York Historical Society Children’s Book Prize, and more than fifty nominations to state book awards. She recently traveled to Macheros, Mexico, to see the monarch butterflies in their over-wintering grounds. In the summertime she raises monarchs at home in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Why is bringing poetry into the classroom important?

Do you have a few hours? This is a big, important question.

For early readers, or not-yet-readers, the rhythm and rhyme of poetry offer an important element of predictability as they are trying to figure out what a word, phrase, or sentence might be. For slightly older readers, the delight of playing with language, in either reading or writing, keeps students engaged, not only with language, but with whatever the poem is about. As students become aware of patterns in poetry, connections can be made with patterns they discover in math, science, art, dance, and music. Especially for middle and upper grade readers, poetry is a “heart-to-heart” reading experience, allowing students to feel closer to others. Poetry has great value throughout life, in adding depth and meaning to experience—an early exposure, at home or in school, is a gift that will stay with them.

How might your book be incorporated into an educational curriculum?

Learn more about sandhill cranes: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/overview

Science: Use as part of a lesson about migratory birds, or migration in general. For good starting points, see the above “All About Birds” website and Journey North: https://journeynorth.org.

Math: compare wingspans of different birds; calculate the distance between sandhill cranes’ winter and summer homes; estimate numbers of sandhill cranes in pictures such as this: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/media-browser-overview/71547171

Art: make origami cranes (lots of instructions online)

Social studies: learn about traditions surrounding 1000 paper cranes, and share the story of Sadaku and the Paper Cranes (several good children’s books).

If you live near a sandhill crane migration, find another class on a different part of the migration and correspond with students in that class, to see when the cranes arrive and depart in different places, and in what approximate numbers.

Poetry: Using examples from the book, think about the sound of the rhyming couplets and write a rhyming couplet of your own.

For older children: write a riddle poem using one or more rhyming couplets.

For example:

It’s getting crowded inside this egg.
I can’t flap a wing or stretch out a leg.

could suggest:

It’s kind of smelly inside this shoe.
It’s hard to wiggle, so what should we do?
    answer: toes

Can you suggest a specific classroom exercise related to your book?

It’s a very physical story-poem, which lends itself to dramatization.

Invite students to act it out, or create a dance of the story. If you have readers in your class, some students can be readers, while others are crane chicks and adults. One student can be the snapping turtle, others can be the cranes flying in the sky. (Send me a video! I promise not so share without permission.)

What is a simple, practical tip for teachers when it comes to incorporating poetry in the classroom?

Have one or two (or ten or twenty) good poetry anthologies always at hand, and use any extra minutes to share a poem. No analysis, no lessons, just a reading and welcoming of any conversation that arises. Be sure students know that many poets who are included in anthologies also have books of their own, so if someone likes a poem, they can seek out more writing by that poet in the library.

A few recent anthologies that include my poems are:

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog, Paul B. Janeczko, editor, Candlewick, 2019
The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis, editor, National Geographic, 2018
The Book of Nature Poetry, J. Patrick Lewis, editor, National Geographic, 2015
One Minute till Bedtime, Kenn Nesbitt, editor, Little Brown and Company, 2016
Pet Crazy, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, editors, Pomelo Books, 2017

Can you recount a specific instance of when poetry impacted a student or group of students in a positive way?

This is about something very different than the kind of poetry that might be generated by Hello, I’m Here. I share it as a way of acknowledging that poetry and other kinds of writing have many different ways of influencing students of all ages, from the fun and playful to the deadly serious.

In 1998, as part of a community response to youth violence, I went into six high schools, five times each, to help 240 high school sophomores write about how they had been affected by violence. I compiled an anthology of 40 of the most poignant and well-written poems and stories. The book was titled Why Darkness Seems so Light. 

Fifteen years later, I received this email from a young woman who had been in one of the classes:

“i went to a higschool that you came to for this book i wrote something in  it that got put in the book is there a way to get a copy of it  again  would love to have one … i loved meetting you  thanks have a great day.”

She sent pictures of her husband and children, said that she was now doing well, and had forgiven the person she wrote about—her uncle, who had killed her aunt in her presence when she was six years old, by stabbing her 38 times. It was that specific number—38 times—that made her story so impossible to forget.

I did have some copies of the book and of course I sent one to her. In a few more email exchanges she told me how much that experience had meant to her:

“I want to thank you for what you did for  all of us in highschool i had no hope but you made me see that something good can come of something bad. … Thanks again for everything you   coming to our school had changed my life completly  and  i would not be where i am today if i had not written that story …”

I asked if it was the writing that meant so much, or if was the fact that I had chosen it for the anthology, and she replied:

“Writting the story was   I never shared that part of my life with anyone and it felt good to open up about what happened  i wanted to give the victims like me a voice you never know who this could happen to. When i wrote this i wanted people to see that there  is hope in bad situations. If my story touched or helped one person than it was worth it.”

I asked if I could share these emails and she gave me permission. I offer them here, exactly as I received them, as a tribute to all teachers and writers whose work impacts students. We may never hear from most students and readers, but I know absolutely that reading and writing, especially poetry, helps young people in profound ways.


CONNECT WITH HELEN FROST (and RICK LIEDER)

Website: http://helenfrost.net
Page for this book: http://helenfrost.net/item.php?postid=39

Rick Lieder’s website, with book trailer: http://bugdreams.com/hello/

Facebook page for “Beautiful Picture Books” (Frost-Lieder collaborations):
https://www.facebook.com/pg/StepGentlyOut/posts/

Facebook page for Helen Frost:
https://www.facebook.com/helen.frost.10https://www.facebook.com/helen.frost.10


Look for two more books forthcoming from Helen Frost:

Blue Daisy is a novel alternating voices in poems and prose, ideal for grades 1-3, with illustrations by Rob Shepperson (Holiday House, Winter 2020). It tells the story of two children and their relationship with a stray dog, as they make a big mistake and figure out what to do about it.

All He Knew is a novel-in-verse inspired by a true story, ideal for middle and high school, or sophisticated upper elementary (FSG/MacMillan, July, 2020). Set in the early 40’s, the story follows Henry, deaf and misdiagnosed as “unteachable,” as he is separated from all he knows at home and sent to live in an institution, where he meets Victor, a conscientious objector serving time as an attendant in the institution.

Many thanks to Helen for participating in our Classroom Connections series for National Poetry Month, and for offering three Frost-Lieder giveaways! One randomly selected TLD reader will receive a first edition of Hello, I’m Here, plus a copy of Sweep up the Sun. Two others will receive a hardcover copy of Sweep Up the Sun.

To enter, leave a comment below or send an email with the subject "Frost-Lieder Giveaway" to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com by tomorrow, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 2nd, so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Check out the other Classroom Connections posts and giveaways on offer this month by clicking the names below!

• Eric Ode (Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands)
• Kip Wilson (White Rose) 
• Carole Boston Weatherford (The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop)
• Skila Brown (Clackety Track: Poems About Trains) 
• Janet Wong (A Suitcase of Seaweed & MORE) 
• Debbie Levy (This Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality)
• Susannah Buhrman-Deever (Predator and Prey: A Conversation in Verse) 
• Charles Ghigna (The Night the Forest Came to Town)
• Margaret Simon (Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape)  
• Patrice Vecchione (Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience)
• Leslie Bulion (Superlative Birds)
• Marilyn Singer (Have You Heard About Lady Bird?: Poems About Our First Ladies and I'm the Big One Now!: Poems About Growing Up) 
• Alice Faye Duncan (A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks)
• Shannon Bramer (Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children)
• Aida Salazar (The Moon Within) 
• Georgia Heard (Boom! Bellow! Bleat!: Animal Poems for Two or More Voices)
• Stephanie Parsley Ledyard (Home is a Window)
• David Bowles (They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems)
• David Elliott (Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc)
• Allan Wolf (The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again)

Digital art © 2018 by Miranda Barnes,
based on a line from "Ghazal" by Tracy K. Smith.

TO FOLLOW:

The best way to keep up with the Classroom Connections series is by subscribing to Today's Little Ditty via email, which you can do in the sidebar. I will also be announcing the posts on social media. Like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter (also in the sidebar) to stay informed that way. Catch up with Classroom Connections posts you may have missed by clicking on the "It's time to INSPIRE" icon in the sidebar, or by visiting my "Poetry in the Classroom" board on Pinterest.

Classroom Connections with Allan Wolf

Before we begin today's interview with the fabulous Allan Wolf, just a few words as National Poetry Month draws to a close.

THANK YOU to the generous authors and editors who put so much time and care into these Classroom Connections posts! Nearly all of them have also offered copies of their books or arranged for giveaways through their publishers.

I know this month can be super busy for many of us, but if you haven't yet entered yourself in these giveaways (by emailing me or leaving a comment on the individual posts), please do so by Tuesday, April 30th! There's a list of links at the bottom of today's post.

And don't miss two more giveaway opportunities this coming Monday and Tuesday: Helen Frost's Hello, I'm Here (plus bonus books) and Alexandria Giardino's Ode to an Onion: Pablo Neruda & His Muse.

On a personal note, thank you also to the TLD readers who have been showing their appreciation throughout this month. Next Friday we'll be back to our regular Ditty of the Month Club format with a new Spotlight ON interview and DMC challenge. I'm looking forward to writing poetry with many of you again. :)


TODAY'S READ

The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again

Allan Wolf, Author
Anna Raff, Illustrator

Candlewick Press (March 5, 2019)
ISBN: 978-0763680251

For 3rd-6th grade and up

Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at Barnes & Noble
Purchase via Indiebound.org


SYNOPSIS

Ever wonder what the sun has to say about being the closest star to Earth? Or what Pluto has gotten up to since being demoted to a dwarf planet? Or where rocket ships go when they retire? Listen closely, because maybe, just maybe, your head will explode, too. With poetry that is equal parts accurate and entertaining—and illustrations that are positively out of this world—this book will enthrall amateur stargazers and budding astrophysicists as it reveals many of the wonders our universe holds. Space travelers in search of more information will find notes about the poems, a glossary, and a list of resources at the end.


A PEEK INSIDE

Click on image to enlarge.

Text copyright © 2019 by Allan Wolf. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Anna Raff.
From THE DAY THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED MY HEAD (Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Two time winner of the North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, as well as Bankstreet College’s prestigious Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry, Allan Wolf is the author of picture books, poetry, and young adult novels. Wolf’s books for young people showcase his love of research, history, science, and poetry. His latest YA novel, Who Killed Christopher Goodman?, is based on the murder of a high school friend during the summer of 1979. His latest book of poems for kids, The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems To Take You Into Space and Back Again, is now in bookstores, just in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Landing on the Moon!

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Why is bringing poetry into the classroom important?

Poetry is one of the most useful tools teachers can have in their toolbox. Poems provide fun, engaging, easy-to-read mentor texts that can be re-read and reviewed and lingered over with ease. Poems provide a "showcase" of the many ways language (both poetry and prose) can relate information, ideas, and emotions. Poems encourage higher-level thinking through metaphorical language that cause the reader to better understand cause/effect, similarities, and differences. Poems can model extraordinary ways of looking at ordinary things. Poems can transform extraordinary things into ordinary language.

How might your book be incorporated into an educational curriculum?

To create the poems in my book I transformed informational text from my research into creative text in the form of poems. But the main information remains the same. Any fiction in the creative text arrises from the facts of the informational text. So you can start with facts and create poetry. Or start with the poem and go backward, gathering facts from the context clues a long the way.

The poem "Going the Distance" is a great introduction to the ways we measure distance through the passage of time. Teachers can incorporate mathematical calculations when determining distances within our solar system.

Can you suggest a specific classroom exercise related to your book?

Research a specific planet or other celestial body (comet, asteroid, star, meteorite, galaxy, etc). Then use personification to write a poem in the voice and point of view of that celestial body. Or write a two-voice poem depicting a conversation between two celestial bodies.

What is a simple, practical tip for teachers when it comes to incorporating poetry in the classroom?

Here are a few of my tried and true favorite tips:

Memorize a new poem to show your students how easily it can be done. Share a poem you really love, then explain WHY you love it. Your own modeling goes very far. Allow poems to introduce that day's topic of discussion or theme. Don't pick the poem apart, just share it. Never ask your students, "What does this poem mean?" Instead allow them to experience the poem in order to create meaning through authentic interaction with the poem. Have your students look for C.A.S.T (Character, Action, Setting, and Topic or Theme). Then transform the poem into a script for readers theatre or a fully staged production.

Can you recount a specific instance of when poetry impacted a student or group of students in a positive way?

I was visiting a 6th grade Life Science class in Seoul, South Korea. Although English was not the students primary language, they were able to write poems to accompany an anatomy chart they were creating. They positioned poems directly onto the body chart. A poem about the brain was revealed, in "lift-the-flap" fashion. A poem about the intestines curled around the intestines. Etc. The poems were not graded for literary merit, but simply on whether or not they included 3 or more facts about the topic. The kids were so engaged, it inspired me to write my own book of anatomy poems, The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts.


CONNECT WITH ALLAN WOLF

Website: www.allanwolf.com
Twitter and Instagram: @allanwolf100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allan.wolf.370

Look for Who Killed Christopher Goodman? (Candlewick Press), Allan Wolf's latest verse novel based on the 1979 murder of a high school friend.

Many thanks to Allan for participating in our Classroom Connections series for National Poetry Month, and to Candlewick Press for offering a copy of The Day the Universe Exploded My Head to one randomly selected TLD reader! (US and Canadian addresses only.)

To enter, leave a comment below or send an email with the subject "Universe Giveaway" to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com by Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 2nd, so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Check out the other Classroom Connections posts and giveaways on offer this month by clicking the names below!

• Eric Ode (Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands)
• Kip Wilson (White Rose) 
• Carole Boston Weatherford (The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop)
• Skila Brown (Clackety Track: Poems About Trains) 
• Janet Wong (A Suitcase of Seaweed & MORE) 
• Debbie Levy (This Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality)
• Susannah Buhrman-Deever (Predator and Prey: A Conversation in Verse) 
• Charles Ghigna (The Night the Forest Came to Town)
• Margaret Simon (Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape)  
• Patrice Vecchione (Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience)
• Leslie Bulion (Superlative Birds)
• Marilyn Singer (Have You Heard About Lady Bird?: Poems About Our First Ladies and I'm the Big One Now!: Poems About Growing Up) 
• Alice Faye Duncan (A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks)
• Shannon Bramer (Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children)
• Aida Salazar (The Moon Within) 
• Georgia Heard (Boom! Bellow! Bleat!: Animal Poems for Two or More Voices)
• Stephanie Parsley Ledyard (Home is a Window)
• David Bowles (They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems)
• David Elliott (Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc)

Digital art © 2018 by Miranda Barnes,
based on a line from "Ghazal" by Tracy K. Smith.

TO FOLLOW:

The best way to keep up with the Classroom Connections series is by subscribing to Today's Little Ditty via email, which you can do in the sidebar. I will also be announcing the posts on social media. Like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter (also in the sidebar) to stay informed that way. Catch up with Classroom Connections posts you may have missed by clicking on the "It's time to INSPIRE" icon in the sidebar, or by visiting my "Poetry in the Classroom" board on Pinterest.

The incomparable Carol Varsalona has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Classroom Connections with Susannah Buhrman-Deever

TODAY'S READ

Predator and Prey: 
A Conversation in Verse

Susannah Buhrman-Deever, Author
Bert Kitchen, Illustrator

Candlewick Studio (April 9, 2019)
ISBN: 978-0763695330

For ages 7-10 (grades 2-5)

Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at Barnes & Noble
Purchase via Indiebound.org


SYNOPSIS

The battle for survival between predator and prey is sometimes a fight, sometimes a dance, and sometimes involves spying, lying, or even telling the truth to get ahead. Biologist and debut author Susannah Buhrman-Deever explores these clashes in poems and prose explanations that offer both sides of the story. With beautiful, realistic illustrations that are charged with drama, Bert Kitchen captures the breathtaking moments when predator meets prey.


A LOOK INSIDE

Click on image to enlarge.

PREDATOR AND PREY: A CONVERSATION IN VERSE. Text copyright © 2019 by Susannah Buhrman-Deever.
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Bert Kitchen. Reproduced by permission of Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susannah Buhrman-Deever is the author of Predator and Prey: A Conversation in Verse (Candlewick Studio). She is a former field biologist with a PhD in animal behavior, which means she has spent a lot of time thinking about why animals do what they do. Now she shares her love of nature with young and curious readers. She lives with her husband and sons near Rochester, NY.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Why is bringing poetry into the classroom important?

Poetry has been a part of my life since my childhood (Shel Silverstein’s books were some of my first loves), but my answer to this question also comes from my background as a biologist. I believe writing poetry is a practice that develops skills essential not just to the language arts, but science as well. 


Observation is key to both. All scientific inquiry begins with examining the world around us. We can’t know what questions to ask without first looking closely. Close observation is also critical for writing poetry. To really capture a subject, a poet has to use all of his/her senses to go deeper than a surface description.

Both also involve critical thinking and revision. When we design scientific research, we ask ourselves: What is most important to answering my question? Am I approaching my question in the right way? What else may I have missed? When we write and revise poems, we ask similar questions: What is most important for me to capture my subject? Does this line/word work? For both scientific work and poetry writing, we need to go back, ask questions, and try, try again.


But perhaps most of all, I think reading and writing poetry in the classroom gives students breathing space. Space to practice slowing down, really look at the world around them, and think deeply.

How might your book be incorporated into an educational curriculum?

This book came about from my interest in writing about the sometimes surprising interactions between predators and prey in nature, especially how animals can use a variety of tactics (including eavesdropping, lying, and even honesty) in their fight for survival.

The interactions highlighted in the book can be used as a springboard to investigations about relationships between animals in nature, and how they have different adaptations or behaviors that help them survive.

Can you suggest a specific classroom exercise related to your book?

Investigating Relationships in Nature Through Conversation Poems


The poems in this book examine encounters between predators and prey. After reading and discussing the book, ask your students to investigate further about relationships between different living things in the environment.

Have each student choose two living things that interact with each another. They could be predator and prey (like in this book), or have a partnership (like a plant-pollinator relationship).


Then ask students to use library books and/or websites to research their subjects, especially noting what each looks like, and what each does, and why. After they’ve completed their research, they can write either a poem for two voices or a pair of poems (one for each “voice”) using the information they’ve learned, and share their poems with the class. 


For extra credit: Students can create their own “nonfiction note” to complement their poem(s), further explaining the relationship between their subjects.

What is a simple, practical tip for teachers when it comes to incorporating poetry in the classroom?

Share a poem every day! It's a great way to initially engage students before they start science investigations.


I’ve been thrilled to see so many science- and nature-based poetry collections come out in recent years, which can be used to kick off any science lesson. The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong) is a great place to start.

Can you recount a specific instance of when poetry impacted a student or group of students in a positive way?

A number of years ago, I was going to speak to a sixth grade class about animal behavior. The students had just come back from lunch, and had a substitute teacher that day to boot. Needless to say, they were not initially very focused on why I was there or what I had to say.

I asked the students for volunteers, and together we read an early draft of “Spies”, a poem for two voices that’s included in Predator and Prey. The whole class perked up, and were engaged for the rest of my presentation.

That experience really taught me how sharing poetry, and the sheer delight students can have in language and rhythm, can bring a class together and engage them in lessons. It’s so much easier to instruct if you are also entertaining.


CONNECT WITH SUSANNAH BUHRMAN-DEEVER

Website: buhrmandeever.com

Look for If You Take Away the Otter (Candlewick), a nonfiction picture book about sea otters and kelp forests, illustrated by Matthew Trueman, in 2020.

Many thanks to Susannah for participating in our Classroom Connections series for National Poetry Month, and for offering a copy of Predator and Prey: A Conversation in Verse to one randomly selected TLD reader!

To enter, leave a comment below or send an email with the subject "Predator and Prey Giveaway" to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com by Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 2nd, so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Check out the other Classroom Connections posts and giveaways on offer this month by clicking the names below!

• Eric Ode (Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands)
• Kip Wilson (White Rose) 
• Carole Boston Weatherford (The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop)
• Skila Brown (Clackety Track: Poems About Trains) 
• Janet Wong (A Suitcase of Seaweed & MORE) 
• Debbie Levy (This Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality) 

Digital art © 2018 by Miranda Barnes,
based on a line from "Ghazal" by Tracy K. Smith.

TO FOLLOW:

The best way to keep up with the Classroom Connections series is by subscribing to Today's Little Ditty via email, which you can do in the sidebar. I will also be announcing the posts on social media. Like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter (also in the sidebar) to stay informed that way. Catch up with Classroom Connections posts you may have missed by clicking on the "It's time to INSPIRE" icon in the sidebar, or by visiting my "Poetry in the Classroom" board on Pinterest.

Classroom Connections with Skila Brown

TODAY'S READ

Clackety Track: 
Poems About Trains

Skila Brown, Author
Jamey Christoph, Illustrator

Candlewick Press (March 12, 2019)
ISBN: 978-0763690472

For grades 1-4

Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at Barnes & Noble
Purchase via Indiebound.org


SYNOPSIS

Queue up for a whistle-stop tour of trains of all kinds, narrated in lively verse and featuring dynamic retro artwork.

Rows of grooves, cables, and bars.
Graffiti rockin’ out the cars.
A badge of rust. A proud oil stain.
There’s nothin’ plain about a train.

Trains of all shapes and sizes are coming down the track — bullet train, sleeper train, underground train, zoo train, and more. All aboard! Skila Brown’s first-class poems, as varied as the trains themselves, reflect the excitement of train travel, while Jamey Christoph’s vintage-style illustrations provide a wealth of authentic detail to pore over.


A PEEK INSIDE

Text copyright © 2019 by Skila Brown. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Jamey Christoph.
 From CLACKETY TRACK: POEMS ABOUT TRAINS (Candlewick Press).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Skila Brown's first job was working on a train. She sold hot dogs through the window of a shiny red caboose in the coal-filled hills of eastern Kentucky. Now she writes books for readers of all ages from her home in Indiana.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Why is bringing poetry into the classroom important?

Poetry is concise and specific; it doesn't waste words. Listening to it and creating it forces us to sharpen our communication skills and better express what we are trying to say.

How might your book be incorporated into an educational curriculum?

April is National Poetry month! Always a good time to find ways to bring poetry into the classroom. But outside of language arts, Clackety Track has social studies tie-ins (time zones were created because of trains!) and science explorations (how does steam power an engine?)

Can you suggest a specific classroom exercise related to your book?

The educator's guide for Clackety Track: Poems About Trains contains classroom activities. View (and download) HERE.

What is a simple, practical tip for teachers when it comes to incorporating poetry in the classroom?

Poems are great tools for transition times. Finished up with math for the day and ready to have students line up for recess? Why not take thirty seconds to read aloud an appropriate poem. Keeping a good poetry anthology on your desk can help serve as a quick way to settle down students and get them ready for the next part of the day.

Can you recount a specific instance of when poetry impacted a student or group of students in a positive way?

I'm constantly hearing from ENL teachers that for kids who are struggling to learn a new language, a novel in verse or a book of poems is such a good choice for reading. The white space and low word count per page means they can turn the page more frequently. It brings along the feeling of success and thus keeps them engaged.


CONNECT WITH SKILA BROWN

Website: www.skilabrown.com

Many thanks to Skila for participating in our Classroom Connections series for National Poetry Month, and for offering a copy of Clackety Track: Poems About Trains to one randomly selected TLD reader! (US addresses only.)

To enter, leave a comment below or send an email with the subject "Clackety Track Giveaway" to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com by Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 2nd, so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Check out the other Classroom Connections posts and giveaways on offer this month by clicking the names below!

• Eric Ode (Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands)
• Kip Wilson (White Rose) 
• Carole Boston Weatherford (The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop)

Digital art © 2018 by Miranda Barnes,
based on a line from "Ghazal" by Tracy K. Smith.

TO FOLLOW:

The best way to keep up with the Classroom Connections series is by subscribing to Today's Little Ditty via email, which you can do in the sidebar. I will also be announcing the posts on social media. Like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter (also in the sidebar) to stay informed that way. Catch up with Classroom Connections posts you may have missed by clicking on the "It's time to INSPIRE" icon in the sidebar, or by visiting my "Poetry in the Classroom" board on Pinterest.

Spotlight on Carole Boston Weatherford + DMC Challenge

CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD

Photo credit: Gerald Young

Carole Boston Weatherford is the award-winning author of more than fifty books for young people—books that blur the lines between the genres of poetry, biography, nonfiction and historical fiction, and tackle tough subjects that spark curiosity and critical thinking. Among the many literary honors she has received are the NAACP Image Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Caldecott Honor Medal, and Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. Her career has been recognized by the Ragan-Rubin Award from North Carolina English Teachers Association and the North Carolina Literature Award, two of the state’s highest civilian honors. She is a Professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Carole tells the story of when she recited the first poem she ever wrote to her mother on the way home from school.

Carole Boston Weatherford's first poem. Read more at her website.

She was only in first grade. After that, her mother asked Carole's father, a high school printing teacher, to print some of her early poems on the letter press in his classroom. From then on, Carole knew that she would be published because her father had already done it!

In 1995, Juneteenth Jamboree was published—the first of dozens of books that would shine light on important figures and events in African-American history. It's what Carole refers to as her "truth-telling mission," to find stories that are universal enough for young people to identify with, even without living through the time period.

A small sampling of widely acclaimed books by Carole Boston Weatherford

I want them to ask the question that they often ask, "Did that really happen?" and I want them to be appalled and I want them to say "Why did it happen?"

                                                                                     —Carole Boston Weatherford

When deciding on a 2017 book to feature for today's interview, I had plenty to choose from! Two picture book biographies were released early this year: The Legendary Miss Lena Horne (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) and Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression (Albert Whitman & Company), the paperback version of last year's acclaimed You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) was released during the summer, and two other books are slated for this month: In Your Hands (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) and Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library (Candlewick Press).

Both of her September releases have already received rave reviews, but seeing that this month marks the 30th anniversary of Library Card Sign-up Month—a time when the American Library Association (ALA) joins public libraries nationwide to highlight the value of a library card—I thought it would be a terrific opportunity to introduce Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

First, a bit about the man from the Candlewick website:

SCHOMBURG: THE MAN WHO BUILT A LIBRARY
Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez
Candlewick Press (September 12, 2017)
ISBN: 978-0763680466
Find at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or via Indiebound.org.

Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.

Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library is Carole's fifth partnership with Pura Belpré Award winning illustrator, Eric Velasquez. It's no wonder. They make a fantastic team!

Author Carole Boston Weatherford with Illustrator Eric Velasquez

Rich and illuminating free verse is complemented by warm and luminous illustrations that look like they came straight off a museum wall. The grace and pride that comes through in this book is not only an accurate historical representation, but also a reflection of the author's and illustrator's respect for Schomburg and his unwavering quest to correct history.

I'm delighted to be speaking with Carole Boston Weatherford today about Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library and what drives her to write and collect her own shelves of stories.

Welcome to the TLD spotlight, Carole! 
We'll start our interview as we always do, with five favorites.

Favorite food: Spinach
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite dog breed: Beagle
Favorite music: Jazz
Favorite quote:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

                                             – George Washington Carver, educator, botanist and inventor


From a young age you had confidence that you would be published. Has your writing career evolved in the way you expected?

"Diverse children's books found me when
I was a new mother." – CBW

I expected to be writing poetry for adults, but diverse children's books found me when I was a new mother and I dove in the children's publishing world. I am very conceptual and now have no desire to write books that are not illustrated.














Your literary mission is "to mine the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles." It's a road map that's taken you to some truly impactful subject matter. Are there certain sources you return to again and again to find these stories, traditions, and struggles?

Primary source images are a continuing source of inspiration for me. Archival images speak to me of past trials and triumphs and of stories begging to be told.

Researchers in the reading room of the New York Public Library’s 135th Street
branch (now the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture), c. 1930

You've referred to poetry as your "first literary language" and yet sometimes, particularly with picture books, readers don't always recognize your writing as poetry. They think of it as lyrical or poetic prose. How do you draw the distinction between lyrical prose and poetry? Do you find it problematic that people are not recognizing your poetry for what it is?

In the end, labels are not important. As long the text connects with readers, the genre doesn't matter. As a writer and teacher, I distinguish poetry from prose by the diction, linear structure, and economy of language.


When it comes to mining stories, Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library is a treasure trove. Not only do we learn about the fascinating life of Schomburg himself, but we're also introduced to some of the people whose stories he collected.

SCHOMBURG: THE MAN WHO BUILT A LIBRARY. Text copyright © 2017 by Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrations
copyright © 2017 by Eric Velasquez. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
(Click image to enlarge.)

For me, it was particularly eye-opening to find out about famous individuals whose African heritage has been "whitewashed"—people like John James Audubon, Alexandre Dumas, Alexander Pushkin, and Ludwig van Beethoven. What was one of your takeaways from writing this book?

I was most impressed with Schomburg's dogged determination to refute stereotypes and to project a more accurate portrait of Africa's descendants. I owe a debt of gratitude to him.

Arturo Schomburg—historian and activist

SCHOMBURG: THE MAN WHO BUILT A LIBRARY. Text copyright © 2017 by Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrations
copyright © 2017 by Eric Velasquez. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
(Click image to enlarge.)

The American Negro must remake his past in order to make his future. . . . History must restore what slavery took away.

              —Arturo Schomburg































Please share a favorite passage from Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library and tell us why it’s meaningful to you.

You might choose any sentence from the penultimate poem. The most lyrical poem in the text, this eloquently celebrates and elevates Schomburg.

EPITAPH: 1938

If this proverb
A book is a garden carried in a pocket
is true, then Arturo Alfonso Schomburg,
the historian and book collector,
had a green thumb and a harvest of pride.
There was no field of human endeavor
that he did not till with his determined hand,
that he did not sow with seeds of curiosity,
where he did not weed out lies and half-truths,
or that he did not water with a growing sense
of African awareness and heritage.
If a book is a garden carried in a pocket,
then Schomburg yielded a bumper crop,
blanketed Mount Kilimanjaro with African violets.

Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

Like Schomburg, you are a collector of stories. Is there something else that you collect as well?

I have collected ephemera, baskets and knickknacks with a grape motif. I also collect books, particularly ABC books, fairy tales and African-American subject matter. I probably own more than 2000 volumes. I once dreamed of being a librarian.


What’s coming up next for you?

I have two books coming out in 2018—Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream and You (Bloomsbury, January 2018) and How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace (Atheneum, Summer 2018).


If you had all the world’s children in one room, what would you tell them?

"I was born to write. I must fulfill that."
– Carole Boston Weatherford

There's only one race—the human race. Life is not a competition, but love one another as if it is.












Finally, what you have chosen as this month’s ditty challenge?


Write an abecedarian poem (in which the text is in alphabetical order). My son and I self-published mine. It's entitled "A Bat Cave: An Abecedarian Bedtime Chronicle." Read the text HERE.

What a perfect back-to-school challenge!


But before you go looking for words beginning with Q, X, and Z . . .

PLEASE NOTE: 
For the purpose of this ditty challenge, you do NOT need to write a 26 line poem! Just a section of the alphabet is fine, as long as it's in sequential order.

You can read more about the abecedarian form HERE.  

I hope you'll join me in thanking Carole Boston Weatherford for sharing herself with us today. Thanks, also, to Candlewick Press for providing a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library for one lucky DMC participant. (Winner to be selected randomly at the end of the month.)

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Post your abecedarian poem on our September 2017 padlet. Stop by any time during the month to add your work or to check out what others are contributing.

By posting on the padlet, you are granting me permission to share your poem on Today's Little Ditty.  Some poems will be featured as daily ditties, though authors may not be given advanced notice. Subscribe to the blog if you'd like to keep tabs. You can do that in the sidebar to the right where it says "Follow TLD by Email." As always, all of the poems will be included in a wrap-up celebration on the last Friday of the month—September 29th for our current challenge.

TEACHERS, it's great when students get involved! Ditty of the Month Club challenges are wonderful opportunities to learn about working poets and authors while having fun with poetry prompts. Thank you for spreading the word! For children under 13, please read my COPPA compliance statement in the sidebar to the right.

FIRST-TIMERS (those who have never contributed to a ditty challenge before), in addition to posting your work on the padlet, please send your name and email address to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com. That way I'll be able to contact you for possible inclusion in future Best of Today's Little Ditty anthologies.

BLOGGERS, thank you for publishing your poems on your own blogs– I love that!  Please let me know about it, so I can share your post! Also remember to include your poem (or a direct link to your post) on the padlet in order to be included in the wrap-up celebration and end-of-month giveaway.

Roadtrip! Kathryn Apel is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup from sunny Australia.