Poetry Folder

I will be the first to admit that poetry never has been and probably never will be the genre of choice for my own personal ventures into literature. That said; I’ve enjoyed creating a poetry folder more than I expected. Many of my selections came from either Where the Sidewalk Ends or The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. The former, I actually read and enjoyed as a child, and the latter I recently acquired specifically for this assignment. I hope that this folder will sharpen my skills in searching for interesting poems and act as springboard for me to find creative ways to use poetry in my classroom.

1. “The New Kid on the Block” by Jack Prelutsky
2. “Sick” by Shel Silverstein
3. “Rhyme” by Elizabeth Coastworth
4. “Spring Rain” by Marchette Chute
5. “Thanksgiving Magic” by Rowena Bastin Bennett
6. “The Cares of a Caretaker” by Wallace Irwin
7. “Smart” by Shel Silverstein
8. “Boa Constrictor” by Shel Silverstein
9. “The Little Boy and the Old Man” by Shel Silverstein
10. “Gardner” by J.Patrick Lewis
11. “Little Miss Muffet” by Mother Goose
12. “Clickety Clack” by Rob and Amy Spence
13. “The Four Seasons” by Jack Prelutsky
14. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore
15. “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
16. “Galoshes” by Rhoda W. Bacmeister
17. “Basketball’s My Favorite Sport” by Kenn Nesbitt
18. “My Normal Family” by Kathy Kenny-Marshall
19. “The Kindergarten Concert” by Robert Pottle
20. “My Teacher Sees Right Through Me” by Bruce Lansky

1.“The New Kid on the Block” by Jack Prelutsky

I’ve only recently discovered the poems of Jack Prelutsky. I enjoyed the ending of “The New Kid on the Block” because I knew some girls like this when I was in school. I might use it to teach rhyming couplets. But I think it would be more fun to use it in a lesson on following directions. I would ask my students to illustrate the poem only after reading it all the way through to the end, knowing that many of them would only get halfway finished before starting to draw a big, burly boy.

Prelutsky, Jack. “New Kid on the Block.” Children’s Literature, Briefly. Comp. Michael O. Tunnell and James S. Jacobs. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008. 83.

2. "Sick” by Shel Silverstein

Who couldn’t relate to this poem as a child? I envied little Peggy Ann McKay and her creative ailment on days when I did not feel like going to school. But I was neither a good faker nor good storyteller. I would use this poem to teach rhyme and rhythm and just to keep poetry fun.

Silverstein, Shel. “Sick.” Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: Harper and Row, 1974. 58-9.
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3. “Rhyme” by Elizabeth Coatsworth
One of the things I love about living in Lubbock is the storm activity in the spring. I love to watch storm clouds rolling in and the lightning streaking across the sky. So it makes sense that “Rhyme” appeals to me. I love the imagery and the sound of rolling thunder it makes when you read the poem out loud. I would use it in class to teach the use of words to create sound sensations in poetry.

Coatsworth, Elizabeth. “Rhyme.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 30.

4. “Spring Rain” by Marchette Chute

“Spring Rain” amuses me because the last line changes the tone for the rest of the poem. What seems to be a regrettable mistake turns into something fun. I would let students take turns reading it out loud to practice hearing the poetic rhythm.

Chute, Marchette. “Spring Rain.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 42.


5.“Thanksgiving Magic” by Rowena Bastin Bennett

Thanksgiving was a very important holiday in my family. We almost always either hosted extended family or travelled to visit them, and there was always lots of food. “Thanksgiving Magic” reminds me of my mom and granny, both of whom were amazing cooks. The change in the rhyme scheme at the end of the poem surprised me, so I think I would use it to illustrate rhyme scheme in my class.
Bennett, Rowena Bastin. “Thanksgiving Magic.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 46.

6. “The Cares of a Caretaker” by Wallace Irwin

“The Cares of the Caretaker” reminds me of the futility I feel at trying to keep my home dust free in Lubbock. It is an exercise in futility. And yet, I keep on . I would use this poem because I like how Wallace placed a lady cleaning her house in an abnormal context. This twist on what is expected would make a good lesson on imagery and tone.

Irwin, Wallace. “The Cares of a Caretaker.” Oh, What Nonsense!. Comp. William Cole. New York: Viking, 1966. 16.

7. “Smart” by Shel Silverstein

This was one of my favorite poems as a child. I loved the irony, especially the obvious misunderstanding of the dad’s silence. I would use “Smart” to introduce the concept of irony in literature, as it is smart, catchy and very easy to understand.

Silverstein, Shel. “Smart.” Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: Harper and Row, 1974. 35.

8. “Boa Constrictor” by Shel Silverstein

The ending of this poem engaged my imagination as a child. I put myself in the place of the poor kid being eaten by a snake and wondered what I would do if it happened to me. For teaching purposes, obviously the rhyme and imagery are terrific. But I think I might rewrite it in narrative form and use it to teach the punctuation that goes along with exclamatory remarks.

Silverstein, Shel. “Boa Constrictor.” Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: Harper and Row, 1974. 45.

9. “The Little Boy and the Old Man” by Shel Silverstein

Although I read a lot of Shel Silverstein’s poetry as a child, I did not discover this one until recently. It touches me as an adult because I remember what it felt like to be young, and yet I still sometimes find myself too busy, important, uncaring, etc. to pay attention to young people and old people. I think this poem would be a good one to use in a social studies unit about the elderly. It’s cute and would probably make the kids laugh, but there is also honest emotion in it that I think some students will be able to appreciate.

Silverstein, Shel. “The Little Boy and the Old Man.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 161.

10. “Gardner” by J. Patrick Lewis

This poem just makes me laugh. The imagery conveyed in the words “uprooted” and “transplanted” is so witty. I would use it just for its entertainment value and also maybe to explore imagery and metaphor.

Lewis, J. Patrick. “Gardner.” Once Upon a Tomb: Gravely Humorous Verses. Illus. Simon Bartram. Cambridge: Candlewick, 2006.

11. “Little Miss Muffet” by Mother Goose

I loved this rhyme when I was little. It did not matter that I did not understand all the words, such as tuffet and curds and whey. I would use this poem, along with others by Mother Goose, to teach rhyming words.

Mother Goose. “Little Miss Muffet.” Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever. Comp. Richard Scarry. New York: Golden Book, 1968.

12. “Clickety Clack” by Rob and Amy Spence

Clickety Clack is published in picture book form, but it has an amazing rhythm when read aloud. I love how the words feel rolling off my tongue when I read it to my children. I would use it in my classroom teach rhythm and sound in poetry.

Spence, Rob and Amy. Clickety Clack. New York: Scholastic, 1999.

13. “The Four Seasons” by Jack Prelutsky

This poem is spilling over with elements of poetry. Imagery, descriptive words, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme abound. I might use it in my class to teach any or all of these things. Or I might just use it in a social studies unit about the four seasons. I like that this poem is versatile, having broad educational potential.

Prelutsky, Jack. “The Four Seasons.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 35.

14. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore

My dad read “A Visit from St. Nicholas” to my sister and me every Christmas Eve before bed time – only I did not realize that it was a poem. It was bound and illustrated like a children’s book. I only recently discovered that it was poetry in disguise. I would use this poem in my classroom to sneak in poetry unbeknownst to the less than eager poetry readers. I would “prove” that it is a poem by pointing out elements like rhyme scheme, poetic language, and alliteration.

Moore, Clement Clark. “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 50-51.

15. “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

I like this poem for several reasons. It’s leaves me feeling inspired by the quality of a good poem that has the power to stick with you even into your dreams. I like how the verses flip flop between the first and last stanzas – “keep a poem in your pocket and a picture in your head” becomes “keep a picture in your pocket and a poem in your head.” I just think it’s clever. I also like the image of a poem singing a little one to sleep. I would use this poem in my class in a social studies lesson about making choices. The image of filling your head with a poem to fill loneliness is powerful and I think it can be extended to filling one’s head with thoughts that build up instead of tear down. I believe that you are what you think, and what you think is a choice.

Regniers, Beatrice Schenk de. “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket.” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Comp. Jack Prelutsky. New York: Random House, 1983. 226.

16. “Galoshes” by Rhoda W. Bacmeister

I love the alliteration and rhyme in this poem. The tongue twister-feeling of the first and third stanzas make reading it aloud a satisfying challenge. In a classroom setting I would use it to demonstrate alliteration.

Bacmeister, Rhoda W. “Galoshes.” http://www.k12.hi.us/~shasincl/poems_prop_cycle_weather.html#galoshes

17. “Basketball’s My Favorite Sport” by Kenn Nesbitt

I like this poem because of its sports theme, which I think would make it appeal to the boys in my class, and because of its storyline. I would use it in class to show that students can write about anything that interests them, even athletics.

Nesbitt, Kenn. “Basketball’s My Favorite Sport.” www.gigglepoetry.com/poem.aspx?PoemID=522&CategoryID=22.

18. “My Normal Family” by Kathy Kenny-Marshall

The “normal” family in this poem does an awful lot of odd things, but normal is often defined by our own personal experiences. I like the last two lines, “We’re very special, can’t you see? We’re just a normal family.” I would use this poem in a unit about what makes families special and how that is different from the way friends are special.

Kenny-Marshall, Kathy. “My Normal Family.” http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poem.aspx?PoemID=85&CategoryID=28

19. “The Kindergarten Concert” by Robert Pottle

This poem is so true to life! I have lived it. I would use it in a third or fourth grade classroom to get my students’ minds warmed up for an autobiographical writing assignment about first memories of school.

Pottle, Robert. “The Kindergarten Concert.” http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poem.aspx?PoemID=342&CategoryID=28

20. “My Teacher Sees Right Through Me” by Bruce Lansky

The surprise ending of this poem amuses me because my son is in my class this year. He’s too young to understand the disadvantage his situation poses for him, but when I reread the poem, I could picture an older version of him writing it. I would use it in my class for practice in identifying rhyme scheme, ABCB in this case.

Lansky, Bruce. “My Teacher Sees Right Through Me.” http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poem.aspx?PoemID=350&CategoryID=1