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Got the FCAT Blues?
Here is a school poem to lift your spirits during this FCAT week!
The Very Best Feeling
~by Betsy Franko
There’s excited,
delighted,
scared,
and mad.
There’s happy,
embarrased,
surprised,
and sad.
But the very best feeling
that we’ve ever had,
the one that we have every day,
is the feeling we get
when the final bell rings,
and there’s nothing to do but just PLAY!
From the book:
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Whether you prefer to celebrate the holiday in a goofy way, traditional way, or a little bit of both, enjoy these poems!
Happy Turkey Day!
November
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Thanksgiving and
the Pigs rejoice-
so many pies!
And so much choice!
Peach and apple,
cherry, ample
mincemeat, pumpkin-
just a sample,
Peach and apple,
cherry, ample
mincemeat, pumpkin-
just a sample,
crumb or nibble
of each kind,
our gracious hostess
will not mind
in November.
~From Alligators and Others All Year Long: A Book of Months by Crescent Dragonwagon
Happy Thanksgiving!
November
The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The loss of her
Departed leaves.
of each kind,
our gracious hostess
will not mind
in November.
The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.
And yet the world,
Nevertheless,
Displays a certain
Loveliness-
The beauty of
The bone. Tall God
Must see our soulds
This way, and nod.
Give thanks: we do,
Each in his place
Around the table
During grace.
A first-time ever study has been done on hand clapping games! Important skills are gained by this activity, like motor skills and cognitive development. The rhyme and rhythm of this activity are well known early literacy skills.
Leave it to children to naturally make the things we work so hard to teach into a fun game!
Check out the study and then learn or revisit some hand claps with your kids!
http://www.israel21c.org/201008108010/culture/applause-for-clapping-your-hands
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Directions for basic hand clapping game
Face your clapping partner. Begin by clapping your hands together at the same time, then reach out with your right hand to clap your partner’s right hand. Next, clap your hands again. Now reach out with your left hand and clap your partner’s left hand. Repeat. Clap on the beat. You can mix it up or clap straight across with both hands.
Miss Susie
Miss Suzie had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Miss Suzie went to heaven
The steamboat went to
Hello operator
Please give me number nine
If you disconnect me
I’ll kick you from
Behind the refrigerator there was a piece of glass
Miss Suzie sat upon it and cut her little
Ask me no more questions
Tell me no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom zipping up their
Flies are in the meadow
The bees are in the park
Miss Suzie and her boyfriend are kissing in the
Dark is like a movie
A movie’s like a show
A show is like a TV screen
And that is all I know
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Say, Say, Oh Playmate
Say, say, oh playmate
Come out and play with me.
Bring out your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door.
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forevermore, one two three four!
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Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump over the fence, fence, fence
They jumped so high, high, high
They touched the sky, sky, sky
And didn’t come back, back, back
Till the fourth of July, July, July
The cooler weather gives the perfect feeling for Fall!
Here is a poem in the form of a recipe to help us say hello to Autumn!
Encourage your kids to create their own recipes for Autumn, November, cool weather, etc. If you feel like sharing, please to post them to this blog!
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RECIPE
FOR WRITING AN
AUTUMN POEM
One teaspoon wild geese.
One tablespoon red kite.
One cup wild song.
One pint trembling leaves.
One quart darkening sky.
One gallon north wind.
~From Falling Down The Page: A Book of List Poems. Edited by Georgia Heard
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Happy International Literacy Day!
Although, here at the library, every day is a Literacy Day!
This Wednesday at 6pm will be our Families Reading Together event! We will have a special reading of I Love Our Earth by Bill Martin Jr. and a composting program for kids!
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In celebration of the Earth and Literacy, here are a few selections from the book, Earth Songs by Myra Cohn Livingston
Little O, small earth, spinning in space,
face covered with dizzy clouds, racing,
chasing sunlight through the Milky Way,
say your secr3ets, small earth, little O,
know where you lead, I follow. I go.
Patched together
With land and sea,
I am earth,
Great earth.
Come with me!
Tundra covers me; swamps sodden, dank,
Banked with moss, a soft, spongy morass.
Grassy bogs blanket my soaked crust here.
sere, barren plains slush through marshed found
mounded with sedge on wet, withered ground.
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It’s Halloween
by Jack PrelutskyIt’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can’t be seen
On any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
Grinning goblins fighting duels,
Werewolves rising from their tombs,
Witches on their magic brooms.
In masks and gowns
We haunt the street
And knock on doors
For trick or treat.
Tonight we are
The king and queen,
For oh tonight
It’s Halloween!
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The Sea is Our Mother
The sea is our mother
rocking,
rocking.
See how she fills
her blue arms
with gifts -
with slippery bits,
weed,
white
shells,
fish
as bright as
wisps
of moon.
Hear how her voice
lifts,
falls,
lifts
while she sings our
life.
~By Tony JohnstonFrom the Tree That Time Build: a celebration of nature, science, and imagination.
Each week, I post poems for parents and teachers to read and share with their kids. Poetry and rhyme are important tools for early literacy. Whether you read them to your children, with your children, or listen as they read, it is a fun way to build phonological and vocabulary skills. Here is a poem to read together, adult and child each taking a part to form the story. Have fun!
The Telephone
Ding-a-ling!
Ting-a-ling!
(The telephone
Begins to ring.)
Hello!
Hello!
Hello!
Hello!
It’s me.
I know.
It’s me.
I know.
Are you in bed?
Not yet. Are you?
I’m almost there.
I’m almost, too.
I’m in pajamas
I’m not yet.
I took a bath.
My hair’s still wet.
Did you do
The spelling list?
I did. Did you?
There’s one I missed.
I missed two.
I had to look.
Have you read
The chapter book?
I’ve just started
Chapter three.
I have, too.
So read with me!
Read together,
Not alone,
While we’re on
The telephone?
It won’t take long
To get it done.
I’ll get my book.
It sounds like fun.
Back and forth
Until we’re through.
You read to me!
I’ll read to you!
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~From You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Togeterh. By Mary Ann Hoberman. Illustrated by Michael Emberley
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Check out other read-togethers!
Can You Haiku?
Haiku is one of the simplest, yet most popular forms of poetry in the world. Originating in Japan, one of the most famous haiku poets is Mastsuo Bacho (1644-1694). Here is one of his poems:
old pond-
frog jumps in
sound of the water
As I said, haiku is popular still today! Here is a modern example of the poetry:
Nose out the window,
ears flapping, hair pushed straight back.
Adventures in smell.
One of the best things about Haiku is that anybody can create a poem! Here is the pattern:
1st line = 5 syllables
2nd line = 7 syllables
3rd line = 5 syllables
That’s it! So, take a breath, notice a moment, scene, or feeling around you and put it into words.
Make up a haiku poem and post it as a comment to the blog! I will then post all of the submissions next week. Come into the library and make a haik at FunSpace Monday-Thursday 3:30-5:30!
Checkout these books for more haiku poetry.
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Haiku for little ears
On of my favorite picture books tells a story of Wabi Sabi, a cat who lives in Japan and goes on a journey to learn the meaning of her name. Haiku poetry is woven into the tale with beautiful artwork to complement the story.
