Helping our Students to Make Connections between Life and School

I presented a plenary address this week at the Seventh International Literary Juvenilia Conference 2022. The conference explored Juvenilia, that is, youthful writing up to the age of twenty. As part of my plenary address I explored Intertextuality research which was a key focus for me in the 1980s to 1990s. Intertextuality refers to the "relationship between texts" (Kristeva). In my book 'Pathways to Literacy' (Cassell, 1995) I describe it as "the process of interpreting one text by means of another text".

Two people inspired me to explore Intertextuality. First, my dear friend and colleague Margaret Meek from the University of London (who died just two years ago), and Prof. Jerome Harste (Indiana University) who has been a close colleague and friend for almost 40 years. Jerry invited me to come to Indiana University (Bloomington) as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 1984. My purpose was to commence postdoctoral research and writing on Intertextuality.

While at IU, I collaborated with a Grade 5 teacher at an Indianapolis School. Barbara invited me to spend time at her school and assist her as a co-teacher, with a class that at times was challenging. I want to share a story from this classroom, that I also shared at the Juvenilia Conference this week. This student's writing, was to offer me a profound insight into why the task of inspiring our children as readers and writers can be at times challenging.

On an ordinary morning, as I prepared for the school day, I heard the yellow school buses arrive at the entrance, and the rush of students down the corridor shortly just minutes later. Students burst through the door and we did the usual crowd control, as they jostled their way to their seats. Some were shouting to one another, and a few were saying “Hi Sir”. A bolshie young African American named Nora (not her real name) threw her bag onto the desk. It missed, and its contents spilled onto the floor right in front of me. I started to help her pick things up. I grabbed a wad of writing paper with numerous texts that looked like stories.

 

I was shocked! Norah was a disruptive student and had the ability to spend a whole day without completing any task. She was from a difficult family and lived in a trailer court. It’s no exaggeration to say, she had not produced a single piece of writing in English while I was there. I said to her, “what’s this Norah?” She replied, “Nothin Sir”. I said, “looks like writing to me”. “It’s Nothin Sir, just stuff I do at home.”

 

I hesitated and said, “can I read some of it?” “No Sir, you won’t like none of it. It’s just stuff.” “Looks like poetry to me”.  “No Sir, just some songs.” I said, “please let me read some.” She replied, “well, maybe just a couple.”

 

The first untitled ‘song’ that caught my attention was this one ‘:

 

Lonesome all alone

She waits by the phone

Lonesome all alone

She wants to belong

Lonesome all alone

She listens and hopes

But there is no sound

Just a lonesome hound

Lonesome all alone

 

Was this great poetry? For this 11 year old child, yes! At home, it seemed Norah was a writer, whereas at school she was mostly a pest, and had not completed a single piece of writing at school. She saw little relevance in her school learning, but found inspiration in writing music stimulated by her own inner hopes and dreams.

I share Norah’s story, because I believe there are many children like her in our schools, for whom the literature of great authors has not been part of their lived experience. As such, the literary seedbeds of their storytelling and writing are different to the students many of us will teach in our schools. She was inspired by popular music at home and moved to write in response to her struggles as a disadvantaged African American.

I want to suggest 4 key ingredients for motivating and engaging our students as learners:

 

• First, know your students well. Who are they at home? What are their passions outside school
• Second, discover the things in life that our students might want to share with others?
• Third, consider what might unlock the passions and interests of our students leading them to become risk takers, willing to share the things that touch and inspire them most? 
• Fourth, as teachers we should try to help our children to build a "cauldron of stories" as a reservoir into which they can dip as writers.
  

The challenge in my talk at the conference was a simple plea. Get to know our students well, and seek to plough the seeds of the love of literature, into the lives of students like Norah, and I suspect many other children within our schools. In this way, we might just be able to help children like Norah (& me when at school) to grow as readers and writers as they connect their lives with the things of school.

Helping Children to Love Poetry: 9 ideas and some books

Poetry is a much-neglected part of literature. I've written before about its power to allow us to express and explore varied aspects of the human condition (HERE). I also regularly review good poetry books on this blog. Poetry should be read, listened to, experienced and enjoyed with our children. It can amuse, entertain, challenge, teach and change us. Our aim as teachers and parents should be to seek to share good poetry often, and help children to 'experience' poems as significant literary and life events.

Ariel Sacks wrote a great post a couple of years ago in which she offered some great tips to immerse children in poetry. This is my adaptation of her suggestions: 

1. Giving poetry space in the curriculum to poetry don't just use it as an add-on to other things

2. Offer a variety of reading, speaking and listening experiences with poetry that don't require analysis and dissection.

3. Create an anthology for students - a packet of poems as wide-ranging and diverse as possible (rhyming and non-rhyming, contemporary and ancient poems, easy poems easily comprehended, curious & mystifying, classics & unknown, some written by students.

4. Sometimes create an anthology around a particular theme or image (ecology, justice, humanity...).

5. Provide time to read the poetry collection with no strings attached.

6. Allow students to read poems they like aloud to the class. 

7. Try some choral reading. Perhaps have the class pick one of the poems for choral reading.

8. Experiment with poetry - tone and volume, mood, expression, method of presentation...

9. Perhaps have everyone memorize a few poems. Perhaps a poem that they will know for life!

For some great ideas on poetry and access to great book lists visit the Centre for Excellence in Primary Education (CLPE) which has an annual award for poetry written for children. 

I wrote a post on notable poetry books a few years ago that you might still find useful (HERE).

Here is a short sample of some good recent poetry books and anthologies that might be helpful. They are suggested simply to offer an insight into the variety of poetry books available. I would love to hear of your favourites.

Poems to Perform, Julia Donaldson (editor), illustrated by Clare Melinsky (Macmillan)

This is a careful selection of poems, both familiar and new; they contain poetry that lend themselves to being performed in a range of collaborative ways. Progress through the book is subtly themed: gliding through poems about school, football, food and many other matters. It offers succinct suggestions for how they could be presented both verbally and dramatically at the back, leaving plenty of scope for teachers and pupils to make their interpretations. The poems range from classics by Edward Lear, W H Auden, and Eleanor Farjeon, to contemporary work by Michael Rosen, John Agard, and Clare Bevan. It is illustrated throughout with exquisite, expressive linocuts, this is a book for teachers, parents and children; in fact anyone who loves great poetry. I bought this to use with children myself! The descriptions are edited versions of the judge's comments on each book.

The Dragon with a Big Nose, by Kathy Henderson (Frances Lincoln)

This collection has many city poems that capture the feel and vibrancy of urban life. These are odes to the urban environment - its buildings, its transport, the people and creatures that inhabit it and the effects of weather on it. The dragon on the cover disguises the contents. Fantasy and reality converge in poems like ‘Under the Stairs’ and many of them describe wonder in the apparently ordinary, but there are varied poems. The child’s eye viewpoint is foremost and this contributes to this being that rare commodity – a single poet collection for younger children. The poet’s own illustrations work wonderfully with the text.

Bookside Down, by Joanne Limburg (Salt Publishing)

This is Joanne Limburg’s first collection for children. It has a unique and contemporary feel, catching the voice and ear of the intended audience providing thoughtful observations of modern childhood. What happens if you read a book while standing on your head? Dare to discover the answer within these poems that provide a fresh take on school and family life, complete with computapets and a Wii with a Mii channel. Take a prefix lesson that doesn’t deal with grammar too seriously while requiring some understanding to get the joke. Sample the mouth-watering potatoes Dad cooks, tantalising all your senses ‘for truly they are epic’. Don’t lose your temper or you may find important things are lost too.

Wayland. The Tale of the Smith from the Far North, by Tony Mitton, illustrated by John Lawrence (David Fickling Books)

This is the story of Wayland Smith, the strangest of all I know. This beautifully told tale reinvents the northern legend of Wayland the blacksmith, whose craft and skill spread his fame far and wide. But Wayland's talents bring him nothing but pain. It is poetic in form, and is epic in nature. It is a complete piece of art, poetry and legend. Readers are quickly drawn into this 'story' set in a landscape of forests and mountains depicted in John Lawrence’s extraordinary engravings. It is definitely a publication for older children. There is the love of Wayland for his Swan-Maiden and beauty in the way words and pictures reunite them.

Cosmic Disco, by Grace Nichols, illustrated by Alice Wright (Frances Lincoln)

This is a collection of poetry with beautiful rhythms, language and imagery that Grace Nichols always captures with such mastery. This collection whirls us out into the cosmos to dance ‘in the endless El Dorado of stars stars stars’ and back again to ‘that little old blue ball spinning in the corner over yonder’. Nature is personified in many guises. Lady Winter raps out a warning and chastises a cheeky robin. Autumn is a knight with ‘cape of rustling ochre, gold and brown’ and ‘spurs made of sprigs’ and ‘medals made of conkers’. Colours speak, giving persuasive arguments why the artist should choose each one of them. Venus is addressed majestically and a ‘star that time forgot’ given a new name.

Experiencing Poetry Rather Than 'Torturing' It!

I've written before about the power of poetry (HERE) and regularly review good poetry books on this blog. Poetry is to be read, listened to, experienced and enjoyed. It can amuse, entertain, challenge, teach and change us. Our aim as teachers and parents should be to seek to share good poetry often, and help children to 'experience' poems as significant literary and life events. Ariel Sacks recently wrote a great post in which she reminded us of this simple truth. In response to the post one of her readers in turn reminded us of Billy Collins great poem on poetry (William Collins was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003). In it he challenges us to avoid the temptation to beat a poem to death rather than experiencing and enjoying it.

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a colour slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem

and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room

and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski

across the surface of a poem

waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do

is tie the poem to a chair with rope

and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose

to find out what it really means.

Billy Collins, 1988

If you are looking for some good poetry for children aged 5-12 years here is an excellent recent list Some would suit older readers, and 'Wayling' is certainly for older readers. The Centre for Excellence in Primary Education (CLPE) has an annual award for poetry written for children.  This UK charity promotes the effective teaching of children’s literacy and emphasises the importance of children’s literature. The award is presented annually, usually in July, for a book of poetry published in the preceding year. Here is the excellent shortlist.

Poems to Perform, Julia Donaldson (editor), illustrated by Clare Melinsky (Macmillan)

This is a careful selection of poems, both familiar and new, that lend themselves to being performed in a range of collaborative ways. Progress through the book is subtly themed: gliding through poems about school, football, food and many other matters. It offers succinct suggestions for how they could be presented both verbally and dramatically at the back, leaving plenty of scope for teachers and pupils to make their interpretations. The judges felt that the poems in the anthology had been really carefully chosen and selected to reflect the best of poems to perform across a broad range of time, poets and styles. The poems range from classics by Edward Lear, W H Auden, and Eleanor Farjeon, to contemporary work by Michael Rosen, John Agard, and Clare Bevan. It is illustrated throughout with exquisite, expressive lino-cuts, this is a book for teachers, parents and children; in fact anyone who loves great poetry. I bought this to use with children myself! The descriptions are edited versions of the judge's comments on each book.

The Dragon with a Big Nose, by Kathy Henderson (Frances Lincoln)

This collection was chosen because the judges particularly liked the city poems and how these really captured the feel and vibrancy of urban life. These are odes to the urban environment - its buildings, its transport, the people and creatures that inhabit it and the effects of weather on it. The dragon on the cover disguises the contents although fantasy and reality converge in poems like ‘Under the Stairs’ and many of them describe wonder in the apparently ordinary. The child’s eye viewpoint is foremost and this contributes to this being that rare commodity – a single poet collection for younger children. The poet’s own illustrations work wonderfully with the text.

Bookside Down, by Joanne Limburg (Salt Publishing)

This is Joanne Limburg’s first collection for children. It has a unique and contemporary feel, catching the voice and ear of the intended audience providing thoughtful observations of modern childhood. What happens if you read a book while standing on your head? Dare to discover the answer within these poems that provide a fresh take on school and family life, complete with computapets and a Wii with a Mii channel. Take a prefix lesson that doesn’t deal with grammar too seriously while requiring some understanding to get the joke. Sample the mouth-watering potatoes Dad cooks, tantalising all your senses ‘for truly they are epic’. Don’t lose your temper or you may find important things are lost too.


Wayland. The Tale of the Smith from the Far North, by Tony Mitton, illustrated by John Lawrence (David Fickling Books)

'Wayland' was chosen by the judges for the mastery of the form, its epic nature and the beauty of it as a complete piece of art, poetry and legend. This verse retells the legend of a master blacksmith who fashions such ‘wonderful ware’ that he is captured by a king. It is a tour de force. Readers are quickly drawn into this 'story' set in a landscape of forests and mountains depicted in John Lawrence’s extraordinary engravings. The whole work is stunningly sustained in rhyming four line stanzas. There is lust and violence at the centre of this saga and neither poet nor illustrator shirk from portraying these – so this is definitely a publication for older children. There is the love of Wayland for his Swan-Maiden and beauty in the way words and pictures reunite them.

Cosmic Disco, by Grace Nichols, illustrated by Alice Wright (Frances Lincoln)

This is a collection of poetry with beautiful rhythms, language and imagery that Grace Nichols always captures with such mastery. This collection whirls us out into the cosmos to dance ‘in the endless El Dorado of stars stars stars’ and back again to ‘that little old blue ball spinning in the corner over yonder’. Nature is personified in many guises. Lady Winter raps out a warning and chastises a cheeky robin. Autumn is a knight with ‘cape of rustling ochre, gold and brown’ and ‘spurs made of sprigs’ and ‘medals made of conkers’. Colours speak, giving persuasive arguments why the artist should choose each one of them. Venus is addressed majestically and a ‘star that time forgot’ given a new name.

The Power of Poetry & Animation: Giving Voice to Young Urban Writers

An exciting project in the Western Sydney is giving voice to students from diverse backgrounds, using poetry supported by simple yet very effective animations. These year 7 children with varied cultural heritages, different abilities and interests are being helped to see significant meaning in everyday life. This is important work that can be replicated in other places.

Sir Joseph Banks High School students are having their poetry turned into animation by a local filmmaker. Bankstown Youth Development Service (BYDS) facilitated the project. This is an arts based cultural development organisation located at the Bankstown Arts Centre. Watch this short video that demonstrates the power of language when grounded in the lives of these writers. The animations support the writing of these young poets and the work offers an insight into the way they see their everyday lives.

'Coming to Voice' from BYDS on Vimeo.

Thirteen students from year 7 worked with the Chief Editor of Westside Publications, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, to develop writing that was then animated by 2012 Shortcuts Film Festival winner Vinh Nguyen. Every year Westside Publications produces a series of Westside anthologies. These anthologies are the only ongoing literary journals that feature Western Sydney writers, visual artists and photographers.

A Great Collaboration

Photo courtesy Wiki Commons

The above video, called ‘Coming to Voice’ was screened for the first time at an assembly at Sir Joseph Banks High School on the 23rd August and launched on the BYDS website as a new web series. Principal of Sir Joseph Banks High School Brad Mitchell said the videos allowed the students to display their talent. He suggested that the production of the animated video is "...a fantastic way to showcase their work and share it with other students.”

“Our relationship with BYDS and Michael Mohammed continues to help foster the creativity and expression of our students in new and interesting ways, and we are extremely grateful for the support.” 

Michael Mohammed Ahmad said the project reflects the convergent nature of the publishing industry:

“I wanted to invest in a medium that was easier and more accessible than publishing but one that also maintained the same literary value that all our writing projects have had.”

 Other related posts on animation

'Film Making for Kids: Three Great Resources' HERE 

'25 Great Children's Apps to Stimulate Literacy, Learning & Creativity' HERE

Notable Children's Poetry Books in 2010

The Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in the USA exists to promote the centrality of literature for teaching children. Each year it publishes a list of 'Notable Children's Books' in 5 categories - poetry, historical and realistic fiction, fantasy/folklore, information books (including biography and autobiography), and picture books. The 2010 list was released recently (here). Rather than reviewing all five categories I thought that I'd focus on the poetry books.

The award committee reviewed approximately 90 books before naming 8 books as notable.  They have also listed a further 12 books in a recent review in the NCTE journal Language Arts.  One definition of poetry is that "it is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response".  However, the committee defines poetry more broadly in this way:

"Poetry is words and phrases that stretch our imaginations and make us dream of impossible things or unlikely worlds."

No matter how we define it, poetry can be enjoyed by people of all ages; and poetry for children, if written well, can be enjoyed just as much by the 80 year old as the 8 year old. The list of notable poetry books is a wonderful collection of varied ways to draw together a collection of poems. Some are written by a single poet, others are written by many poets, one is an illustrated version of a well-known poem written almost 90 years ago and all use varied poetic forms.

The 2010 Notables

1. Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings (2009) by Douglas Florian. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This is a collection of 20 poems about dinosaurs, including 'Tyrannosaurus Rex', 'Spinosaurus', 'Seismosaurus' and even the 'Minmi'. Now I grew up near the town of Minmi in the state of New South Wales Australia, but this dinosaur was first found near Minmi Crossing in the state of Queensland. "What's the Minmi's BIGGEST claim to fame? It has the smallest dinosaur name".  Any boy (or girl for that matter) will love these poems and the beautiful illustrations that use collage, coloured pencils, dust, stamps and brown paper. 


2. Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems (2009) by Georgia Heard. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

This novel book consists of 32 list poems by 24 separate poets.  It covers topics as diverse as the seasons, shooting stars and frogs.  The book was inspired by Walt Whitman’s famous list poem, “Song of Myself”. The collection parallels the school year and the school day with poems that children will relate to whether reading them or listening to them.  Here's one in the collection by Georgia Heard, the compiler of the collection.

'Recipe for Writing An Autumn Poem'

by Georgia Heard

One teaspoon wild geese.

One tablespoon red kite.

One cup wind song.

One pint trembling leaves.

One quart darkening sky.

One gallon north wind.

3. The Tree that Time Built (2009) by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston. Illustrated by Barbara Fortin. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

This unusual book manages to combine poetry and science. It offers a perspective from the planet's beginnings millions of years ago, through the age of dinosaurs right to the present. It uses an evolutionary cycle to tell the story of Darwin and his theories in poetic form. It was published in the bicentennial year of Darwin's birth. It contains over 100 poems and is accompanied by a CD with 44 poems read by 20 poets.

4.  My People (2009) by Langston Hughes. Illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This book is based on the famous poem written by James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902-1967), the African American poet, novelist and playwright, short story writer and columnist. This 33 word poem was first published in 1923. Charles Smith (who is a photographer and poet) decided to produce a modern illustrated edition of the poem for children and was inspired both by the poem and Langston's reason for writing it. In the Afterword to the book, Smith shares that "Langston wrote the poem to celebrate the pride he had for his black brothers and sisters in the late 1920s, when blacks were not acknowledged much in society”. Here it is:

The night is beautiful,

So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,

So the eyes of my people

Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

The design of the book is very effective. It consists of double-page spreads that have a black background and contain a brief segment of the poem in large letters (mostly a tan colour) and photographs. These are typically lively and sepia-toned close-up images of people. The focus is always on the faces of real people that project varied emotions (but often smiles and joy), and that complement the power of the words. Smith comments that he decided "...to show that like any other group of people, black people come in all shapes, sizes, shades, and ages, and that each of us is unique." He achieves this with great distinction!

5.  Looking Like Me (2009) by Walter Dean Myers.  Illustrated by Chris Myers. New York: Egmont.

This book is a celebration in poetry of people of all kinds - athletes, writers, dancers, readers, writers, talkers, dreamers, artists, brothers and sisters. Walter Myers' strong message is that we are all different and should be prepared to celebrate our diversity and uniqueness. The illustrations and words complement each other beautifully, a key quality of a great picture book.

Chris Myers illustrates his father’s poetry using mixed media with vibrant colours like red, yellow and purple. Each of the people in each poem is shown in silhouette allowing the reader to more easily project themselves into each poem.

6. Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World (2009) by Marilyn Nelson. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Penguin.

'Sweethearts of Rhythm' was the first integrated all women's band in the USA.  It played swing music and was formed in the late 1930s. The singers all attended the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi, which was for poor and orphaned African Americans. It was formed to raise money for the school, but it was so good that it eventually toured the whole country and played to massive crowds.

The band is the focus of the book, and its story is told through a set of rhythmic poems that are written in the varied voices of the instruments. Jerry Pinkney's illustrations add further richness with brilliant collages made from textured paper, including music, maps and even flowers, which overlay sketches that use watercolour, coloured pencil and graphite. The book also includes author and illustrator notes, a bibliography, and a list of related films, recordings and websites.


7. A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems (2009) by Deborah Ruddell. Illustrated by Joan Rankin. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This collection of 22 poems about forest animals written by Deborah Ruddell and illustrated by Joan Rankin will be a winner with younger readers. Ruddell's poetry focuses on the lives of rich animal characters that do many things. There is a poem that compares coyotes to carol singers, one in which a badger is writing a love poem, and there is a toad that tells of its ruined lunch.

"But I made a mistake

with the slug-on-a-stick–

a smidgen too salty–

and now I feel sick." 

The book is well designed, using a large bold font for the words and beautiful integration of text and image. Ruddell's poems are a riot of word play that are enriched by Rankin's magical watercolour illustrations. Children will love reading it or listening to others read them.




8. Red Sings from Treetops: A year of Colors (2009) by Joyce Sidman. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

As well as appearing now on the CLA notable list, this book of poetry was named earlier in the year as one of the 2010 Caldecott Honour books. Zagarenski’s playful illustrations support and enrich Sidman’s wonderful poetry as she explores the seasons and their colours.

Colour is hardly a new topic for poetry, so both author and illustrator needed something special to gain the attention of judges. Zagarenski uses computer illustration and mixed media paintings on wood. These combine rich textures, varied graphic elements, stylised figures and rich colours. Sidman describes each season of the year with a series of poems that sometimes use the predictable colours of the season (e.g. green for spring), but sometimes she uses colours that surprise you. The scenes in word and illustration offer many a surprise (just like the seasons) as a red bird flies above singing the seasons. The book 'dazzles' with its economical use of words and wonderful illustrations. A bit like the colour white really:

"White dazzles day
and turns night
inside out."

This book is a wonderful blend of exquisite wordsmithing and stunning illustrations.

Summing Up

Many teachers and parents neglect poetry, here is an opportunity to seek out some of the best that have been published in recent times.

Other Relevant Posts

You can see a list of all my posts on children's literature HERE.