Poetry Break: "The Little Blue Engine" by Shel Silverstein

Introduction
Tell the story (or read a version) of the Little Engine That Could. Then follow up with this version that ends differently. Focus on the refrain ("I think I can, I think I can , I think I can.") It plays up to the "unexpected" ending. The students will have fun joining in on the refrain, chanting "I think I can" together.

The Little Blue Engine
by Shel Silverstein

The little blue engine looked up at the hill.
His light was weak, his whistle was shrill.
He was tired and small, and the hill was tall,
And his face blushed red as he softly said,
"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

So he started up with a chug and a strain,
And he puffed and pulled with might and main.
And slowly he climbed, a foot at a time,
And his engine coughed as he whispered soft,
"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

With a squeak and a creak and a toot and a sigh,
With an extra hope and an extra try,
He would not stop--now he neared the top--
And strong and proud he cried out loud,
"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!"

He was almost there, when--CRASH! SMASH! BASH!
He slid down and mashed into engine hash
On the rocks below...which goes to show
If the track is tough and the hill is rough,
THINKING you can just ain't enough!

[from Where the Sidewalk Ends: 30th Anniversary Edition (2004, HarperCollins)]

Extension
Ask students which story they agree with. Do they believe anything is possible if a person wants it enough? Or do they believe there are some obstacles which just can't be overcome?

Focusing on refrain, challenge students to find other poems with refrains.

Poetry Review: BRAINJUICE: SCIENCE, FRESH-SQUEEZED by Carol Diggory Shields

Shields, Carol Diggory. 2003. Brainjuice: Science, Fresh Squeezed! Ill. by Richard Thompson. New York: Handprint Books.

Carol Diggory Shields opens her collection of poems with a letter to the elementary school science teacher who inspired her, in which she espouses, "No more 25-pound textbooks to lug to and from school! No more memorizing! No more charts and graphs!"

This collection of forty-one short poems takes a light but factual look at the often mind-boggling subject of science, including the fields of earth and space science, life science, chemistry, and physics. The brief format of the poems distills the main concepts, getting to the essence of each topic. Humor, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, repetition, and other poetic devices make the information fun to discuss and easy to remember. A few of the poems parody familiar children's songs and rhymes. For example, Shields turns "Itsy Bitsy Spider" into a lesson about the water cycle: "Out came the sun, / Dried up all the rain, / Which drifted high as vapor, / Forming clouds again."

Green banners across the tops of the pages give suggestions for sharing the poem: "To be sung to the accompaniment of a battered acoustic guitar. Chords: G, C, and D," (for "Inside of Old Smokey," a poem about volcanoes); factoids: "One bee can fly around the world fueled by two tablespoons of honey"; and mnemonic devices: "The stages of cell mitosis: 'Purple Monsters Are Terrifying.' (Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase)." Richard Thompson's cartoon ink drawings display wry humor and add to the overall enjoyment. A title-index by section in the back gives an overview of the contents.

This book is great for both budding and reluctant scientists. It offers poems on a wide range of scienctific topics, and teachers and librarians will find it a valuable source of poems to introduce topics, extend them, or just provide a poetry break.

Poetry Break: "March" by Bobbi Katz

Introduction
Ask students to share what they know about the seasons and the things or activities they associate with each season, especially winter and spring. This poem lends itself to a multiple-voice reading, so ask for volunteers, if you choose. Divide the poem into parts for the readers. One option is Part 1: "March is...SNOW"; Part 2: "and March is....mitt"; Part 3: "two palms...bat"; Part 4: "and ten fingers...higher!" Make sure all students have their own copy of the poem to read.

March
by Bobbi Katz

March is
when a cheerleader
no longer 
      cartwheels
   inside your chest
 because the forecast is
"SNOW"
  and
March is
when your hands begin to dream:
one hand dreams
 about being a fist
   thumping
 into the soft leather cup
   of a baseball mitt;
two palms dream
about closing around a wooden bat;
and ten fingers dream
 about the pull of the wind
  as it catches a kite
   and carries it high in the sky
    and even higher! 

[from Once Around the Sun by Bobbi Katz. (Harcourt Children's Books, 2006 )]

Extension
Invite children to share their reactions to the poem and talk about the images springtime pursuits. Give them paper to draw other images they think of when they think of spring. Point out that this poem shows us what our body parts (hands) associate with spring and invite them to think about how our mouths, feet, skin, ears, noses, etc., might experience it. (Ex. Our mouths taste cold, sweet popsicles. Our noses smell freshly cut grass, newly blooming flowers, or the earthy smell of rain.)

Poetry Review: TRUE BELIEVER by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Wolff, Virginia Euwer. 2001. True Believer. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Fifteen-year-old LaVaughn is growing up, and in the process, she must deal with her crush on Jody, the boy who lives three floors below her; her mother's new dating situation; growing away from her friends; and working toward getting out of her squalid apartment and the housing projects.

A National Book Award winner and Michael L. Printz honor book, True Believer is the second book in Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade trilogy about spunky urban teenager LaVaughn, whose story she tells in powerful first-person, free verse poetry. LaVaughn is a richly developed character: sensitive yet strong, bright yet confused. Amid concerns about sexuality, she and her friends Myrtle and Annie vow to save themselves for their "right husband / when he comes along." The life-long friends begin to grow apart, however, when Myrtle and Annie join the Cross Your Legs for Jesus club and LaVaughn does not: "And Cross Your Legs for Jesus seems like a good idea at first. / But it doesn't feel right / when I think about it."

Instead, LaVaughn decides to trust her own common sense and her plan to go to college, which drives her determination to stay away from the dream-killer of possible pregnancy or worse. She knows that college is her only hope of escaping the poverty and violence that define her current lifestyle. However, her focus is tested when Jody, a boy from her past, moves back into the projects. "He is suddenly beautiful," she says. He makes "my heart too loud for comfort / and my brain not so level either." Meanwhile, she's placed on a more rigorous academic track at school, which separates her even further from her friends, and her mother begins dating for the first time since LaVaughn's father's death when she was a baby.

Through LaVaughn's candid reflections, Wolff creates a strong sense of voice and shows us the innermost doubts and fears of adolescents, thoughts that most young people keep deeply hidden but that everyone has had. The art of her poetry is her ability to put words together in surprising and refreshing ways. My favorite phrases include "My throat was full of heartbeat," "In gym, Myrtle & Annie were so sideways to me, / their private looks detoured around me," and "my whole body went twang." With a subtle but clever substitution, Wolff highlights LaVaughn's isolation from her friends stylistically by always replacing the conjunction "and" with an ampersand when referring to Myrtle and Annie: "Me and Myrtle & Annie could say 1,000 examples." They become inextricably tied together by the ampersand, leaving LaVaughn disconnected from the friendship.

True Believer is a poignant coming-of-age verse novel with a hopeful message about succeeding despite the odds. Some sensitive subject matter makes this book most appropriate for high school and upper junior high/middle school grades.