Children's LitBlog 2

I can't say how much fun I've been having reading over my Children's Lit students' latest project, a poetry folder, which is way different than I'm used to assigning. The creative writing teacher in me has always asked students to write their own poems (the idea being that if would-be teachers go through the process of writing their own poems, they'll be better equipped to teach poetry writing to their kids: a fine idea, I'm sure); this semester, my first time teaching Children't Literature for Teachers and Librarians (most of whom hope to teach at the elementary level), I asked them to do something perhaps more useful to them as teachers of reading. The project is simple (or so I thought, until a few students said it was a bit more difficult than they thought it would be, though very fun at the same time): collect from your childhood interactions with poetry or from your more recent experiences with poetry meant for children 20 pieces that would make up their Top 20 Children's Poems (for immediate use in their classrooms, beginning on day one!!!, or ELSE!!!!!). They'd include the bibliographic information and a brief note stating why they chose this poem and or how they will use it themselves to promote the love of poetry with their little ones when it's time. And boy, I've read some awesome poems, both new and old: from Mother Goose to J. Patrick Lewis, from Shel Silverstein to Janet Wong. Livingston and Prelutsky. Fletcher and Florian. Man, the expereince grading has been fantastic for me. It got there, for a while, though, that I'd gotten into it so much (you've got to understand that when I read poetry I actually read it aloud or aloud in my head, right), so it got to the point that I was reading other stuff that wasn't poetry (Stuart's Cape, for example, by Sara Pennypacker) and I was reading all rhythmy, you know. I couldn't get out of that wonderful funk. Please visit my Children's Lit students' blog (down down below on my blog) to read their choices and their notations. I promise, you'll enjoy them thoroughly. I did!