What a pleasure to take part in the After Dark blog tour. After Dark is a picture book of amazing illustrations by Stephanie Laberis and intriguing poems by David Harrison. Publication date is tomorrow, Feb. 25th. Read more about David and his many books here.
David’s poems explore the lives of nocturnal animals. In the end pages you can find more information about each animal. With my students, I started with the end pages. I asked them to select two animals they were interested in. We read the facts and then the poem. “Look for ways the poet wove the facts in with poetic language.” We noticed elements like rhyming, slant rhyme, alliteration, repetition, and others.
This reading and talking piqued our interest in finding out more. I gave students the option to select the same animal or another one to research using Wonderopolis.
Breighlynn wanted to learn more about songbirds. Earlier in the week we had discussed allusion and at the beginning of the month, we read about Maya Angelou. I love seeing all of these lessons come together in Breighlynn’s poem.
The song of a songbird
Breighlynn, 4th grade
the morning alarm.
Their vibrant colors
just like a rainbow.
The smallest of birds
make the loudest of songs.
Now,
I know why the caged bird sings.
After reading this David Harrison poem about the gray wolf, A.J. wrote a poem contrasting wolves to dogs.
Wolves,
never tamed,
they can’t be blamed.Dogs,
youngly trained,
though restrained.Wolves,
running free,
free as can be.Dogs,
A. J. , 6th grade
fun won’t end,
with man’s best friend.
One of my students asked what was the word for animals who are awake during the day. On a Wonderopolis page, we discovered the word diurnal. In the poem, No Fooling (about the raccoon), David uses assonance, creating slant rhyme. I decided to try out this element in my own poem: Where do Birds Go at Night?
Where Do Birds Go at Night?
At first light, I hear their chatter
flitting about our courtyard feeder.But once the air of dawn is gone,
I wonder where the birds have flown.Most birds are diurnal
living their life all day,
but where do they go
once the sun goes down?
Only nocturnal birds hang around.Some birds find a hole big enough to squeeze in.
Others, like the heron, want some mud to wade in.
Flocks of blackbirds roost in bunches
finding their nighttime safety in numbers.Every time you go to sleep,
Margaret Simon, draft 2020
wonder where the birds may be.
This post is part of a blog tour. The publisher has offered a free book for comments on this post. I will draw at random from commenters and post the winner’s name on Friday, Feb. 28th on my Poetry Friday post. Please leave a comment by Thursday, Feb. 27th. Winner must live in the continental U.S.
Check out other posts to hear more about this book.
Writing and Illustrating
Beyond Literacy Link
Read, Learn, and be Happy
Poetry for Children
Teacher Dance
Michelle Kogan
Salt City Verse
Reflections on the Teche 