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From: Nina A Lindsay <NALINDSA>
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 97 17:49 CST
I've been holding back on this month's discussion, because I usually have too much to say about poetry -- but here we go, the dam's bursting. Mark and Megan, I've especially enjoyed your comments. I'll put another plug in for a collection that Megan mentioned: "Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" by Nikki Giovanni. It's nothing that I've ever seen before in anthologies for kids
--Giovanni's personal and particular reactions to the poems affirm the voice of the individual as a necessary part of history. She invites kids to believe in what they feel when they read a poem -- and to share it. And this, in itself, is the poetic process, as I've always seen it: being courageous enough to share your individual vision. Poetry gives us a mechanism for that -- a place where we're allowed to say things we're not otherwise allowed to say, to propose the improbable, affirm the potential of what yet only exists in the imagination, and to say it in ways not otherwise sanctioned.
Sometimes, this is as simple as just being silly with words, as in most of Jack Prelutsky's masterful verses. Humor -- ridiculous, bawdy, or gross -- is an essential outlet for kids; and, for younger kids, the best way to get them used to the idea of poetry, since they do tend to just walk away from anything beyond their grasp. As a primary school librarian, I have to stifle the urge to use poetry that would be best for middle schoolers, and stick to Jack and his colleagues. But, as others of you who sneak in poetry wherever you can, when I come across something particularly good that I don't think I can share with an entire class, I write it up on a large bristol pad reserved for this use, and post it on a convenient empty space on the library bulletin board, where anyone who needs to find it may. I just got my first comment about one of these poems the other day -- from the janitor.
Poetry is revolutionary. It turns the tables on everything. It allows everyone, in their own life, to experience change that is frighteningly wonderful. For kids especially, it allows them to change: to like, to dislike, to be a singular person. As librarians and teachers, it is difficult to find the right poem for each kid, but it is that much more rewarding all round.
Nina Lindsay Albany Unified School District Albany, CA
Home:431A Avon street Oakland, CA 94618
nalindsa at macc.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 20 Feb 1997 05:49:00 PM CST
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 97 17:49 CST
I've been holding back on this month's discussion, because I usually have too much to say about poetry -- but here we go, the dam's bursting. Mark and Megan, I've especially enjoyed your comments. I'll put another plug in for a collection that Megan mentioned: "Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" by Nikki Giovanni. It's nothing that I've ever seen before in anthologies for kids
--Giovanni's personal and particular reactions to the poems affirm the voice of the individual as a necessary part of history. She invites kids to believe in what they feel when they read a poem -- and to share it. And this, in itself, is the poetic process, as I've always seen it: being courageous enough to share your individual vision. Poetry gives us a mechanism for that -- a place where we're allowed to say things we're not otherwise allowed to say, to propose the improbable, affirm the potential of what yet only exists in the imagination, and to say it in ways not otherwise sanctioned.
Sometimes, this is as simple as just being silly with words, as in most of Jack Prelutsky's masterful verses. Humor -- ridiculous, bawdy, or gross -- is an essential outlet for kids; and, for younger kids, the best way to get them used to the idea of poetry, since they do tend to just walk away from anything beyond their grasp. As a primary school librarian, I have to stifle the urge to use poetry that would be best for middle schoolers, and stick to Jack and his colleagues. But, as others of you who sneak in poetry wherever you can, when I come across something particularly good that I don't think I can share with an entire class, I write it up on a large bristol pad reserved for this use, and post it on a convenient empty space on the library bulletin board, where anyone who needs to find it may. I just got my first comment about one of these poems the other day -- from the janitor.
Poetry is revolutionary. It turns the tables on everything. It allows everyone, in their own life, to experience change that is frighteningly wonderful. For kids especially, it allows them to change: to like, to dislike, to be a singular person. As librarians and teachers, it is difficult to find the right poem for each kid, but it is that much more rewarding all round.
Nina Lindsay Albany Unified School District Albany, CA
Home:431A Avon street Oakland, CA 94618
nalindsa at macc.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 20 Feb 1997 05:49:00 PM CST
