Blog Partner Discussion 6: Biography
http://jamaicablogpartners.blogspot.com/
Your personal response to the book
What genre you think it might be and why
( Read Check out descriptions of genres at:
http://www.edu.uleth.ca/currlab/handouts/genres.html
Evaluate its literary quality
Evaluate its illustrations
Evaluate in terms of multicultural considerations including the credibility of the author and illustrator
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BLOG 7: POETRY
ReplyDeleteComets,Stars,the Moon and Mars
Space poems and paintings by Douglas Florian
There was a total of 45 poems. I think the poems in this collection were very good. I couldn't help thinking that if i'd been exposed to planets and other celestial bodies in this way while i was in school i'd know so much more about planets now. I think it's an ideal way to get students to learn about celestial bodies.The facts about the celestial bodies were presented quite simply.I appreciated the poet's efforts at making connections outside the context of science and astronomy. For example, the connection made between the planet venus and the goddess Venus. Minor planets being connected to breakfast buns so children would have an idea of how small one could be.The poems were very short with just enough information to whet the appetite of the inquiring mind. Loved it!
I too share the same view Kimone I thought the book opens a lot of avenues for learning. It also presented the information in poetry form so it ican be easily recited by students there was so much that a child could learn about science from these forty five short poems.The book was book it was very informative
ReplyDeleteand i thought the literacry quality fits very well into the childrens world. Oh it was an experience of learning and gaining a mass of information about so many things in such a short read. I do agree that reading maketh a full man and the more you read the more you are able to contribute.
How about the genre? your thoughts.
There was a mix of poetry forms/patterns. They were mostly lyric poems as they were descriptive in nature and melodic or songlike. The poem entitled,"A Galaxy" was a concrete poem as the words were written in a spiral.It gave information about the varying shapes of galaxies and the accompanying pictures supported that. The poet tried as must to associate with objects that the reader could relate to. For example some are egg-shaped with an accompanying picture of a galaxy in the shape of an egg. Were you able to pick up any other forms of poetry in the poems?
ReplyDeleteYes I do notice many other forms of poems in the book a variety of poems in the book were rhymed verses example the poem on "pluto" pass rhymed with mass and admired rhymed with fired. another form i found in this book was an example of a free verse the contellations from the book is a good example of free verse as it relies on rhythm eg the first stanza "leo is alion , Leptus is a hare. I think the book was a very good example of a poetry collection.
ReplyDeleteThis book can be used to enhance students learning across content area in Science ans Social Studies in Primary and High school and even in college.
What I also liked was that even though the facts were presented there is a certain lightness about the presentation and I think that this is very integral to ensuring that even though the children are being taught some hard facts they still enjoy doing it and the process is fun. The poem,"Mars" for example adresses the notion that many children have been fed that martians come from Mars: "Mars has Martians... in your dreams".
ReplyDeleteThere are other instances of this, kind of lightheartedness.Experiences with poetry should be pleasurable. In the poem "Jupiter" for example the poet's language and style changes somewhat from purely informational.His langauge changes through the coinage of certain words such as "super-dupiter,jupiterrific". This is language that children can relate to as they often coin their own words to express themselves.
What do you think about the pictures in the poems?
I think the pictures in the poem depicts what the message the poet is trying to put across example Jupiter is Jumbo, Gigantic the picture shows a very large picture of the planet and its features for example its moons are evident and the names of the moons Even though the poems did not name the moons in the picture the names of all the moons were evident and their locations on the planet. Another beautiful example was saturn the picture gives a visual image of what the planet is like its features were visible.
ReplyDeleteCorrection Carlene there are 20 poems not 45!
ReplyDeleteI thought the pictures supported the poems well. They were very colourful, engaging and appealing. The poet is a stargazer this would account for the attention to details in the pictures.Onthepagesthere are little snipets of actual prints or drawings of the celestial bodies. In the first poem "The universe" there is a small piece of exposition probably from a text or newspaper, with the caption 'Mars in 1905'. I think this gives some amount of crebibility to the information. Overall the pictures are quite engaging and they help with retention of key information.I especially love the pictures accompanying the poem "The Constellations", there are outlines of the various animal representations of the constellations.
ReplyDeleteI too think the picture support the details in the poem. That was what i was trying to say before about the pictures and how they provide other information that were not mentioned in the poem. How about the author was he Credible? Was he a good choice to write poems for children ? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThe author's note only mentions that Douglas Florian lives in New York City with his wife and five children and that he is a stargazer. However I googled his name and found out that he is the acclaimed author and illustrator of over 30 children's books. He won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and received an ALA Notable Children' Book Award for Beast Feast.
ReplyDeleteDouglas has always believed that there are no rules with poetry (that’s his only rule). He plays on words, uses the wrong spelling and grammar on purpose, and makes up words. Although he loves to both paint and write, he doesn’t do them on the same day.
THUMBS UP FOR CREDIBLE!!!!
I give credit to Reading is Fundamental website that generated the information on this poet.
Good Job Thats the way to go we must research in order to collect valuable information.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful book to assist in recreating the love for poems.
I totally agree. EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF POEMS.
ReplyDeleteExcellent conversation about this poetry book. And great detective work on other books by Douglans Florian. I recommend them. Often they are quite humorous. Overall, very enjoyable discussion.
ReplyDelete