Poetry Friday: Immersed in Verse by Allan Wolf

 

"We are all born with a little bit of poetry inside us."

- Alan Wolf

Alan Wolf's book, Immersed in Verse has a wonderful subtitle, An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life.   This is an interesting book to share with students who are po-folk (people who really like poetry), and to spark interest in the no-po (a non-poetry person) in your classroom (even if that no-po is you).  I recommend this book for intermediate and middle school classrooms.  I hope your library has a copy. If not, go ahead and ask the librarian to purchase it.  Your poetry section deserves to have this book on the shelf.  

This delightful book engages both students and teachers in the world of poetry.

• Check out Poetry & You (pgs. 9-11) to understand Wolf's three essential elements of a poet's life:  bloom, boom, and secret rooms.
• Take A Guided Tour on pgs. 14-19 to discover a diverse buffet of verse and to connect waffles to poems. 
• Don't miss The Nine Habits of Highly Successful Poets (pgs. 22-25).  My favorite is Habit #2: Don't be a naked fashion designer.  Balance your writing of poetry with other poetry experiences.
• Utilize Anatomy of a Poem (pgs. 41- 43) to guide students in writing a "Where I'm From" poem.  This is my go-to lesson plan for "Where I'm From" poems. 
• Learn about Poetic Devices with specific examples of each on pgs. 33-40 of Your Poetry Toolbox. 
• Explore many different kinds of poems and prompts in the Always Something to Write About section (pgs.  66-89). 
• Add "Ta Da!" to your poetry efforts by learning ways to present and share your work in the final section. 

Another book by Allan Wolf, The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts, was a favorite in my sixth grade classroom.  I've requested New Found Land which tells the story of Lewis and Clark in poetic form.  Do you have a favorite book of poems by Allan Wolf?
   
I'm thrilled to join this community of poetry lovers each Friday!  Head over to Renee LaTulippe's site, No Water River, for this week's roundup.