Poetry Book Review - Biographical Poem

George Washington’s Teeth

by Deborah Chandra & Madeleine Comora

Brock Cole (Illustrator)

Introduction
Bring in small jars of baby food and share with students, having them taste with plastic spoons. Remind them this is the type of food one has to eat when one has no teeth to chew with! Eeewww! Then read aloud this humorous “tongue-in-cheek” poetic dental history of our first president.

 Excerpt:

Poor George had two teeth in his mouth

The day the votes came in.

The people had a President,

But one afraid to grin.

From battling toothaches while fighting the British, to having rotten teeth removed by his dentists, the Father of Our Country suffered all his life with tooth problems. Yet, contrary to popular belief, he never had a set of wooden teeth. Starting at the age of twenty-four, George Washington lost on average a tooth a year, and by the time he was elected President, he had only two left! In this reverentially funny tale written in verse and based on Washington’s letters, diaries, and other historical records, readers will find out what really happened as they follow the trail of lost teeth to complete “tooflessness.”

Illustrated in watercolors with subtle humor by Brock Cole, the main story is followed by a four-page time line featuring reproduced period portraits of Washington.

Extension
Since you will probably have plenty of baby food left over, have children mix the food with bird seed and spread the resulting paste on bread slices. Place the slices outside where the birds can find them and within sight of a window, if possible, so the children can watch other creatures without teeth eat!

Another good biographical poem choice:

Rough, Tough Charley

by Verla Kay

Charley was rough. Charley was tough. Charley wore fancy gloves.

This picture book biography tells in spare rhyme the story of Charley Parkhurst, one of the most respected stagecoach drivers in the Old West, who lived a life without limits – and who kept a startling secret.

 

Chandra, Deborah & Madeleine Comora. 2003. George Washington’s Teeth. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Kay, Verla. 2007. Rough, Tough Charley. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press. 

Poetry Break - Poetry Across the Curriculum

Arithme-tickle: An Even Number of Odd Riddle-Rhymes

By J. Patrick Lewis

Introduction
Play a math guessing game with children. Tell them you are thinking of a number – the same number as planets in the solar system, for example. After they have experienced some success at solving this type of problem, read the following poem.

A Regular Riddle

What’s the number of points on a regular star,

Less the number of wheels on a regular car,

Plus the number of teeth in a regular mouth,

Less the number of states that begin with South,

Plus the number of paws on a malamute,

Plus the number of pants in a birthday suit,

Less the number of 17 brown bears’ thumbs?

Easy, if you know your regular sums.

Extension
Have children make up their own Arithme-riddle as a group project. Ask them to think of lines while you write them on a board or chart paper. Assemble the lines into a pleasing arrangement, then have them figure out the arithmetic answer to the riddle.

Answer: 5-4+32-2+4+0-34=1

Another excellent poetry book to use when studying history:

Voices of the Alamo

by Sherry Garland

Poems in different voices reflecting the perspectives of many men and women - Indian, Mexican, Spanish, Texan, and American - recount the history of the Alamo from the 1500s to the present.

Lewis, J. Patrick. 2002. Arithme-tickle. New York: Harcourt.

Garland, Sherry. 2000. Voices of the Alamo. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing.

Poetry Break - Spring Poem

Spring Song

By Barbara Seuling

Introduction
Discuss with children what are some of the signs of winter ending and spring arriving. What do some of the local animals and plants do when the weather begins to warm up?
Display pictures or samples of twigs with new leaves, a bird’s nest with egg, flowering tree branch, etc.

When the snow melts
and rushes down the mountainside,
what does the black bear do?
Wakes up to greet
a swimming treat.

When the sun warms
the hard ground and makes it soft,
what do moles do?
Dig a new row
of tunnels below.

When breezes stir
the air in woodland burrows,
what do striped skunks do?
Leave their den,
to roam again.

When tall reeds grow
across the marshy wetlands,
what do bullfrogs do?
Croak the night long,
their mating song.

When buds appear
on the cottonwood trees,
what do eagles do?
Build a high nest,
where newborns will rest.

When new grass grows
in the sunny meadow,
what do rabbits do?
Hop all over
in the clover.

When cocoons burst
open and release their prize,
what do people do?
Come out to cheer,
for spring is here!

Extension
Go on a scavenger hunt outside to find signs of spring or have children look around their own yards and bring in items for sharing the following day. A possible artistic response activity might be to have children choose an animal or plant and create a picture showing what it does in the spring.

Another fun spring picture book poem:

Splish, Splash, Spring

by Jan Carr

Seuling, Barbara. 2001. Spring Song. New York: Gulliver Books/Harcourt.

Carr, Jan. 2001. Splish, Splash, Spring. New York: Holiday House.