Embedded Files
Poetry is a kind of writing in which sound, meaning, rhythm and form combine to create an experience of feeling and emotion. Poetry is a game played with words.
Poetry is meant to be read out loud.
Poetry is meant to be experienced, not just read.
It is meant to be felt and performed.
We bring the poem to life when we put energy into the reading of the poem.
King Poetry Anthology
King Poetry Anthology
The Last Word by Nikki Grimes
Harlem by Langston Hughes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tt3eSLMHz8WioqRy16TkLlHTUp_EXFOxEXgkmdklUW8/edit?usp=sharing
Poetry Quotes.pdfPoetry Quotes
Poetry Quotes
Ten Great Poetry Books in the King Library Collection
The Addison Street Anthology: Berkeley’s Poetry Walk. Edited by Robert Hass and Jessica Fisher.
Call Number: 811.008 ADD
“The Addison Street Anthology is a collection of poems, translations of poems, and song lyrics that reflect something of the social and literary history of Berkeley” (From the Introduction).
Poetry is all around us, and here in Berkeley it is literally at our feet. On Addison Street, between Shattuck and Milvia, there are over a hundred poems set into tiles on the sidewalk. Although the poems stand on their own, this book collects the poems together with background information on the poets.
Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry. Selected and Edited by Billy Collins.
Call Number: 811 COL
Poetry 180 is a collection of poems that are meant to be read, one each day, over the course of a school year. This anthology is the result of a project designed by Billy Collins during his tenure as the Poet Laureate of the United States. See also the Poetry 180 website.
Americans’ Favorite Poems: The Favorite Poem Project Anthology. Edited by Robert pinsky and Maggie Dietz.
Call Number: 808.81 AME
The Favorite Poem Project is another collection based on a Library of Congress project. The anthology contains the poems themselves, along with comments by the ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) Americans who selected them. See also the Favorite Poem Project website.
My Letter to the World and Other Poems. By Emily Dickinson.
Call Number: 811 DIC
This is a short introduction to Emily Dickinson’s poetry, presenting the poems with stunning illustrations. Part of the Visions in Poetry series that also includes The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe; Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll; and Casey at the Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East. By Naomi Shihab Nye.
Call Number: 811 NYE
Canto Familiar. By Gary Soto.
Call Number: 811 SOT
Gary Soto shares his experience of growing up in his Mexican American neighborhood of Fresno, California.
Poetry for Young People. This is a series of books that present a collection of poems by important poets alongside beautiful illustrations that help to bring the poems alive. Poets in the series include: Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and Walt Whitman.
Call Number: 811 DIC (for Dickinson)
811 FRO (for Frost)
811 WHI (for Whitman)
I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry.
Edited by Catherine Clinton; Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn.
Call Number: 811 ITO
A collection of poems by 25 poets spanning three centuries, exploring the challenges, hopes and dreams of living as an African American. Poets include Phyllis Wheatley, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker.
The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa. Edited and with verse translations by Robert Hass.
Call Number: 895.6 ESS
A wonderful introduction to the spare and simple, but very deep and reflective poetry form of haiku.
The old pond--
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.
-Basho
Novels in verse:
Novels in verse:
Several authors write novels in verse; that is, their novel is composed of chapters that are written as poems that go together to tell the story. By using poetic lines the words take on more emphasis, and the reader is asked to read aloud, and pay more attention to the sound and the meaning of each word and line. Consider the difference between these two versions of the start of Kwame Alexander's The Crossover.
PROSE VERSION
Dribbling
At the top of the key, I'm moving and grooving, popping and rocking--Why you bumping? Why you locking? Man, take this thumping. Be careful though, 'cause now I'm crunking crisscrossing flossing flipping and my dribbling will leave you slipping on the floor, while I swoop in to the finish with a fierce finger roll...straight in the hole: Swoosh.
POETRY VERSION (Remember that poetry is meant to be read out loud--it is to be performed)
Dribbling
At the top of the key, I’m
MOVING & GROOVING,
POPping and ROCKING--
Why you BUMPING?
Why you LOCKING?
Man, take this THUMPING.
Be careful though,
‘Cause now I’m CRUNKing
CrissCROSSING
FLOSSING
Flipping
And my dipping will leave you
S
L
I
P
P
I
N
G on the floor, while I
SWOOP in
To the finish with a fierce finger roll…
Straight in the hole:
Swoooooooooooosh.
________________________________________________________________________________
Notice how Kwame Alexander uses larger type to emphasize certain words and sounds in the poem; he also breaks up the lines to get you to picture what you're reading; and he also creates visual meaning when he stretches out the words slipping and swoosh. He wants his words to feel like the action in a basketball game of a player dribbling and driving to the basket for a score, leaving the defender on the floor.
You can find novels in verse in our online catalog by doing a keyword search for "novels in verse"
Poetry Websites:
Poetry Websites:
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation has a website that allows searching for poems within different subjects and using key terms:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/browse/
Poetry 180
Poetry 180 is a project of the Library of Congress that collects a poem a day for the school year (c. 180 days)
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
Favorite Poem Project
Academy of American Poets
Poetry Page of the Library of Congress
Six-Word Memoirs
http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/
Poem Hunter
Poem Hunter allows searching for poems by subject, theme, and other terms:
Poetry: About.com
Poetry.org
Poetry Archive
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
The Poetry Experience is a self-contained activity that can be accomplished in an hour to an hour-and-a-half, depending on how much time is spent introducing poetry and sharing student poems. The goal is for students to see poetry as a game, and to play 3-4 poetry games in order to experience and feel how poetry is made.
Report abuse