This short book consists of poems that a student writes as
part of a poetry unit in his classroom.
All of Jack’s narrations are in poetry form and show his development as
he learns more about poetry. His
narrative poems reflect on other famous poems that he has learned in class and
even develop throughout the story with his poetic form and word-choice. In the book, he is inspired by a poem
by Walter Dean Meyers, and his teacher convinces Jack to write to Meyers asking
him to pay a visit to their school.
When Meyers does come to visit, he writes him a thank-you letter, which
is, of course, a poem. At the end
of the book, Jack’s most prized and hidden poem is published on a page for the
readers to finally see, which is a poem about his dog written in the same form
as his favorite poem by Meyers.
Also, all of the famous poems alluded to in Jack’s narrative are
available to read.
I think that this book would be perfect to read in a poetry
unit. It would probably be most
appropriate for the sixth grade just because it is such a quick and easy
read. This book has many teachable
qualities for a poetry unit. Not
only is the entire book written in free-verse poetry, but different types and
forms of poetry are slowly introduced to the book, which would be a fantastic opportunity
to introduce these ideas to students.
Additionally, the frequent connections to other famous poetry would give
teachers a chance to read those poems as well along the way and discuss them as
Jack does. The way that this book
develops is almost perfect for breaking it up into different lessons that can
follow the new information that Jack is introduced to in class. This book would be a great tool for
teaching poetry to students!
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