Here are the five poems for week three:
- Dream Variations – Langston Hughes
- The Bat – Theodore Roethke
- Did I Miss Anything? – Tom Wayman
- Blackberry Eating – Galway Kinnell
- Casey at the Bat – Ernest Thayer
I pulled the other two poems from books I have. There is a series of books of poetry for children, and I selected “Dream Variations” from the one on Langston Hughes. It is titled Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes, edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad. “Blackberry Eating” came from A Poem for Every Day! by Susan Moger.
Sadly Waiting for Recess 
The Bat struck me as a poem your kids could enjoy, but it seems somewhat more basic than the others you have listed. I don’t have a handle on their abilities yet. Somehow, I think they are probably
Did I Miss Anything was simply delightful. If I was a teacher, it would be required reading every year.
Casey at the Bat was an old favorite I hadn’t read in years. This was the first time I’d read it with a poet’s eye, and there is so much more to it when looking at its construction instead of just listening to it.
I found Dream Variations and Blackberry Eating on the internet along with analyses. My education continues.
Oh, if I could only sit in a classroom again–I wouldn’t miss a thing.
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Mike, thank you for the detailed reply. I’m definitely going for a variety of poems, some that are clearly just fun, others with some depth or mystery to them. It helps that others have thought about this before me. I definitely choose poems that I think work well read aloud; that’s a big criteria. I have to enjoy reading it.
Yeah, I love “Did I Miss Anything?” I wish I’d written it.
Richard
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A friend gave me a book for my birthday: “The 100 Best Poems of All Time.” Some you’ve chosen already in these first three weeks are found within its pages. I, like Mike (who has beaten me to the punch), would love to be in the classroom again–especially under the tutelage of someone like you! Thanks again for continuing to post so we all can learn! 🙂
~Paula
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Paula, thanks. What a lovely gift that book sounds like. I’ll have to look for that one. Feel free to suggest poems that appeal to you. What we like as adults appeal to kids as well; some things are just universal. And thanks for the continuing encouragement.
Richard
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