poetry Archives - Page 276 of 277

The Swamp Where Gator Hides
by Marianne Berkes (Author) and Roberta Baird (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Under the algae that carpets the swamp, near the duck who paddles in ooze, close to the turtle who takes a snooze . . . hides a gator! Still as a log, only his watchful eyes can be seen. But when gator moves, he really moves! What happens to the duck, the turtle, the egret, the deer, and the many other critters of the swamp when gator makes his move?

Snippet:
This is the sunfish
who scoots away
when Gator comes out
to catch his prey.

WHO WILL HE HAVE FOR LUNCH TODAY?

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization This poem is written as a cumulative tale, a story that uses the This Is The House That Jack Built pattern. Each new creature is introduced with “This is …”

This is the sunfish

The second pattern in this rhyming picture book is seen in the end rhyme. The words at the end of the second and fourth lines rhyme.

The second line ends with the word away:

who scoots away

and the fourth line ends with the word prey:

to catch his prey.

Trait: Word Choice To make a rhyming pattern work, you need to choose your words carefully. The words away and prey aren’t spelled the same, but the sound in the final syllable is the same. Both words end with the long a sound. So does the word at the end of the final line on this page:

WHO WILL HE HAVE FOR LUNCH TODAY?

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by The Opposite of Indifference.

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue
by Robert Burleigh (Author) and Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Booktalk: In the icy waters of the Pacific, a massive humpback whale unexpectedly finds herself tangled in a net abandoned by fishermen. When a rescue boat and a convoy of divers arrive to help the struggling humpback, a realistic and moving encounter bridges the human and aquatic worlds.

Snippet:
The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

TrappedSpread

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization The title of the book, Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue, sets up the way the book will be organized. We know what will happen just by reading the title. The whale will be trapped and then rescued.

This excerpt appears on the page after the whale becomes trapped in the forgotten fishing net. Notice how the events unfold in chronological order.

The sound comes first.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.

Then we find out more about that sound.

Rescuers.

At the end of the second line comes that essential, emotional question.

Are they too late?

And then the rescue begins . . .

Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

Trait: Organization There is another organization pattern at work in this book. Notice how the text is organized into three line units.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

Organizing text into a predetermined number of lines is a poetic device. The Poetry Foundation Glossary defines it this way:
Tercet
“A poetic unit of three lines, rhymed or unrhymed.”

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Keri Recommends.