Joseph has written a number of essays for teachers, parents, and writers. They have been published in newspapers and national magazines. The following essay was published in Once Upon A Time magazine (Spring 2005) for children's writers and illustrators, but what he says about the writing process and what he did in the classroom is particularly meaningful for teachers.
If you were to ask this elementary teacher of thirty-three years what type of poetry has the biggest impact on students, the thumbs up winner is light verse. Light verse is defined as "poetry that is playful or humorous and usually rhymed." If we extend the umbrellas of "light verse" to include such poetry as what we find in the late Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends or Falling Up, which is full of quirks, surprise rhymes, and free verse, then light verse is music to soul of most elementary students.
Children love the poetry books of Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Judith Viorst, Bruce Lansky, Jeff Moss, and Kalli Dakoa. At first glance their poems look easy to write. Just pick a topic — any topic — from apples to zebras, and write a poem. You don't have to worry inordinately about the rhyme scheme, as long as the words make sense and sound good being read. Don't forget to cash in on some of our six senses, use interesting word patterns and line endings to distinguish your work.
Oh, yes, when writing these poems, poets draw heavily from the palette of their essential tools — similes, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia. Of course, whether the poet is a professional or a student, it will take more than one sitting or class period to finish a polished poem — that is, one worthy of posting or publication. Although it may seem easy to create a short or even medium size poem, we know it isn't. Expensive gifts frequently come in small boxes, just like short gems of poetry. Many hours can be poured into the making of a short poem that sparkles. Don't be fooled by the number of lines. Light verse, in the hands of those who love it, is a labor of love. Much time will be spent picking the right words, metaphors, and more.
When done well, light verse is lightning verse. Crack! Snap! Crack! Words comes out of the writer's dark gray mind, ignited by a piece of conversation, an old photo or whatever sizzles, and they explode across the yellow paper or the well lit monitor, shocking the poet into paying attention to the cosmic images, voices, and feelings! Words are written or typed with zest that tell a little story or communicate with humor the joys and challenges of being a child. For example, this is from Picture Poetry On Parade!, "My ABCs Riddle":
My ABCs are sticky.
My ABCs are icky.
My ABCs are germy.
My ABCs are a janitor's nightmare.
My ABCs are found on desktops,
Chairs, floors, and more.
My ABCs,
have you guessed
them by now?
I bet you have —
Already Been Chewed gum.
Good poetry sticks to our dendrites, and we never forget the likes of Silverstein's Hector the Collector or Captain Hook, or what it is like to be in class with Lansky's Gloria, who has a king-sized zit.
When I taught grades three and four, I used light verse to open the door in my room to the wonderful world of poetry and writing. I had many students who couldn't wait to have me for a teacher because they had heard from the grapevine or their older sibling that kids in my class had it easy. Kids in my class wrote "short things" — that is, polished poems. And they had "long recesses" — that is, a few extra minutes of oxygen on the playground after lunch. Each year they marched in with high hopes of short things and more oxygen, and I never disappointed them. They earned those extra those extra gasps of fresh air by writing their hearts out in the classroom.
Posted on my classroom door in September was Silverstein's poem "Invitation." In case they didn't notice it when they walked in, I made a big deal of reading it in my best voice before opening announcements and lunch count. Oh, how their eyes twinkled when they realized this teacher had only two things on the immediate agenda — poems and recess! And everyone was welcomed, "including liars and magic bean buyers!" They knew instantly this was going to be a special year.
What they didn't know was that they were going to write and write, while learning to appreciate good children's literature, prose and poetry. Light verse wasn't just used on day one to reduce first day jitters. It was used to get the poetry wheel of good fortune and teaching rolling.
We each wrote our "Name Poem" in acrostics and illustrated them with magic markers. Then we introduced ourselves and our poems to the class.
In the afternoon we wrote eight statements, four true, four false, and put them in any order, thus making our second poem of the day, "Truths and Lies."
They laughed with delight at their lies and what fun it was to be a writer — to tell the truth, to tell a whopper, and to be the only one to know the difference. Writers have such power at the end of their pencil points, especially those that write with lightning verse.
Joseph Sottile, a semi-retired teacher in upstate New York who writes essays for adults and poetry for children. His 112-page poetry book for kids 7 and up, Picture Poetry On Parade!, can be previewed at www.booklocker.com. He tutors students for the Gates Chili Central School District and visits classrooms to read poetry. He says, "Poetry is music to the sole, no matter what size foot."