Customer Reviews

Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons

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This anthology is a valuable companion for any teacher who wants to incorporate poetry into their classroom. I love many of the selections, reading each poem either quietly to myself or out loud to my students; however, several poems are inappropriate for middle students.

Some poems contain curses and mention alcoholic beverages. Suicide was a topic in one or two, while a small unit seems to be devoted to an anti-American theme. (I believe a one-sided political agenda is unimaginative for young writers; they deserve a spectrum of viewpoints.) While every poem is well written, I feel uncomfortable saying the "n" word or imitating a speech impediment, for example, to a group of middle school students. (I can't think of a setting where I would feel comfortable doing this.) Use your discretion with this book.

Fortunately there are a few hundred poems. So, if daily poetry is something you'd like to add to your teaching repertoire, and I highly recommend it, this is a good start.

A GREAT RESOURCE!!!! I love using this in my gifted 7th and 8th grade language arts classes. They have become excited about poetry after only a week of working this in to my daily routine. It's amazing how many "state standards" I can just happen to cover while discussing these poems with my students. What a fun way (for students and teachers) to cover critical reading strategies and writing style/voice!

One word of caution...Not all poems in the book can be used for middle schoolers, so you will have to pre-read and plan ahead.

I've used Nancie Atwell's IN THE MIDDLE to set up reading and writing workshops in my 5th and 6th grade classrooms and when I saw NAMING THE WORLD and looked at the sample lessons I had to order it. I was not disappointed. The author has chosen poems that demonstrate the large range of poetry available and has given teachers ideas on how to introduce and get students talking about the poems. She also has included suggestions for the teacher to get students to use the poems as a model for their own poetry writing. I loved the poem choices. They were thought-provoking and most were new to me even though I read a lot of poetry. The included Guide to NAMING THE WORLD gives more insight into the process the author uses to hook students into the whole how to read a poem, what does it mean to me, and what does it give me ideas about for writing my own poetry. This is a wonderful resource for anyone who wishes to give the gift of poetry to their students. And for those who would like to know how to "unpack" a poem or get ideas for writing their own poetry, it is one of the best I've seen.

As a student teacher, I found this resource tremendously helpful. This is probably the best poetry anthology for grades 6-9 I have found. The lessons are realistic, helpful, and open-ended enough to apply to almost any classroom. Even though there are a few poems that might be inappropriate for middle schoolers, there are more poems in this book than you can possibly cover in a poetry unit or semester. The Literary Terms Glossary, list of resources, classification of form, style, and themes is top notch. Even an experienced teacher can benefit from this book. The poems are both challenging and provoking. They are the types of poems I read as a kid that have made me want to teach English. They move you. They make you forget you're reading. This book is a must-have. A+

Overall, this saves the upper-grade teacher a lot of precious time. The poems, in general, are very useful and the guides give the instructor a quick overview of what to discuss. However, I would hesitate to use several of these poems in my school district. Not all students would be emotionally mature enough to handle all of these poems so educators need to be careful about what they choose. This is not a big deal. The program delivers well on what it promises.

I have used this book for a number of years but just shifted to a new school that didn't have a copy so I decided to but my own copy so I could continue to use this with my class

Naming the World fits in exactly with what we need. Another angle to approach the virtues learning here at Kamo Intermediate. Good notes and a usable format.