Customer Reviews

Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?: Teaching Great Poetry to Children

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Koch will not underestimate children. He will not talk down, dumb down, water down, because a passion for the subject matter animates this book as it must animate his instruction. He carefully documents and shares children's work as if it is as important as the poetry that inspired it.

Like anything truly sublime, the unspoken lesson enlivens this book . If you really share what you love with students, guide them instead of showing them, ask instead of telling, and treat their products with the respect you'd give a visiting artist, they will produce art as amazing as Mr. Koch's students did.

Forget teaching poetry to children- teach poetry instead. Take the concept and apply it to all creative acts. Teach art from great and challenging art. Teach music from powerful, sophisticated music. They can not only take it, they'll take it and keep it.

Teachers of poetry from elementary to high school will enjoy teaching poetry with this method or incorporating the ideas into existing curriculum. I had success with it in ninth grade. Younger students would like it even more. The method uses great poems as starting points for children's own writing, and many examples are provided.

I used this book to introduce unrhymed poetry to a fourth grade class. They just knew that they were going to HATE poetry, but after they were exposed to these poems and had a chance to write their own, they were upset when the poetry unit was over. They loved the poems written by other children that Koch included.

This excellent book seems to be a missing link in writing instruction. Other books provide somewhat mechanical methods for generating writing ideas, but Koch's book leads the reader into natural lines of thought which connect the reader with his or her experience of life, experience from which the writing must flow. I am pretty sure this would work for any kind of writing and is not limited to poetry. Don't be too proud to use this book on yourself!

This book was one with which I was taught in high school twenty years ago, and not only did it help me to connect with a personal style, but it also enhanced my appreciation of Whitman and Ginsburg. It stimulated ALL my other classmates in finding a voice and appreciation.

A follow-up to the author's equally wonderful "Wishes, Lies, and Dreams," this superb volume is one of the best sources for teaching poetry that I've ever read. How many of us found that school crushed any budding love of poetry we had, rather than nurturing it? Well, Kenneth Koch will bring that crushed bud back into full, glorious blossom! He has a rare gift -- he removes the barriers to poetry, the ones that say it's too deep, too different, too complex, for the likes of ordinary people; yet he never removes its mystery, its wonder, its beauty. If anything, he makes it available & familiar to all in a way that only enhances its rapturous qualities. He makes us realize that a poem is as obvious & rich, as subtle & tangible, as a flower. The poem is there for anyone, for everyone, to savor & enjoy.

Most highly recommended!

You must own this book if you are teaching anyone how to write poetry. Absolutely essential!

I know a lot of teachers who would be open to teaching poetry in the classroom, if they themselves weren't frightened of it. This book offers a variety of poetry -- from all forms and time periods -- and accompanies each one with both an explanation of the poem itself and suggested applications in the classroom. I first encountered the book in a course on teaching English, and every class, we started with a poem in this book and wrote our own poem of imitation. It felt like going to a spa retreat every time I got to class, because through poetry, we were able to creatively express our feelings, and the exercises also helped create an atmosphere of trust in the room, where we were open with our work and unafraid of criticism. The book also contains a lot of student-generated responses to show that even the most complex poetry contains themes that can be translated to any grade level.

I love this book, and it's a must if you are getting Wishes, Lies & Dreams. I wish that he had more poetry for younger children, with tips on how to help them understand it.

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This is one of my favorite books:

"I like to write about poems. I like poems.
Some girls are like poems."
-Eric Filisbret, 3rd or 4th grade

"Dog where do you get that bark?
Dragon where do you get that flame?
Kitten where do you get that meow?
Rose where do you get that red?
Bird, where do you get those wings?"
-Desiree Lynn Collier, 3rd or 4th grade

"Come with me and I'll show you my heart. I
know where it is and I know all about it...
Come with me, I'll take you to a world, not
a world that you know. Not a world that
I know. But a world that nobody knows,
not you or me... "

It's ironic, the good kind, for me to learn
so much from a book about ok, teaching
children about poetry.