My Great Big Book Blog: Falling Up

Poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein

Published by HaprperCollins

Reading level: ages 8-11, grades 3-5, DRA 38, Guided reading P

Suggested delivery: read aloud, small group read, independent read

Genre: Poetry

Creative ~ Fun ~ Great illustrations ~ Friendly ~ Intriguing

Summary:

Follow unforgettable characters as Shel Silverstein creates fabulous poems and drawings. In these poems we will meet Allison, Danny, the Human Balloon and more. So dive in, and let Silverstein carry you away in the world of poetry.

Falling Up

I tripped on my shoelace

And I fell up -

up to the roof tops,

Up over the town,

Up pas the mountains,

Up where the colors

Blend into the sounds .

But it got me so dizzy

When I looked around,

I got sick to my stomach

And I threw down.

-Shel Silverstein

Vocabulary to Know:

Allusion: reference to a person, place, thing, or event that is known from literature, history, or other aspects of culture

Rhythm: a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poems

Symbol: a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself

Onomatopoeia: the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning

Simile: a comparison between two unlike things by using a connective word such as like, as, than or resembles

Rhyme: repetition of final sounds in two or more words

Stanza: a group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit

Aliteration: a repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words.

...like "rough and ready"

Irony: a contrast between what is expected and what really happens
http://whs.wsd.wednet.edu/Faculty/Zobel/PoetryVocabularyTerms.html

Suggested Lesson Ideas:

+Before Reading Activity: For some students, poetry is a type of writing that they have never seen before. For this reason, and more, it would be a good idea to start with a KWL chart. With this activity, you can find out what students already know about poetry and poems, what they want to know, and then wrap up afterwards and discuss what they have learned. Have students keep their KWL chart handy during the reading of "Falling Up" so that they can keep adding to their chart.

+During Reading Activity: To get students working with different words and letters, what better way than to have them find all the words that they can with in the author's name: Shel Silverstein. This is a quick yet fun activity to get students thinking about how smaller words can be made from larger words. http://files.harpercollins.com/PDF/ActivitiesGuides/0060572345.pdf

+After Reading Activity: Also found in the link about is an activity that can be done after reading. As a teacher you could go over the different types/styles of poetry such as an acrostic poem. Give the students an example of an acrostic poem and then have them create their own, using their name, their last name, a funny word etc. Have them be creative with it! Along with creating acrostic poems you could refer to the link above for a rhyming activity. On pages 26-27 of "Falling Up" there is a rhyming poem. Read and review the poem titled, Noise Day, and then hand out the worksheet on page 10 from the link above, and see if the students can remember the poem and the missing rhyming words.
+Writing Activity: Have students create their own Wordle! Once they have created their own Wordle, have them reflect on the poetry lesson, and "Falling Up". Students can reflect on what they have enjoyed about poetry and why they have chosen the words for their Wordle. Using Wordle is a great way for students to be creative with words, and play around with how they would like to set up their Wordle. It's a great interactive site I strongly recommend. http://www.wordle.net/