"Talking Like the Rain: A Read-To-Me Book of Poems"

Week 5: Poetry Reflection

 

 

 

Kennedy, X. J., Kennedy, D. M., & Dyer, J. (2010). Talking like the rain: A read-to me book of poems. Boston: Little, Brown.

Summary:      Talking Like the Rain: A Read-To-Me Book of Poems is a collection of poems for children written by X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane Dyer.  What I like the most about this book is the way it is organized.  The poems are divided into subjects that are familiar to children.  Some of the subjects include play, families, just for fun, weather, seasons, birds and beast.  These are all subjects that children can relate to and enjoy reading about.  The book is also illustrated by Jane Dyer.  Each piece is illustrated which helps the reader to understand what the poem is about.  Her use of watercolors makes each picture look very detailed and realistic.  Many of the poems use rhyme which makes it fun to read.               

               I would recommend reading this to young children of all ages and for third to fifth graders to read independently.  This book would be good to use in the classroom when teaching the standard RL 2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.  Since the book is broken into categories you could divide the class and assign each group a category.  They could then read the poems within their category and choose one to present to the class.  During the presentation the students would have to read the poem to the class (practicing fluency) and explain the element or elements of poetry that was used.  The elements that they could discuss are meaning, rhythm, sound patterns, figurative language, and/or sense imagery.

Question: Since poetry can give different meanings to different readers the one question that I would ask is: What do you think the authors are trying to say or what do they want you to realize?