Shout! Little Poems that Roar: Poetry using ExPrEsSiOn

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Shout! Little Poems that Roar

By: Brod Bagert

Illustrator: Sachiko Yoshikawa

Publisher: The Penguin Group

Copyright: 2007

Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Grade Level: Kindergarten- 2nd

Brief Synopsis: 

This vibrant collection of twenty-one poems celebrates the joys (snack time!) and pitfalls (2 + 2 = 23?) of childhood. Brod Bagert's often silly, always winsome poems cover everything from the seasons and the stars to finger paint and kids who quack. With humor and warmth, Shout! shows us there's fun in work and play, poetry in everything, and a million different uses for ketchup. Kids are sure to shout for a reread.  This poem book concentrates on poems that use expression and onomatopoeia. 

About the Author:
Brad Bagert- he is a published author and an editor of children's books. Brod Bagert compares himself to Johnny Appleseed because he journeys across America, planting a love of poetry in children. On his travels, he performs poetry for children and instructs teachers in what he calls the Performance Method, "a system which recognizes that poetry is an oral art, and that, for children, a poem comes alive when they perform it," Bagert commented. The author began writing poetry for children when his own children needed to perform in school programs.
Sachiko Yoshikawa- she grew up in Tokyo but spent many summers visiting the beaches of southern Japan. Her childhood memories served as inspiration when creating the pictures for this book. Ms. Yoshikawa is also the illustrator of Stars. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband.

Themes: - Silly Situations that happen in School
- Beginning Poetry
- Reading and Acting with Expression
- Fun Things Kids Do and Think About

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Mini-Lesson on onomatopoeia and Reading with Expression.  First give students some examples of such words and then ask what they all have in common. Once they have figured out that all the words make a sound...give them the definition of onomatopoeia. Then model for them reading words with expression.
- To get students in a Silly mood have the students come up with silly words and write them all over the white board.  These words can be used after reading the book to help them write their Silly Shout Poems.

Post Reading Activities:
- Once you have read a few poems from the book, modeling reading with expression and exagerration, have a few volunteers read their choice of a poem from the book.  The whole class can give the student feedback on how they read the poem.  This will help them to focus on certain things to concentrate on the next time they read aloud.
- After practicing with the whole group have the students go off in small groups to practice reading these poems aloud to each other.  Once they all get a chance to read have them answer the following questions: How did you feel reading these poems in Shout?  When you were listening to other students in your group read, what made their reading exciting to listen to?  How can you improve your expression next time you read aloud?  What were some suggestions you gave others in your group as they read?

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Reflection: I really enjoyed reading the poems in this book because I can picture how much fun they would be to use in a classroom.  Elementary students love being silly, and this allows them to do this and also learn about poetry.  Along with reading with expression, you could also focus on the different poem structures that each poem has in Shout!.  The illustrations on each page are also very captivating, which is very important with poetry because some students are very resistant to working with poems.  The bright and inviting pictures will get each student interested in finding out what the book is all about.  The themes of the poems in this book have to do with school and learning in some way.  This makes them relatable to young ones and another incentive to bring students into poetry.  I would very much recommend this book to any teacher when beginning a poetry unit as an anticipatory set to engage their learning.

Links:
Book Info.
Brod Bagert Bio.
Sachiko Yoshikawa Bio.