Post your connections to the book. These may be connections to: your own life (text to life)
To happenings at school or in the neighborhood or in the newspaper (text to world)
To other books or stories (text to text)
To other writings on the same topic (text to text)
To other writings by the same author (text to author)
Please respond to one other entry regarding discussion questions.
4 comments:
I am sure that many kids in upper elementary or middle school grades can make many personal connections to this book. After all, we learn more about the poets struggles through everyday life in and out of school. Personally, I can remember back to when I was asked to write poems for a class in middle school. I really didn’t understand poems and just tried to do what was needed to please the teacher. I often felt uncomfortable writing something that I didn’t feel good at just like the poet mentions in the poem, Poetry Recipe. “But my poem came out so bad I felt like feeding it to my Venus flytrap.”
I agree with Jessica: I think many kids in upper elementary, middle and high school can make personal connections to this book. There are any subjects to choose from. Personally, I can relate to Bad Weather, Pinball, She Wrote me a Love Poem and Writer's Block. They all deal eith the frustrations and stress school issues can cause. We all have to deal with assignments, rules, grades and relationships.
I agree with both Jessica and Rene in that this book lends itself to the real issues within school and everyday life. We can all relate to at least one poem if not all of them.
Looking at the poem Bill of Sale and how the author took something he learned that day, the feelings he felt for the slave girl, and asked himself, "How can I go on with my life?" knowing how she was to live her life. Thinking how lucky he is and to feel disgust with how the world once was in regards to slavery.-text to world
The grandma poems...memory loss, grandma, and snow angel...all touched me deeply as my grandma passed away around this time last year. The angel made me think of her as it may have been the author's thoughts too in the line, "Later when you climb beneath the covers, she peers in through your frosty window happy you called her into the world." -text to self
As for a text to text, I haven't read any of Ralph Fletcher's other books yet but I predict that he has used some of the same terms in his novels as he has in this collection of poetry.
Shannon,I like how you connected to the snow angel poem. I didn't really think about that line until you wrote it in your entry. I know that when my grandmother passes away that I will be able to connect to those poems as well.
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