Moden Verse---Poetry Break

Introduction

Has anyone every mentioned a word that made you wonder, "What does it mean?", or "Where did it come from?" or "Why don't you know more about that word?" Poems help us to remember people, places and things.

Indian

Margret mentioned Indians,
And I began to think about Indians--

Indians once living
Where now we are living--

And I thought how little I know
About Indians. Oh, I know

What I have heard. Not much,
When I think how much

I wonder about them,
when a mere mention of them,

Indians, starts me. I
Think of their wigwams. I

Think of canoes. I think
Of quick arrows. I think

Of things Indian. And still
I think of their bright, still

Summers, when these hills
And meadows on these hills,

Shone in the morning
Suns before this morning.

INDIANS by John Fandel
Dunning, Stephen, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith. REFLECTIONS ON A GIFT OF WATERMELON PICKLE; AND OTHER MODERN VERSE. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996.

Extension

Read the poem a second and third time. Ask the children to close their eyes and picture the places in the poem. Have them draw a picture that reflects what they hear described in the poem. Let them look through a collection of poems from various authors that describe people and places. Have the children work in pairs and encourage students to read the poems to each other.