For Teachers:
Shel Silverstein's books can be used at any grade level. Each poem is different and each poem has its own reading difficulty. There are poems that are appropriate to first graders mixed in with poems appropriate to teenagers. The ideal age group for A Light in the Attic would be third through fifth graders. Some classroom activities could include:
- Poetry: What is a poem? Discuss various forms of poetry and have students try their hand at each form.
- Selective: Use select poems from this book (ie. "The Little Boy and the Old Man", "The Fly is In", "Standing is Stupid", "Senses", and "The Lost Cat") to illustrate the different forms of poetry. Discuss what each poem selected means to each student. What is different? What is the same?
- Discussion questions: See ideas above. Tailor questions to the poems selected from A Light in the Attic.
My Thoughts:
I used to love Shel Silverstein growing up, but going back and rereading it was rough. I did not realize how inappropriate some of his poems can be and how much death is in some of them. There were very few that I liked reading back through his work. However, I can see how the poems of Shel Silverstein can be a great classroom tool for getting students interested in poetry. He uses language and poems that speak to younger audiences specifically.
Additional Resources:
More books by Shel Silverstein:
- The Giving Tree
- Where the Sidewalk Ends
- Falling Up
- The Missing Piece
- The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
- Runny Babbit
- Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back
- And more...
Poetry resources include:
Reference:
Silverstein, S. (1981). A Light in the Attic. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers.
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ReplyDeleteKari,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your literature blog collection, and this blog in particular. This book was one of my favorite books as a child, and Silverstein is still one of my favorite authors and illustrators! Your blogs were nicely organized and written. You thought of many great activities for students!
Literature response activities I would suggest:
1) After students have read the story "A Light in the Attic" ask them to form small groups 3 people. Once their group is formed ask the students to each select a different poem within the book that they enjoyed the most or considered their favorite. When each student has their favorite poem selected, allow them to share with their group members which poem it was. After each poem is shared between group members, ask the group to talk about what the poem's meaning was, for each poem selected. After this is complete, allow all the groups to take turns explaining the meanings behind each poem they selected. This will allow children to practice group work, public speaking, and literature reviews.
2) BINGO: I would use bingo with students after reading this book to help enforce rhyming words. Do this by giving all students BINGO sheets with words on it. Formulate a list of words that you can announce out loud for the students. Say each word, one by one. If students have a word on their bingo sheet that rhymes with the word you said, they can put a chip down on the word. Once the students have BINGO (5 in a row) they can call out "BINGO" and name the 5 rhyming words they selected. This allows children to practice common rhyming words found in poetry!