Teacher’s Guide for

A Pocketful of Poems by Nikki Grimes

Illustrated by: Javaka Steptoe

 

 

Pre-reading:

 

Explain to young readers the traditional structure of Haiku (5-7-5 syllables). In fact, you may want to read author’s note on the last page to the students as a jumping off point.

 

Comprehension Guide/ Quiz Questions: (good practice for standardized tests)

 

Knowledge:

 

  1. Describe the narrator of Pocketful of Poems.
  2. Describe the setting too.

 

Comprehension:

 

  1. What are some of the things that Tiana notices?
  2. Retell, in your own words, the scene from your favorite poem.

 

Application:

 

  1. Write another haiku poem that could appear on the same page as your favorite.
  2. What did you learn about writing haiku in that process? Is it as easy as it appears? Are you surprised?

 

Analysis:

 

  1. All the poems are written through Tiana’s eyes. How would the book be different if told by the objects themselves?
  2. Find the verbs in each haiku and list them.

 

Synthesize:

 

  1. Make a list of words you would write poems about in your own Pocketful of Poems collection.
  2. Pretend you have to write four haiku about the room you are sitting in right now. What would you pick? Why?

 

Evaluate:

  1. Which poem is your favorite? Why? Is it haiku or free verse?
  2. Evaluate the illustrations. Which one is your favorite? Why?

 

www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com

 

Multiple Intelligence Projects for

A Pocketful of Poems by Nikki Grimes

Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe

 

 

Verbal/ Linguistic

 

Write haiku, of course! Remember that the 17-syllable format is sometimes altered a bit for modern writers, but that trying to stick as close to the format as you can. One technique to really make a haiku work is called personification. Personification is when you make an object (like a stick or a lamp) do what people do.  Ms Grimes uses it in several of her haiku like this one:

 

Mama’s window box-

purple flowers shout the news.

Finally- it’s spring!

 

The flowers shout is the personification part. On the worksheet below, try to write some images using personification. Then, take your favorite and write at least two haiku.

 

 

Logical/ Mathematical:

 

Haiku word problems!

 

  1. If you have four haiku poems how many syllables do you have total?
  2. If you take seven haiku poems and add a tanka poem (another type of Japanese poetry using 31 syllables: 5-7-5-7-7), then divide by the number of students in your class, how many syllables do you have?

     
  3. Check out the end papers of A Pocketful of Poems. See how many letters are on the page? Now, without counting them one by one, count one row across and one row down. Multiply together. That should give you a good estimation of the number of letters on the page. If you’re curious: check your answer!

 

Visual/ Spatial:

 

Create a collage, of course! Javaka Steptoe uses cut paper and found objects to create the remarkable illustrations for the book. Choose one of the haiku you wrote, and create a collage of your own to illustrate. Be creative! Look at old things in new ways-this is, after all, what poets do too!

 

 

 

 

Body/ Kinesthetic:

 

Memorize your favorite haiku from A Pocketful of Poems and recite it in front of the class. Be sure to practice at home, and remember to speak loud enough for all to hear.

 

Musical/ Rhythmic:

 

Using small hand instruments (or even fingers on desks), tap out the rhythm of the haiku as your teacher reads the book aloud. Notice how it sounds like a song, and talk about how poetry and songs are very similar in their use of rhythm and stresses.

 

Interpersonal:

 

Group Project:

 

In pairs, create a poster about one of the following topics:

 

Japanese Haiku

Modern Haiku

Collage Art

Personification

How a picture book is created

Harlem

Nikki Grimes

Javaka Steptoe

 

 

Intrapersonal:

 

Write a journal about what you learned during the unit about A Pocketful of Poems. Answer these questions: What specifically did you learn? What were you surprised by? What was your favorite part of the project? Creating the collage was…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher’s guide provided by www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com

 

Poetry Toolbox: Personification

 

An Exercise from

A Pocketful of Poems by Nikki Grimes

Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe

 

Poets use personification to help their poems come to life. Personification is a long word that just means making an object act like a person. That’s it. You just pretend that the object (anything like a leaf, scissors) is a person.

 

Examples:

 

“April showers scrub the air”  (from page 9 of A Pocketful of Poems)

“purple flowers shout the news” (p. 7)

 

Ways to make something human:

 

Make it move like a person: running, cartwheeling, reaching, etc.

Make it sound like a person: shouting, whispering, listening, etc.

Give it emotion: sadness, joy, hope, etc.

 

You try:

 

  1. Trees _______________ in the moonlight.
  2. The clouds ______________ in a rainstorm.
  3. Streetlights ______________ when ______________.
  4. The ball ____________ as it ________________________________.
  5. Jack hammers ______________ as they ________________________.

 

Now look around the room (or even better- go outside) and find three more things to personify. Try to find things that are doing something human-like.

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

 


www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com
You support this site when you buy Tracie's latest book! Thank You!