Teacher’s Guide, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)

by Linda Sue Park

illusrated by Istvan Banyai

Pre-reading:

Do you like to read poetry best or write it? Why? How can reading poetry make you a better poet? Have you ever heard of sijo before? Would you like to try it?

Questions to consider:

1. The third line of sijo always has a surprise- a twist, or joke, some irony, an unexpected image. What is your favorite last line in the book? Why?
2. What does the author compare long division to? What does she mean by “bumping the wall, digging up the cellar, tap dancing on the roof?”
3. Write your own sijo about school lunch!
4. Can you count the stressed syllables in “October?” Why do you think stresses are so important in this format? What do they add to the meaning?
5. Why does the author say that music and memory are friends? What songs get stuck inside your own mind? Why do you think this happens?
6. In “Word Watch” the author discusses some of her favorite words that sound like what they are. What are some of your favorites?
7. “Snow waves its magic wand” is an example of what type of poetic element? Now you write one about something from nature.
8. Write a sijo about something you can see from your own window, right now.
9. “Frog” is an example of a sijo and an apostrophe poem. Try your hand at an apostrophe by writing to something that can speak back to you!
10. If defense is “intense immense suspense” then what is offense?
11. What can we all learn from weeds?
12. The narrator doesn’t mind helping with laundry. Why? If you had to choose one household chore to take on permanently, what would it be?
13. Which would of the “Bedtime Snacks” would you choose as your favorite? Why?
14.  Why do you think the author chose these three words—Kaleidoscope, Calliope, Collage— to end the poem “Day’s End” What images does it evoke? What the repetition of sound called?
15. Which poem in the collection is your favorite? Why? Which illustration is your favorite? Why? What do you think of Banyai’s pallet? Why do you think he picked it?

Projects:

Write a sijo about what is inside your pocket or at the bottom of your backpack. Or, someone else’s!

Create a poster of your favorite word with an illustration that depicts its meaning. Use as a bulletin board or hallway display.

Create a Banyai-inspired piece of art for your own sijo.

Poetic Element study:

As you read the poetry collection, find your favorite examples of the following poetic elements:

This guide was created by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, a reading specialist and Clarion author. Visit her website, www.tracievaughnzimmer.com, to find hundreds of guides to children’s literature.