Another great addition to my collection

POETRY FRIDAY

As many of you already know, poetry is a big part of my personal life. But it is also a HUGE part of my teaching life. I'm proud to say that when we do Poetry in my ESL class, I never get a sigh, or a grunt, or a negative reaction. Both boys and girls in my class have been exposed to tons of poetry in this past 6 years that I have been teaching at Beechwood Elementary. We celebrate National Poetry Month every year and we involve the whole school in our celebration. I even had students whose poems were chosen for publication. We read, share, and write poetry as part of our life as readers and writers. I usually get Original Poems written by my students as gifts on my birthday. So I am always always on the look out for great poetry books. I also LOVE LOVE when poetry books include an audio CD with poems read aloud by different writers. My ELLs benefit so greatly from those books since they don't have to worry so much about pronouncing the words correctly and they can concentrate on enjoying the melody, sound and rhythm of the words in the poem.

I found a new poetry book that includes a CD that I am sure my students will LOVE. Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies. The poems were selected by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton . The amazing watercolor paintings were done by James McMullan. How amazing is to see mother & daughter selecting poems together! The book and poems are organized by sections. Some of them include: All Things Bright and Beautiful, Accentuate the Positive, Growing up. Julie Andrews gives a special introduction to each section by sharing some family stories and memories. She has definitely given her special touch to this book by making it personal, intimate, filled with memories, and insights.

One of my favorite poems is called Bedtime Blessing by Julie Andrews on page 74. I guess you will have to get this book in your hands in order to find out what this poem is all about.

Please head over to The Miss Rumphius Effect for the roundup and to be inspired with more poetry. Also don't forget that Mother Reader's Comment Challenge 2010 starts today. I love her project, it encourages all of us to provide feedback to other fellow bloggers and build a sense of community. Let's get this wonderful party started. And Ohio bloggers: Happy Snow Day, our first one in 2010!