Georgia Heard has put together an astonishing (and slim) collection of poems "found" by a wonderful array of contemporary poets. In THE ARROW FINDS IT MARK, illustrated by Antione Guilloppe, (Roaring Brook, March 2012), Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Yolen, Lee Bennett Hopkins, George Ella Lyon, and Michael Salinger (among many others) have fashioned poems from magazines, online postings, and even crossword clues. This is a prime example of a mentor text (see Ralph Fletcher's remarkable book of the same title) for classroom use. Imagine asking kids to collect found poems. They will be looking at words with different eyes in no time. Here is one tiny example from the book:
PEP TALK (found on a bottle of OxiClean detergent)
Janet Wong
Keep cool.
See a brighter solution.
Maintain freshness.
Boost your power!
What a great writing prompt activity, especially for struggling readers/ writers, who can copy text directly from the ads and objects!
ReplyDelete