Poetry Friday : July 1, 2016.
Sea Joy
Jacqueline Bouvier
When I go down by the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the booming blue sea
As the seagulls flutter round about me
I can run about–when the tide is out
With the wind and the sand and the see all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh–to live by the sea is my only wish
In My Classroom
The following is a listing of my Teaching Points for “Sea Joy”
Phonemic awareness / literary devices —
- Rhyming words: shore/more, sea/me, out/about, fish/wish
- Alliteration: by the booming blue
Poetry structure —
- Rhyme scheme — A,A, B B, CC, DD (couplets use this rhyme scheme)
Vocabulary —
- Neighborhood words for ocean, e.g., beach, waves, surf, tidewater, shells, ships (an activity of gathering words we connect with ocean from our schema)
- List of words from poem we can explore
sandy (adj. from sand, suffix -y to create adj. from nouns)
shore (discuss with sea, ocean, lake; river has a bank; used in eastern coastal states, e.g., Jersey shore, but not commonly used in northwestern coastal states)
sea (What is the difference between sea and ocean? When do you think they are most often used interchangeably?)
seagulls (seabirds: others, in nautical literature)
tide (high, low tides; metaphorical use)
flutter, swirling, diving (strong verbs– their connections to air and water)
Author’s tone creating the reader’s mood —
- Wistful — Identify the mood (reader) / tone (author) and the words that create that emotion
Line 2: I can think of nothing I want more
Last line: Oh … is my only wish - A wonderful resource from a HS teacher on tone and mood
About the poem —
- Author: Jacqueline Bouvier (wife of President John F. Kennedy)
- Date: 1939 (poem was written when Jackie was 10 years old)
- Published in A Family of Poems, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy)
- Poem & Illustration displayed in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
One of my favorite poetry activities with all ages —
- Materials: Copy of poem, timer, colored pencil set for each student
- Procedures:
- Teacher reads poem aloud without introduction or explanation of vocabulary, setting, etc., without showing text or illustrations; students listen and imagine (close eyes)
- Without comment, students draw images / a picture that the poem evokes using only colored pencils (Teacher sets timer; on an average, I allow 3 minutes)
- Ways to share or things to do with poem drawings:
- Share drawings, talking about similarities and differences of images
- Talk about words that prompted the images
- Make connections to students’ sea schema
- Add labels to the drawing (sometimes I allow only words from the poem)
- Put poem and drawing in Poetry Notebook
Why should I share a poem with my students? Here are four reasons.
Today’s Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Tabatha Yeatts @ The Opposite of Indifference
A wonderful resource, Alice. And wow – ten years old to write it. Kids must love that!
Thank you. Kids do, and interest especially increases when they learn that not only was the author ten but also she became one of the most famous of US presidential wives.
Sweet poem and lovely lesson plan.
What a sweet poem! Thanks for sharing it and all your wonderful ideas for using it in the classroom!
I did not realize she wrote poetry. Interesting. Excellent tips for teachers. Thanks.
Thank you. …and the fact that she wrote this poem when she was 10 years old makes it a great mentor text for the classroom.
I can imagine students enjoying this lesson plan, Alice, especially since the First Lady was only ten when she wrote it! Have you seen Irene Latham’s post today (at Live Your Poem)? I’ll bet you would like it.
Thank you for stopping by, reading, and sharing… I checked out Irene’s post. You are right; I love it! A copy book of poems. For anyone reading and wondering, here’s a link to the post http://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2016/07/thrift-store-poetry-winnies-book-of.html
Appreciations, Alice, for opening up this lovely sea poem for more enjoyment.
It’s a new one to me.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing!