Poetry Breaks with Poems by
Kalli Dakos
Introduction: Hold up a red piece of construction paper and ask the children what reminds them when they see this color. Write the answers on the board and have a student check off the ones the following poem mentions as you (or a student) reads it aloud.

I'd Mark With the Sunshine

If I were a teacher,
I wouldn't mark in red,
Because red reminds me
of blood that
Oozes out of cuts.
And fire engines that
Rush to fight blazes
So hot you could
Died in them.
And STOP signs that
Warn you of danger.

If I were a teacher
I'd mark in yellow--
For corn muffins,
Mustard on a fat hot dog.
Gardens of dandelions,
And sunbeams that
Dance on daffodils.

If I were a teacher,
I'd throw out
My STOP pen.
And I'd mark with
The sunshine itself!
To give light to an A,
Warmth to a C,
And hope to an F

From Seeing the Blue Between (2002) compiled by Paul B. Janecsko

Extension: Hold up additional colors and ask the students what they make them think of. Ask them which colors seem to represent certain emotions and why.
Introduction:  Ask the children why they're in school, and wait for several responses. Ask them why teachers give them assignments, and are they important before reading the following poem aloud.

My Life is an Awful Mess

My life is an awful mess,
And my teacher asked me why.
"I zoom through my assignments,"
I told her with a sigh.

"I want to finish all my work
So I can yack with friends,
I simply cannot wait until
The school day finally ends.

I never check my spelling and
Punctuation, I don't try,
For if I spent my time on these.
My... social life would die.

"It's talking with my friend each day
The keeps my whole world bright,
And I don't want to give this up,
Just to get my schoolwork right."

From Seeing the Blue Between (2002) compiled by Paul B. Janecsko

Extension: Ask the students which is more important: getting a good grade on an assignment, or skills learned in doing the assignment. Discuss the importance of both, but explain why the latter is more important in later life.
Introduction:  Talk to the children about finding the poetry in the everyday, sometimes simple or mundane things in life. Poetry is all around, if we just train our eyes and minds to see it.

Poems About Pencils

In the book Seeing the Blue Between: Advice & Inspiration for Young Poets, Kalli Dakos says, "Who would think there might be a gold mine of writing possibilites in plain old pencils? But pencils, like the one I found in my driveway...

Under a car       squished out flat        awful to end       life like that.

"Or the poor pencil that ended up in the toilet..."

My pencil is a mess,
Because I heard it drop
Into the toilet
With a plip, plip, plop!

Extension: Have a collection of ordinary objects displayed on a table and have the students pick one or two and write poems about them.
Poems by Kalli Dakos continued
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