Category: Poetic Picturebooks

It’s a Slam Dunk! Aiming High with Jen Bryant’s Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball

5/11/2021

By Donna Sabis-Burns and Amina Chaudhri, on behalf of The Biography Clearinghouse

Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball
by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison

In her Author’s Note, Jen Bryant describes Elgin Balyor as “an artist [who] changed the way the game of basketball is played … he broke with tradition and ventured into unchartered territory … [he] created his own unique moves and shooting style.” She is referring, of course, to the graceful physicality of Elgin’s style and skill, and the fact that he played without any formal coaching prior to high school. Elgin Baylor was recognized by the NBA Hall of Fame in 1977, long after he retired. His career, like the careers of so many Black sports figures and athletes, was marked by obstacles aimed at denying him the opportunity to reach his full potential. Above the Rim gracefully weaves Elgin Baylor’s rise to stardom with significant events in the Civil Rights movement, and Elgin’s own acts of resistance to racism. Frank Morrison’s stunning illustrations add visual context, energy and vibrance, leaving readers wanting more.

Please visit The Biography Clearinghouse for an interview with Jen Bryant and a range of critical teaching and learning experiences to use with Above the Rim. Highlighted here are a few teaching ideas inspired by Above the Rim. The full book entry is available at the Biography Clearinghouse.

Literary and Figurative Language

Jen Bryant wrote Above the Rim in prose verse - a form of writing that does not use a rhyme scheme or rhythm but is formatted to look distinctive on the page, and makes use of word and line spacing to create an effect. The reader must carefully follow the punctuation in order to read prose verse fluently rather than pausing at the end of each line. This form also allows the writer to isolate particular sentences, placing them on lines of their own, which can serve to call attention to them. Bryant does a beautiful job in capturing the rich emotion of Elgin Baylor through careful word choice and line spacing.

If you have 1-2 hours ...	If you have 1-2 days ...	If you have 1-2 weeks ...
CLOSE READING – multiple meanings and line placement: Introduce the difference between prose and poetry. Read and reread the stanza below. The line “Time was important” pertains to more than the moment being described. “But things can change in time, The child knew. Time was important. That’s why his own name, Elgin, Came from his father’s favorite watch.” Students can discuss the nuances of the line “time was important” as they understand it in this biography, noting important moments of time in Elgin’s life, and how Jen Bryant’s placement of the line led them to pay close attention.	The students can search for and analyze additional isolated sentences that are sprinkled strategically through the book and illustrate them, too. A discussion on the relationships between text and illustration would be appropriate here as well. Use Above the Rim as a mentor text for this project	Build on the previous activities by extending the exploration to other nonfiction books in verse, specifically those with a focus on social justice themes or #ownvoices, for example Hoops by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson. A project could involve annotating a book that features this writing strategy. Have students stick Post-It notes on the pages of picturebooks with explanations of their understanding of selected lines from the text. They can present their annotations in small groups and discuss similarities and differences in various authors’ craft techniques.

Analyzing Character

In her interview, Jen Bryant frames her work as a writer with a quote from the poet, Nikki Giovanni: "Writers don't write from experience, they write from empathy." She adds that she hopes her readers will empathize with Elgin Baylor and understand him in the context of his environment. Above the Rim characterizes Elgin as persistent, humble, brave, and more and as such, can be used to teach about character traits using text evidence.

If you have 1-2 hours ...	If you have 1-2 days ...	If you have 1-2 weeks ...
Using the Think-Pair-Share model, write the quote from Above the Rim, “Sometimes you have to sit down to stand up. And that’s what Elgin did” on a slide or board. In pairs, have children take turns by asking each other questions like, “What do you think the author meant when she wrote this quote?” “Why is this important to the story?” “Have you ever wanted to take a stand when you felt something wasn’t right?”	Jen Bryant depicted Elgin as displaying courage, empathy, and so much more. Students can learn about the importance of good character and express desired character traits through a personalized art activity using butcher paper and drawing their body outline and discovering their own sense of empathy and courage within themselves. Check out the lesson in its entirety on the Education World website.	Using the lesson plan mentioned in the "If your have 1-2 days" column, try some of the listed extension activities to have students dive deeper into identifying their own character traits inspired by these ideas: Create a display. Students can post their cut-outs in the school hallway outside the classroom. Or, let students create flowers with their names on the stem and their chosen qualities on the petals. Discuss. Ask students what they know about the emotional/mental/physical benefits of exercise. How might this affect developing strong qualities of character? Make a book. Make a special “I AM…” book. Create a cover with fabric, felt, or pictures from magazines. All about me. Have each student complete an All About Me worksheet, incorporating positive character traits into the “What I do best” and “I wish” sections. Write and illustrate. Have each student choose a quality and illustrate it, or create a comic strip or storyboard showing one or more of their chosen qualities. Older students can write a short paragraph explaining each quality. Or, have students choose their top three qualities and write a poem including them. Partner and practice. Have students in an older grade practice kindness and patience by working with students in a younger grade to complete the pictures and the paragraphs for their class bulletin board.

Donna Sabis-Burns, Ph.D., an enrolled citizen of the Upper Mohawk-Turtle Clan, is a Group Leader in the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education* in Washington, D.C. She is a Board Member (2020-2022) with the Children's Literature Assembly, Co-Chair of the 2021 CLA Breakfast meeting (NCTE), and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee at CLA.

Amina Chaudhri is an associate professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, where she teaches courses in children's literature, literacy, and social studies. She is a reviewer for Booklist and a former committee member of NCTE's Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

*The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned herein is intended or should be inferred.

A Partnership of Poetry and Politics: Carole Boston Weatherford’s Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

4/13/2021

BY JENNIFER M. GRAFF & JOYCE BALCOS BUTLER, ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGRAPHY CLEARINGHOUSE

Our current celebration of poetry as a powerful cultural artifact and the national dialogue about voting rights generated by the introduction of 300+ legislative voting-restriction and 800+ voting-expansion bills in 47 states have inspired a rereading of the evocative, award-winning picturebook biography, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and published by Candlewick Press in 2015, Voice of Freedom offers a vivid portrait of the life and legacy of civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer. Her famous statement, “All my life I’ve been sick and tired. Now I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired” (p.18) serves as a testimonial to the psychological and physiological effects of the injustices and violence inflicted upon Hamer and other Black community members in Mississippi. Additionally, Hamer’s statement signifies her tenacity, conviction, and unwavering fight for voting rights, congressional representation, and other critical components of racial equality until her death in 1977.

"All my life I've been sick and tired. Now I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

-Fannie Lou Hamer

Throughout Voice of Freedom, Weatherford’s poetry illustrates how Hamer’s stirring speeches, matter-of-fact testimonials, and her penchant for singing spirituals served as rallying cries for freedom and justice. Her roles as leader, mobilizer, organizer, political candidate, and advocate for social, financial and educational programming for Black communities further contributed to her identification as the “spirit of the civil rights movement.” Holmes’ vibrant, textured collages, often “based on or inspired by photographs” (Weatherford, 2015, unpaged back matter), enhance the verbal juxtapositions of humanity and horror, and pay homage to Hamer’s resilience, compassion, and commitment to justice.

Using the Investigate, Explore, and Create Model of the Biography Clearinghouse, we offer teaching ideas focused on the art and science of conveying “emotional weight” and “factual burdens” (interview transcript, p.9) in biographies written in verse. Generating a sense of intimacy punctuated by emotional overtones of hardship and resilience, using first person point of view, pairing and alternating verse and prosaic text, and helping cultivate reader empathy are discussed.

CURRENT BOOK ENTRY

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Harmer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

CONNECTED BOOK ENTRIES

In our desire to honor and reflect Weatherford’s commitment to “mine the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles” (transcript, p.11), we provide a variety of multimedia resources for critical explorations of the past and present regarding:

youth-driven organizations for positive change
access to education for empowerment and transformation
voter suppression via literacy tests, poll taxes, and legislative acts
the significance of song in civil rights movements

Mississippi Voter Registration Application, 1955-1965 (National Museum of American History)

Below we feature one of two time-gradated teaching recommendations included in the Create section of the Voice of Freedom book entry.

Youth As Agents of Change in Local Communities

Weatherford begins Voice of Freedom with Hamer’s own words: “The truest thing that we have in this country at this time is little children . . . . If they think you’ve made a mistake, kids speak out.” Pairing Hamer’s advocacy detailed in Voice of Freedom with contemporary youth activists, guide students in their exploration of how they can (or continue to) be agents of change in their communities.

If you have 1-2 hours...	If you have 1-2 days...	If you have 1-2 weeks...
Using Voice of Freedom, discuss with students how Fannie Lou Hamer was a voice of change for voting rights and Black female political representation during the Civil Rights Movement. Introduce Amanda Gorman, the First Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, to students. As a class, watch Gorman’s reading of her 2021 presidential inauguration poem, "The Hill We Climb." Ask students what message they think Gorman is conveying through her poem. Use the full-text version of "The Hill We Climb Text" for students’ exploration of Gorman’s words. Discuss how Gorman uses her voice to effect change on issues such as civil rights and feminism. Begin an Agents of Change T- chart, using the headings, “Activist” and “Cause.” Ask students what issues Amanda Gorman might be advocating for in “The Hill We Climb.” Ask them about other causes they know about to include on the chart.	Revisit the concept of "agents of change," using the previously completed T-Chart. Watch one or both of the following videos featuring youth activists focused on environmental issues: Genesis Butler Shares Her Vision for Saving Our Planet Mari Copeny: A Water Crisis Activist. Continue to add to the existing T-Chart or create a new chart. Engage in discussions about the choices Genesis and Mari are making, how these affect their communities, and why this classifies them as agents of change. Below are other young activists that you can include in your inquiry: Autumn Peltier: Water Warrior Sophie Cruz: Keeping Families Together Melati and Isabel Wijsen: Bye Bye Plastic Bags See the book entry for additional possibilities.	Discuss the importance of youth activism in tandem with Secondlineblog.org. Have students identify local youth activists or organizations in their area whom they see as a voice of change. Consider using Global Citizen for inspiration. Have students create interview questions for the local youth activist or organization they selected. Students can conduct, record, and interview individuals through Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or other digital platforms. Using their interview recordings as a resource, ask students to create a multimodal presentation on the group or individual. Using Voice of Freedom, “The Hill We Climb,” or the other texts included in these ideas as mentor texts, encourage students to describe the group or individual’s advocacy work in their presentations and include why this makes them agents of change. See the book entry for additional activities.

To see more classroom possibilities and helpful resources connected to Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, visit the Book Entry at The Biography Clearinghouse. Additionally, we’d love to hear how the interview and these ideas inspired you. Email us at [email protected] with your connections, creations, and questions.

Jennifer M. Graff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia where her scholarship focuses on diverse children’s literature and early childhood literacy practices. She is a former committee member of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8, and has served in multiple leadership roles throughout her 15+ year CLA membership.

Joyce Balcos Butler is a fifth-grade teacher in Winder, Georgia, where she focuses on implementing social justice learning through content areas. She is a National Writing Project Teacher Consultant, a Red Clay Writing Fellow at the University of Georgia, and a member of CLA.

From the 2020 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Using Poetic Picturebooks as Mentor Texts

10/27/2020

BY ELIZABETH M. BEMISS

Each year, the Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts Committee (NCBLA) reads and discusses works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for K-8 readers. Committee members, seven dedicated children’s literature enthusiasts, with experience ranging from elementary school teaching, to school librarians, and finally, university faculty with expertise in children’s and young adult literature, consider the requisite qualities for narrowing down the winners to a list of 30 titles.

In this post, I will feature two poetic picture books included in the 2020 Notables list, Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons (2019), and Room on Our Rock (2019).

Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons
Written by Laura Purdie Salas
Illustrated by Mercé López
Millbrook, 2019, unpaged, ISBN 978-1-5124-9809-7

In this unique collection of poetry, Laura Purdie Salas intrigues readers with “riddle-ku” poems. The 24 three-line poems, centered around the four seasons, are narrated by something nonhuman, making it a mask poem for readers to guess each narrator. Coupled with Mercé López’s stunning rendered acrylic illustrations that capture the nature of each object being described, the poetic words and artwork render objects associated with the seasons:

A kite flying in spring

“I am a wind bird,
sky skipper, diamond dipper,
DANCING on your string”

Dandelions of summer

“my fluffy seeds DRIFT
tiny puffs lift in the breeze
and land...who knows where?”

Falling snow in the winter

“I’m cold confetti
falling from a crystal sky,
blanketing the town”

Room on Our Rock
Written by Kate and Jol Temple
Illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton
Kane Miller, 2019, unpaged, ISBN 978-1-61067-902-2

This clever book presents readers with a story that reads forward and backward, revealing narratives about sharing and compassion. Upon the first reading, a trio of seals announce “There’s no room on our rock” to a seal and pup approaching their rock from the sea. As the seals shoo away the approaching pair, readers are told “No room on this rock? Can it be true? Read back to front for another point of view.” Readers then find a seal and pup escaping dangerous seas who are welcomed by the seals: “You’re welcome here / You’ll never hear us say / Shoo! Go away!” Gray and blue watercolor illustrations of a landscape in the sea compliment this story sure to warm hearts and encourage compassion among readers.

Teaching Tips for Using the Books as Mentor Texts

Utilized as mentor texts, these poetic picture books provide readers with delightful opportunities to craft their own written responses inspired from the texts.

The whimsical collection of “riddle-ku” poems in Lion of the Sky invites readers to enjoy a play on language and is an inspiring way to help young writers craft unique poetry of their own. Students can create their own “riddle-ku” poems and invite peers and family members to guess the answer to their “riddle-kus.” To scaffold young writers, teachers can draw from this brainstorming resource from Millbrook Press where students can craft a “Zoo-ku,” or a “riddle-ku” about an animal. Additionally, students can publish their “riddle-ku” on a Padlet Page created by the author, Laura Purdie Salas. Another way students can craft their poems is through Read Write Think’s Interactive Haiku Generator, which guides students through brainstorming, drafting, and publishing, where individual background images can be added to the published “riddle-ku.”

The poetic forward and backward reading of Room on Our Rock can foster rich conversations between readers about the varying messages from the book when read forward versus backward as well as discussions surrounding point of view. Teachers can guide students to reflect on the kind of tone and voice needed to read the book forward and how it changed to read the book backward. Teachers could also have students think about how the artwork on each page was used to create the tone of the book from two perspectives. After engaging in deep conversation around the book, students can partner up to write a review of the book and then share their reviews via free audio or video sharing applications. Students can post links to the reviews on a class page such as note.ly or Padlet.

Elizabeth M. Bemiss, an Assistant Professor at the University of West Florida, teaches courses in children’s and young adult literature and literacy methods. Elizabeth is a member of the 2019-2021 Notables Committee.

The CLA Blog

It’s a Slam Dunk! Aiming High with Jen Bryant’s Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball

By Donna Sabis-Burns and Amina Chaudhri, on behalf of The Biography Clearinghouse

Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball
by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Literary and Figurative Language

Analyzing Character

A Partnership of Poetry and Politics: Carole Boston Weatherford’s Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

BY JENNIFER M. GRAFF & JOYCE BALCOS BUTLER, ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGRAPHY CLEARINGHOUSE

"All my life I've been sick and tired. Now I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

-Fannie Lou Hamer

Youth As Agents of Change in Local Communities

From the 2020 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Using Poetic Picturebooks as Mentor Texts

BY ELIZABETH M. BEMISS

Teaching Tips for Using the Books as Mentor Texts

Authors:
CLA Members

Blog Editors

contribute to the blog

Archives

Categories

CLA

About CLA
CLA Board & Committees
Membership
Merchandise
Endowment Fund

Grants & Awards

CLA Research Award
Bonnie Campbell Hill Award
CLA Early Career Award
CLA Student Travel Grant

Journal of Children's Literature

Write for JCL
JCL Editors

The CLA Blog

Notables

Current List
Notables Archive

Resources

CLA-sponsored NCTE Position Statements
Children's Literature Course Syllabi
Children's Literature Blogs

CLA @NCTE

Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast
Expert Class
Other CLA-sponsored Sessions
Art Auction

Members-Only Content

CLA Video Library
CLA Newsletter Archive

JCL Past Issues Archive
Current JCL Issue
JCL Podcasts

The CLA Blog

By Donna Sabis-Burns and Amina Chaudhri, on behalf of The Biography Clearinghouse

Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketballby Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Literary and Figurative Language

Analyzing Character

BY JENNIFER M. GRAFF & JOYCE BALCOS BUTLER, ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGRAPHY CLEARINGHOUSE

"All my life I've been sick and tired. Now I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

-Fannie Lou Hamer

Youth As Agents of Change in Local Communities

BY ELIZABETH M. BEMISS

Teaching Tips for Using the Books as Mentor Texts

Authors:CLA Members

Blog Editors

contribute to the blog

Archives

Categories

CLA

Resources

Children's Literature Assembly BreakfastExpert ClassOther CLA-sponsored SessionsArt Auction

Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball
by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Authors:
CLA Members

Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast
Expert Class
Other CLA-sponsored Sessions
Art Auction