Halloween

INTRODUCTION
If you were building a haunted house, what would you put in the house to scare everyone? Suppose you did not know what to expect, and you went into a house like the one we planned, what words would describe your feelings?


POEM

That Old Haunted House

by Judith Viorst

That old haunted house was so creepy, so crawly,
so ghastly, so ghostly, so gruesome, so skully-and-bony.
That old haunted house gave me nightmares and daymares
and shudders and shivers and quiver and quavers and quakes.
That old haunted house made my hair stand on end and my
heart pound-pound-pound and the blood in my veins ice-
cold freezing.
That old haunted house gave me goose bumps and throat lumps
and ch-ch-ch-chattering teeth and the sh-sh-sh-shakes.
That old haunted house made me shriek, made me eeek, made
me faint, made me scared-to-death scared, made me all-over
Sweat.
Would I ever go back to that old haunted house?
You bet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stockland, Patricia M. 2004. COBWEBS, CHATTER, AND CHILLS: A COLLECTION OF SCARY POEMS. Illustrated by Sara Rojo Perez. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books. ISBN 0-7565-0565-8

EXTENSION
Look at the words the class put on the list to describe feelings. Which of those words would sound more emphatic if you extended them like the words in the poem? Are there other words that come to mind to add to the list after hearing the poem?
Try to write a sentence poem using at least one of the extended words.

Photo courtesy of http://images.search.yahoo.com/

Statue of Liberty dedicated in 1886

INTRODUCTION
On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland was on an island in New York City’s Harbor ready to dedicate the Statue of Liberty. Now the Statue of Liberty is a treasured national monument, but it was not originally so popular. Conceived by sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and financed by donations from the French people, Americans were supposed to build the pedestal to hold the statue. Fund-raising went slowly. Many of the wealthiest Americans thought a statue in honor of liberty would cause unrest among the working classes. Others were suspicious of the French people’s motives; why did they want to give such a huge gift? Finally, newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, started a grass-roots campaign to raise funds. As part of this campaign, Emma Lazarus was asked to right a poem that spoke about America’s place as a land of liberty for refugees from around the world. The Statue stands now as a symbol of our dedication to liberty.

POEM

The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A might woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Have a discussion on the political view of the poem. The Statue of Liberty was controversial back in 1886. Lazarus describes a vision of America as a place that welcomes all immigrants. Is her vision widely accepted or is it controversial? Why?
If you disagree with her vision, what does the Statue of Liberty symbolize to you?
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kennedy, Caroline, ed. 2003. A PATRIOT’S HANDBOOK: SONGS, POEMS, STORIES, AND SPEECHES CELEBRATING THE LAND WE LOVE. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6918-6


EXTENSION
Have a discussion on the political view of the poem. The Statue of Liberty was controversial back in 1886. Lazarus describes a vision of America as a place that welcomes all immigrants. Is her vision widely accepted or is it controversial? Why?
If you disagree with her vision, what does the Statue of Liberty symbolize to you?

Photo courtesy of http://search.yahoo.com/

Nikki Grimes birthday, October 20

INTRODUCTION
Danitra Brown is a recurring character in Nikki Grimes’ poetry collections. When Danitra goes away for the summer, she and a friend exchange letters.

POEM

Dream Places

By Nikki Grimes

Dear Danitra,

Since you left,
I’ve put a map on my bedroom wall.
I stick gold stars on all the places
I’ll travel to someday:
Zaire, Hong Kong, Bombay.
I find each city in my geography book,
Look up the facts and figures,
And write them down in the diary
I keep beside my bed. I lay my head
Back on the pillow, close my eyes,
And see myself, a little older,
Walking down an African street,
Soaking in the heat of the sun.

EXTENSION
Everybody has dreams of taking a trip someplace extra-special. Tack a large world map to your class wall, and provide map pins for students to locate places they want to visit someday. Have students write poems about their dream places and display them with the world map.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 2002. DANITRA BROWN LEAVES TOWN. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688131557

Photo courtesy of http://www.nikkigrimes.com/gallery.html

Columbus Day, October 12

INTRODUCTION
After sailing across the Atlantic for months, on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived on an island he called San Salvador. When he returned to Spain, he mistakenly proclaimed that he had reached the rich and wonderful land of India. Europeans were excited by his stories and began planning more voyages across the Atlantic. It was not many years before Europeans realized they had found other lands—North and South America. Since Columbus’ voyage began the wave of exploration and colonization that eventually led to our nation, we honor him each year on the day he arrived in this new world.

POEM

Columbus Day

By Myra Livingston Cohn

Across the word,
Columbus,
you dreamt your wild schemes.

You slept on decks
of sailing ships;
you nailed the wooden beams.

You coaxed west wind
into the sails;
you mended tattered seams.

Across the word,
Columbus,
you dreamt your wild dreams.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Livingston, Myra Cohn. 1985. CELEBRATIONS. Paintings by Leonard Everett Fisher. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0-8234-0550-8

EXTENSION

Find out what conditions were like on early sailing ships. What did the sailors eat? What were their beds like? What jobs had to be done on board? What frightening things might happen? What do you think the sailors might have done for fun? Then pretend you were on board one of Columbus’ three ships. Write a few journal entries describing what happened as your sailed across the ocean.

Photo courtesy of http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/