National Day of the Cowboy

INTRODUCTION
July 25, 2009 marks the fifth annual National Day of the Cowboy. The National Day of the Cowboy organization devised this day to remind Americans of our cowboy heritage and how cowboys contributed to America’s western history and culture.

POEM

Hats off to the Cowboy
By Red Steagall

The city folks think that it’s over.
The cowboy has outlived his time–
An old worn-out relic, a thing of the past,
But the truth is, he’s still in his prime.

The cowboy’s the image of freedom,
The hard-ridin’ boss of the range.
His trade is a fair one, he fights for what’s right,
And his ethics aren’t subject to change.

He still tips his hats to the ladies,
Let’s you water first at the pond.
He believes a day’s pay is worth a day’s work,
And his handshake and words are his bond.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Janeczko, Paul B. 1997. HOME ON THE RANGE: COWBOY POEMS. Illustrated by Bernie Fuchs. NY: Dial Books. ISBN: 0803719116.

EXTENSION
Have fun celebrating the cowboy heritage by creating personally designed bandanas created by cutting used, clean bed sheets that are cut into triangles and providing Crayola color markers. Invite the children to share what they think about cowboys and what their life is like, and invite them share it in poem from.

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

Poet Arnold Adoff's Birthday

INTRODUCTION
Children’s poet and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children honoree Arnold Adoff’s birthday is July 16. Bring a collection of Adoff’s poetry books and your list of favorite poems to share along with the following poem. Read this outdoors at the start of a water fun day. Have a hose or a water gun nearby to use after reading the poem.

POEM

There is A Wading Pool in Our Park
By Arnold Adoff

There is a wading pool in our park,
a swimming pool for the bigger kids,
and a bathtub full of cool water
later on when…I get back home

But right now the hydrant
is open and this stream
of water gu.sh.es out in an arc
of
ice
wet
fun
so cold we shiver in the steaming
……………………………..summer
…………………………………..sun.

There are rainbows
though the highest
splashes of water,
through the highest
reaches of water,
through the highest
curves….of…..spray.

Cold wet colors this hot day.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adoff, Arnold. 1995. STREET MUSIC: CITY POEMS. Illustrated by Karen Barbour. NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 0060215224.

EXTENSION
When you have moved the books to safety, spray the children with water so that they can see the arc of water and the colors the sunshine makes as it goes through the water, and primarily, so they can have fun.

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

Dog Days of Summer

INTRODUCTION
Today marks the beginning of the hottest 40 days of the year in the northern hemisphere. The phrase, dog days of summer, comes from Ancient Egypt where this period was named after the dog star, Sirius. This star is the brightest in the night sky. Back then, it rose and set at the same time as the sun during this period. That is how the Egyptians knew they were entering the heat of the “Dog Days.”

POEM

DOG DAY
By Douglas Florian

It’s hot and it’s hazy.
My body feels lazy.
My clothing is clinging.
No songbird is singing.
The temperature’s torrid.
My temperament’s horrid.
Has anyone thrown
This dog day a bone?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 2002. SUMMERSAULTS: POEMS AND PAINTINGS. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0060292679

EXTENSION
The dog star is not always in alignment with the sun at this time of year. Tonight, remember to check the sky for the dog star as the sun sets. Meanwhile, let’s make some poetry fans for cooling off. Make simple accordion-fold fans, and have the children write a “list poem” by listing words associated with heat and summer on each of the folds. Also, if it is a hot day and circumstances allow: have a run through a sprinkler or swim in a pool.

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

Independence Day

INTRODUCTION
When Englishmen first established colonies along the east coast of North America, they did not consider themselves Americans. They were Englishmen or perhaps Virginians or Marylanders. It took more than a century to establish themselves and begin to consider themselves a distinct nation.

POEM

THE GIFT OUTRIGHT

By Robert Frost

The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia.
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, airless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Parini, Jay, ed. 1995. THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN POETRY. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231081227

EXTENSION
Discuss how this country would be different if we were still part of the British Empire or Commonwealth. Would immigrants from other nations be welcome? Would the land all the way to the Pacific have been united? Does the poem show how Frost felt about American independence?

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