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01/09/07

  Rhyme and Reason at Center School  -  Categories: Mattapoisett  -  admin @ 07:32:53 pm

Children's author and humorist Jeff Nathan entertained an enthusiastic audience of students at Center School on Tuesday morning, January 9. Designed to help students develop an ear for poetry and puns, Mr. Nathan's interactive and educational assemblies had students in grades Kindergarten through Grade 3 laughing, singing and reciting poetry for most of the morning.

Mr. Nathan is the author of several published children's books including There's a Hippo in My Locker, Calling All Animals and Oh My Darling Porcupine. He refers to his work as "PunOETRY" and has developed the assemblies to help students learn to appreciate word play and also prepare for the kinds of questions asked on the third grade MCAS tests. "Poetry Can Be Fun" and "Learning Language Arts Through Humor" were two programs presented in the morning which were followed by afternoon classroom visits with the author.

During "Poetry Can Be Fun," Mr. Nathan reviewed well-known nursery rhymes with kids in Grades K-2. He then showed students how he rewrote them so that the poems would have a completely different outcome. "Just changing one or two words can make the poem completely different," he said, reciting his rendition of "Humpty Dumpty" which turned the famous giant egg into an omelet for "all the king's horses and all the king's men."

"The kids loved it," said Courtney Olson, Kindergarten teacher at Center School. Ms. Olson said that her students particularly loved the baseball skit where Mr. Nathan's version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," turned into a young kid's plea to the coach to "Take Me Out of the Ball Game." The "Poetry Can Be Fun" session closed with an affirming poem about being scared of the dark, a reality that Mr. Nathan assured the children many people -- even adults -- suffer from.

Third graders participated in the program called "Learning Language Arts Through Humor" which helps students to develop the ability to comprehend poetry and understand parts of speech, rhyming, and pluralizing which are all components of the third grade MCAS testing.

Rachel Deery, co-chairman of the Mattapoisett Parents-Teachers Association's (PTA) Arts and Humanities Committee, said the PTA had been looking for a poetry presenter and found Mr. Nathan through an arts agency which directed the committee to his website.

"I thought he had a lot of energy," said Ms. Deery. "The silly aspects of it were perfect for the younger audiences and he gave a more academic performance for the third graders. Words are things that kids can have fun with and he made poetry accessible to the students."

Mr. Nathan said he started conducting the assemblies several years ago as a by-product of helping his own children to develop an ear for music and language.

This program was supported in part by a grant from the Mattapoisett Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

At the end of the month, the Arts and Humanities Committee will be sponsoring the return of the Odaiko New England Drummers, a program designed to give children cultural and musical exposure. The Odaiko group specializes in the ancient Japanese art of Taiko drumming. The program will be held on January 23 at both Center and Old Hammondtown Schools, but is not open to the public.

By Nancy MacKenzie

Marlborough Intermediate Elementary School was looking for a new way to get its fourth-graders excited about writing and poetry, and they found their answer in the form of Jeff Nathan, a children's author and creator of PunOETRY, the combination of puns and poetry.

"We wanted someone who could discuss book writing and poetry and would fit into the curriculum," said Sarah Byrne, an MIE fourth-grade teacher and event coordinator.

Nathan, also the author of "There's a Hippo in My Locker" (2000) and "Calling All Animals: the first book of PunOETRY" (2003), entertained his young audience with his poems, including several readings from his upcoming book, which has the working title "I Object to These Objects."

Throughout his readings, he explained how he used puns, poetry, similes and metaphors and that they would be found on the fourth-graders' MCAS tests, which they will be taking later this year.

Nathan, who has worked with children for 21 years, advised the students that whenever they read poems, they should act like a detective to interpret it by paying attention, gathering clues and reading it again.

"Have fun with it, and treat it like a puzzle," said Nathan. "Eliminate the answers that don't fit until you find the right one."

After reading the poem "Duck!" from "Calling All Animals ..." Nathan quizzed the audience. With his instructions, the enthusiastic children were eager to answer.

Both Ryan Crory and David Blake were awarded autograph copies of Nathan's books for their detective skills.

Nathan, a former marketing representative, shared his writing experiences and provided tips to encourage the fourth-graders to write.

He began writing poems for his four children, and eventually neighborhood children, when they auditioned for plays at the Merrimack Junior Theater in Andover.

"All of the other kids were performing poems by Shel Silverstein," said Nathan. "Instead of reading the same Shel Silverstein poems, I wrote poems for my children so they would have something new and different to perform."

Nathan suggested that students use emotions to write, and advised them to act in order to feel emotions toward a subject, in which they may not strongly believe.

While Nathan was writing poems for his children to perform, Lisa Harney, who is now 15, asked him to write a poem for her. Nathan asked her what she felt strongly about, and a few days later, Harney returned and told him. He then wrote "Lisa Harney's Annoyance."

He explained to the students how he had to live the part as Lisa Harney. While performing the poems, the students quickly learned that middle school boys were Harney's annoyance.

"This was difficult for me because I was a middle school boy once, and I had to think of the ways middle school boys act that middle girls would find annoying." said Nathan.

He told the students about "poetic license," which received cheers when he said, "With poetic license you can break the rules."

He explained how poetic license, such as incorrect spelling or grammar, can be used to express a point, and then read his poem "Me Shoes," with an English accent.

"Me Shoes," which appears in "There's a Hippo in My Locker," is about an Englishman who is obsessed with his shoes and does everything he can to protect them.

Nathan's discussion also covered illustrations, and how illustrators, such as Liz Ball, the illustrator of "Calling All Animals ...," will place a "hidden" character or trademark in every picture. Nathan pointed out that Ball drew a slug-like worm for every picture of the book.

Nathan also works with was Jillian Nathan, his 22-year-old daughter who drew the pictures for "There's a Hippo in My Locker."

"Calling All Animals ...," Nathan's recent book has been nominated for the "Notable Books in Language Arts" 2004 Awards and the "2004 Pinnacle Awards" for Children's Interest.

"I have a lot of fun playing with words," said Nathan, "and, I have a blast writing poems." He encouraged students to try something different when a teacher asks them to write.

"I did not enjoy writing until I began writing children's poetry," he said. "Who knows, you might enjoy if you try something new."