by Susan Creech
copyright 2001
HarperCollins, New York
ATOS level: 4.5
Lexile level: 1010
Interest level: grades 3-5
Description
Jack doesn't think boys write poetry, or so he says in the first entry in his school year-long journal. Totally written in free verse, Jack reflects on the poems introduced by Miss Stretchberry, tries his hand at writing poems, and expresses his doubts to her about whether his work really is poetry. The reader not only learns about different forms of poetry but also witnesses Jack's growth from wanting to be anonymous to writing to his favorite poet and asking him to visit his school (all in free verse). The joy in this slim book comes in part from recognizing familiar poems woven throughout, but mostly from how Jack slowly reveals the story of the dog he loves as he emulates several poets' styles and finally develops his own poet's voice.
Qualitative Analysis
Structure
- This story is unconventionally told in the form of free-verse poetry and as dated journal entries.
- Though the form is unconventional, the free-verse poetry style uses familiar language.
- Students should have some familiarity with poetry and its various forms, as well as have some experience interpreting a poem's meaning. This book is based on several well-known poems, though students can read and discuss these (most included at the back of the book) as they come up in the story.
- This book has multiple levels of meaning, most obviously as a chronicle of Jack's attempts to write poetry throughout the school year. As a survey of poetry, Jack's poems need to be read as imitating other poets' styles. Woven through it all is Jack's heart-breaking story of getting, loving and losing a dog.
Text Complexity
Curriculum Connections (ELA - Poetry)
Love That Dog could be read independently as a conventional boy-and-his-dog story and used for comparison to another boy-and-his-dog read-aloud (like Rascal by Sterling North, 1440L). But what teacher could resist using Love That Dog to introduce a poetry unit? Using the style of the book as inspiration, students could read and write poetry through the year. If you can focus on poetry only in one unit, first introduce and analyze the poems (included at the back of the book) and then pair up students to read Love That Dog aloud to each other, following it up with poetry writing.
Additional teaching resources
Related Resources
Children's Poetry from the Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/children/
The Red Wheelbarrow, read by William Carlos Williams
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/178804#poem
Poetry resources from read•write•think
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/april-national-poetry-month-20478.html
Sharon Creech official site - author information, teaching resources, etc.
http://www.sharoncreech.com
When Poetry Meets the Common Core
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/01/14/tln_curran_poetry.html
Standards (examples for Grade 5)
CCSS Reading: Literature
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
Final Thoughts
Don't save the study of poetry until April. Take a cue from this book and have your students reading and writing poems throughout the school year. Love That Dog gives you an excellent place to start.
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