Module 6: Poetry Choice: Poetry by Children

Lowe, Ayana. 2008. Come and Play: Children of our World Having Fun. New York: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books. ISBN 978-1-59990-245-6.



This collection of poems edited by Ayana Lowe were written by children who were inspired by pictures from Magnum Photos. The photos span different eras and capture children at play from all over the world.
The following is a a Poem written by a child after viewing a photo of children playing tag in Baghdad, Iraq, 2003.

Tag

In tag, you improve your running.
You improve your escape time.
When you are playing tag,
you are in a whole other world.
Nothing else coud be better.

This poem is especially moving because the photo was taken in Iraq, where we usually only hear about mayhem. It's good to show that children will find a way to play no matter what their circumstances may be.

Extension:

Instruct students to bring 1-2 photographs from home. Put all the photographs into an envelope and randomly select one. Encourage children to write a poem, paragraph or short story based on the selected photograph. Continue this on a weekly basis until all the photographs have been selected. Allow students to post their interpretations on a bulletin board in the classroom/library around the featured photograph.