POETRY PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE POETRY

Greenfield, Eloise.  The Friendly Four.  New York:  HarperCollins Children’s Books.  2006.  ISBN  9780060007607.

SUMMARY:  This free verse poetry book describes how four children meet in their neighborhood and form fast friendships.   Drum, Dorene, Louis, and Rae enter one another's lives and enjoy a summer of bonding and playing.  During the summer the children enjoy playing dress up, slides and swings, and school. They even create and paint an elaborate cardboard town they call “Goodsummer.”  The book shows that sometimes friendships develop when we least expect it.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  This short novel in verse is a great book for choral reading.  The childrens' voices are printed in different colors, so readers can easily see the individual childrens’ parts. The author includes individual poems and poems for multiple voices.  The author uses rhyme and expressive, emotional language in her poetry. This book is all about friendship and feelings. The illustrations in simple watercolors show scenes of the neighbors and neighborhood.  The use of color by illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist, provides a happy and serene setting for the book.  This book will appeal to students grades K-3.  Anyone that has moved to a new neighborhood will appreciate Drum’s outlook and how he ends up finding friends.  The book also contains a Table of Contents.

POETRY EXCERPT: 

Bummer Summer

“Drum:  Not many kids live on my block,

Two teens, two babies, and me.

Summer’s a bummer,

Nobody to chase,

Nobody to catch the ball

I throw.

Hurry up, September!

Get here,  fall!

So I can be with

All my friends again.”

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:   Students could read the book and then divide in groups and make up their own reader’s theater about the book.

Students could  brainstorm and write ideas about the top ten ways to make friends and the top ten ways to lose friends.  Students could take all suggestions and make a poster about friendship.  Then, the teacher could put it on the wall.  When there are disagreements, students and the teacher could consult the wall to yield solutions to the dilemma.  

Students could also rewrite parts of the story from one of the other friend’s perspective. 

RESOURCES:

Greenfield, Eloise.  The Friendly Four.  New York:  HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Images by Google Images.