FREE CHOICE

GIFT TAG

Photo Retrieved from Amazon.com

 A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vardell, Sylvia & Janet Wong. GIFT TAG.  PoetryTagTime.com, 2011. ASIN B0069RU7CE

B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND REVIEW

Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong teamed together to tag and create an anthology of poems written by twenty-eight notable poets, on a set of three simple rules. This is a fun and playful collection of poems and interesting photographs.   Given these rules, poets such as Jane Yolen, Charles Waters, and Helen Frost take their writing hand and make poetry writing seem effortless and easy.

Using a photo, thoughts upon seeing the photo, and a maximum of 250 characters, these poets managed to create deeply meaningful works, all intended for a Kindle version of the book.  The single pages are a nice feature, as they allow the reader to first study the photo, then read the poem. These poems are each truly a gift, as they pull together the many tender feelings about tradition and the spirit of the Holidays.  In "Nativity," Lee Bennett Hopkins writes about a photo of a stained glass portrait of the Nativity scene at the Birth of Christ.  This was my favorite, as all of the traditions and familiar objects of Christmas come together in this very short poem.  

In this unique format, the websites provided in the foreword are a nice feature, and the information about each author at the end is great for more exploration.  Information is provided about the photographs, and the ideas shared about how to use photography was an added bonus!

C. HIGHLIGHT POEM AND POETRY BREAK

This is a great book to present over a projector, since it is intended for a Kindle.  I have my Kindle account set to my PC, so it is easy to project books this way.   

Schedule time in a computer class or a cart with laptops, iPads, etc. Read and present through the projector the following poem:

Gift Tag by Janet Wong 

I was about to write 

with love

from me to you

but that sounded too aw-

fully familiar so I’ll write 

just our names. Nothing 

else, only your name, 

happy on its own line, 

and mine, joined, sharing 

all that is unwritten.

Discuss the poem as a class.  Have students find a picture about school that means something special to them.  Encourage them to choose much like in the book: simple, unassuming, and clear.  Once they choose their photo, they can write something about the photo using 250 characters or less.  

Vardell, Sylvia; Janet Wong (2011-11-17). Gift Tag (PoetryTagTime Book 3) (Kindle Locations 240-244). PoetryTagTime.com. Kindle Edition.