Mentor Text: Excuse Me As I Kiss The Sky by Rudy Francisco
Techniques:
- Poetic form
Background –
I am one of the teachers that teaches right until December 22nd. And we’ve got our provincial assessment back this year, which takes place the week we return from the holiday break. And I’m a parent with a couple of kids with a lot going on.
So, the real sponsors of this installment of Mentor Text Wednesday are coffee and a determination to not let any of the balls that are in the air this week drop.
I’ve actually been blessed to have a student teacher in my classroom the last few weeks, and as I picked up a little thank you gift for her, I realized that it might be something I should share with all of you.
I’m sure that most of us are aware of the poetry of Rudy Francisco, but if you haven’t checked out his latest collection, Excuse Me As I Kiss the Sky, you really should. Francisco hasn’t just crafted some great mentor text poems for our use, but he may have just figured out the poetry curriculum for a whole lot of us going forward.
How we might use this text:
Poetic Form – As an easily accessible poet for our students, I don’t doubt that we’ve all dropped a Rudy Francisco poem or two in front of our students. Heck, I’ve shared ‘em here!
What’s unique about his new collection is that the poems are actually organized by form. Each form is introduced and explained, with some commentary by the poet.
And then, we get a small collection of works in that form. It’s a ready made collection of mentor texts, organized for us. There are classic forms, such as the ode, newer forms, like the golden shovel, and though not a form per se, some love poems in there.
I know I regularly share poetry as mentor text material here. Part of that comes out my decision to grow as a teacher of poetry, meaning I’ve made reading poetry, and following the work of favorite poets a part of my academic, and personal, life. I did this because I know that poetry is a challenging thing for many of us to teach, and a challenging thing for many of our students to learn. A book like Francisco’s newest one is a valuable asset in that work, and a gift you should grab for yourself, or someone you know who could use it.
If you could gift a book, or set of mentor texts this holiday season, what would it be?
Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter @doodlinmunkyboy!
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