Messing Around on the Monkey Bars: And other School Poems for Two Voices

Bibliography

Franco, B. 2009. Messing around on the Monkey Bars: And other School Poems for Two Voices. Ill. by Jessie Hartland. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0763631741.

Review

This book is a collection of nineteen school poems with topics ranging from classroom lessons to fun at recess. In the introduction, Franco explains to students how to read the individual parts as well as the parts that should be read in unison. Each part is shown in a different font boldness and size. The poems are best read aloud with partners, but they could also be enjoyed by an individual reader or as a class. Students will relate to the school situations and will enjoy the rhythmic beat of the poems. Many of the poems encourage movement such as bouncing a basketball along to “Backboard Rap” or tapping out a rhythm to “Jenny’s Pencil”. Students will enjoy interacting with these creative poems.

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: elementary students

Before reading: Have students tap out a rhythm on their desk with a pencil.

During reading: Choose one student to read the bolded words as you read the tap, tap of the pencil. All of the other students should be tapping their pencils on the desk. Here is the first half of the poem:

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

Tap, tap                       While we’re reading

Tap, tap                       and we’re writing,

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

Tap, tap                       multiplying

Tap, tap                       or dividing,

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

Tap, tap                       Jenny’s pencil

Tap, tap                       can’t keep quiet.

Tap, tap

Tap, tap

After reading: After reading through the poem once, divide the room into three groups. The first group reads the lines “tap, tap”, the second group reads the words in bold, and the third group keeps the beat with their tapping pencils.