Author Study/Genre of the Month: Jacqueline Woodson

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

February's author is Jacqueline Woodson.  The genre of the month is Poetry.  I thought it was a good genre, considering April is National Poetry Month.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud. Woodson doesn't often using the traditional rhyming patterns, but she does use rhythm in her books.  It mimics a conversation or monologue, especially in Locomotion, which I read aloud.  I love discussing how this is still a form of poetry, even though it doesn't sound like what we're used to thinking of when we think of poetry (heavy rhyming).

Some other greats:
The Other Side
Show Way
Peace, Locomotion

I also have websites available for students to research Woodson  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!