River of Words, A: The Story of William Carlos Williams
Publication Information
Author:  Bryant, Jen	Illustrator:  Sweet, Melissa
Title:  River of Words, A: The Story of William Carlos Williams	Date:  2008
Publisher:  Eerdmans Books	City:  Grand Rapids, MI
ISBN, paperback:  978-0-8028-5302-8	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:   Yes	Young Adult:
Picture:   Yes
General Information:
Book Type(s):    biography and autobiography, poetry, nonfiction
HSE Descriptor(s):    language arts - reading
Summary:
This relatively easy-reading biography of the American poet and doctor, William Carlos Williams, includes lovely collage illustrations of a few short simple poems, a timeline, and helpful notes from the author and illustrator.
Teaching Ideas:
Read, read, read aloud all the poetry included and any other short poems by Williams that you can find online. Readers will enjoy examining the illustrations closely and discussing the details. For example, look at the different versions of "So Much Depends..." to see how Williams explored line lengths. Students could follow up with writing their own poetry. Perhaps Sweet's collages could inspire the students to illustrate their own creations.
Teaching Strategies:
Bleich's Heuristic for Responding to Reading    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/bleichs_heuristic.pdf
Helping Students in the Writing Process    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/help_writing_process.pdf
Save the Last Word for Me (Adaptation)    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/adapt_save_last_word.pdf
Brainstorming Activities (Guidelines)    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/brainstorming.pdf
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > giving/generosity Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > honesty Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > imagination Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > joy Literature and Language > figurative language > imagery

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