YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ TO YOU

Poetry Performance

Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2007. YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ

TO YOU: VERY SCARY TALES TO READ TOGETHER. illustrated

by Michael Amberley. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 

ISBN 9780316017336.

This is the fourth YOU READ TO ME installment of a series of poetry books by Mary Ann Doberman. In this fantastic collection of poems, children can read with a peer or adult about zombies, goblins, and ghouls. Perfect for Halloween, young readers will delight in the scary poems, which are in not scary in a way to keep children up at night. The monsters, witches, and goblins in the poems are amusing and delightful. The overall tone of the book is enjoyment and imaginative.  

The poems are meant for two readers, sometimes reading solo, while other times reading together. The lines are color coded, so that the reader knows when it is his/her time to read. A separate color is used for when both readers, or both groups are to read together. The lines are short enough that young readers will not become frustrated or lose interest. The rhythm and rhyme of the poem also will hold the interest of the young reader, and will aid in a struggling reader to decipher an unknown word. 

Mary Ann Doberman has teamed up with Michael Amberley in all the YOU READ TO ME poetry collections. Amberley uses pencil and watercolors to create hysterical monsters, ghouls, and phantoms. The illustrations give the monsters human like qualities, and they bring life to each poem. 

Spotlight Poem

The Ghost and the Mouse

 I am a ghost.            

            I am a mouse.

We live together

In this house.

            There's just one thing

            That's wrong, you see.

I'm scared of you.            

You're scared of me.            

            You're scared of me.

            I'm scared of you.

We know it's silly

But it's true.

            I'm scared of ghosts.

I'm scared of mice.            

To live together 

Isn't nice.

Each time I see a mouse,            

I shriek.            

            Each time I see a ghost,

            I squeak.

I wish that you            

Would move away.            

            I wish that you would move.

            I'll stay.

Classroom Activities

As you see, the poem is color coded.  The purple is for reader 1, the red for reader 2, and the orange is when the readers read in unison. This could also be done in as group 1 and group 2. 

This book would be a great companion for the month of October, since many children love Halloween. 

Reading buddies could be utilized with the poems in this book. Pair a young reader with an older reader, such as a first grader with a fifth grader.  The older reader can help the younger reader with unknown words. However, the rhyme and alliteration throughout the poems will help the young reader decode and learn language patterns. 

As readers go through the poems in the book, have children keep up with the rhyming pairs in a portable word wall. Whole class, or individual students, can begin making a rhyming dictionary.