- School & Library Binding
- Publisher: San Val (Mar 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0613276043
- ISBN-13: 978-0613276047
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.8 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Review
"Perhaps the best book I have read portraying the joy and excitement young people experience when writing in a happy place where people care about their works...The ideas Koch uses are good. I've tried them with my writing classes, and they work."-- Herbert Kohl, "Saturday Review""I wish every grade school teacher would run out and read Kenneth Koch's "Wishes, Lies, and Dreams." If many of them took Koch's advice seriously we would have at the very least a poetry revolution, not to mention the possibility that a lot of kids would start having a good time in school." -- Allen Wiggins, "Cleveland Plain Dealer""There are enough ideas in the book, all laid out in good detail by Koch, and with great respect for his fellow artists, the students, to give other teachers a workable plan for teaching poetry...Koch has helped people discover joy in words, and that is what the love of poetry is all about." -- "Virginia Quarterly Review"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The classic, inspiring account of a poet's experience teaching school children to write poetry
When Kenneth Koch entered the Manhattan classrooms of P.S. 61, the children, excited by the opportunity to work with an instructor able to inspire their talent and energy, would clap and shout with pleasure. In this vivid account, Koch describes his inventive methods for teaching these children how to create poems and gives numerous examples of their work. "Wishes, Lies, and Dreams" is a valuable text for all those who care about freeing the creative imagination and educating the young. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Last winter and the spring before that I taught poetry writing to children at P.S. 61 on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C in Manhattan. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Last winter and the spring before that I taught poetry writing to children at P.S. 61 on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C in Manhattan. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lots of poets nowadays, on both sides of the Atlantic, go into schools-primary and secondary-to conduct workshops , in short, to encourage children to write poems and to realize how much fun it can be.In the 1960s this was virtually unheard of. But Kenneth Koch, New York poet, did it, going into a primary school in downtown New York to work with teachers and children interested in poetry, as well as teachers and children who were NOT interested in poetry. He thought it was a good idea, and as weeks turned into months, he knew it was a good idea.Children who had previously thought poetry was boring found that it could be great fun, very satisfying, even life-changing. They grew in confidence.Some of the children had poor literacy skills but still wrote great poems.Some of the children, from Hispanic backgrounds, knew little English, and wrote great poems.
Kenneth Koch in this book does not philosophize or theorize-he just shows us some of the exercises he did with the children.Simple, effective exercises.Getting them to write a poem in which each line begins "I Wish" worked very well because we all know that we have wishes. He got them to observe their environment but also to enjoy flights of fancy. In one of the exercises, he got them to use a few Spanish words interspersed with the English, in order to encourage enjoyment of new sounds, mysterious ones.This rather-surreal exercise worked very well AND improved the self-esteem of many of the Hispanic students, who tended to feel apologetic about their own background, rather than proud of it or intrigued by it.
I am a "grown-up" poet. Some of these exercises I have found very useful for myself.And Koch's enthusiasm shines through-the exercises are fun because HE finds them fun. The final chapter is aimed at teachers wanting to enthuse their students with poetry. And there is a selection of poems that were actually produced in the workshops-vital, interesting, startling poems.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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6 reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Every teacher should read this - and use it!
6 Sep 2003
Format:Paperback
I was first introduced to this marvelous book as a sophomore in an advanced placement English and History class in high school. An older graduate of the program had gone on to study poetry under Kenneth Koch at Columbia University, and returned to share what he had learned.
Now, with Bachelor's Degrees in both English and Elementary Education and a Master's in Language, Linguistics and Culture, I still consider WISHES, LIES, AND DREAMS to be the single best book on teaching writing that I have ever read.
Koch does not waste time with "assessment" of students' skills, collecting data, or any of the other peripheral matters that clutter most writing "methods" texts. This book is about WRITING, about inspiring students to write, about focusing the talents students already have but might not know that they possess.
I first used this book as a teacher when I was student teaching with a class of recalcitrant fifth graders who had been taught strictly by the text throughout their elementary school years. They almost unanimously declared that they hated writing. Employing Koch's ideas and combining them with the District-required skills lessons, I successfully taught these students what they needed to know - and they loved it!
After I began teaching in my own classroom, I used WLD with my students in bilingual third grade classes. Again, we were successful, even with second-language learners. Years later, when I began teaching second grade, and last year, when I worked with first graders, this book was an essential part of our writing program.
Having been an elementary school teacher now for eleven years, I have come to the conclusion that the best teachers begin with the students' interests and talents, then direct this energy toward teaching the students what they don't know.
Even though the subtitle is "Teaching Children to Write Poetry", the ideas Koch presents serve as a starting point for introducing children to other forms of writing. While the book is directed primarily toward elementary school students, I cannot imagine that high schoolers and even college students could not benefit from it.
Best of all, Koch himself takes up little space explaining to us, telling us how to teach, or - as so many methodology text writers tend to do - ramble on for page after page stating the obvious. Most of the book is filled with examples of writing from the STUDENTS Koch worked with in the New York City Public Schools. These brief poems provide students with a concrete example of what children before them have written, and inspire them to write their own poetry.
The Six-Traits writing process hadn't even been invented (or at least hadn't been named that) when this book was published over thirty years ago, but I found it easy to find examples of good use of Voice, Word Choice, Conventions, Ideas, and Sentence Fluency throughout the book.
No matter what program your school district requires, WLD will help provide inspiration. Teachers can easily supplement skills and grammar lessons in addition to Koch's marvelous ideas, and will probably think of millions more.
If you're not a teacher, sit down with your children and read this book together, read the children's poems, and try some of the ideas. You'll probably end up recommending WLD to your child's teacher - and he'll be glad you did.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Worth its weight in gold
13 April 2000
Format:Paperback
This is one book I can't do without. I was introduced to Kenneth Koch's work when I was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison taking a workshop from an author who had taught with Koch. It has been my "writing Bible" ever since. I have used almost every exercise at one time or another with elementary school children, with fantastic results. Along with Koch's "Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?", this is a classic.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A superb introduction to the art of writing poetry
30 May 2007
Format:Paperback
Some 35+ years after its initial publication, this remains one of the finest books about writing poetry -- and not just for children, either! Kenneth Koch walks a delicate & difficult line here, trusting in the experiences & imaginations of children, yet also emphasizing (in an unforced but gently firm manner) the need for work & craft. Most of all, it demystifies poetry without stripping it of its wonder & magic, making it accessible to all who are willing to meet it halfway. There's never a note of condescension here, just a genuine love of poetry & the expectation that any aspiring poet will give his or her all in creating poems. Most highly recommended!
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