We are about to start our second author study and decided on a very funny poet! We are happy and excited that our author is Shel Silverstein. We had a chance to choose our favorite poem that he wrote and we are going to practice fluency before we "perform" for our classmates. The three books that we chose from were Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, and The Light in the Attic. When we read poems we look for descriptive language because word choice in poetry is important to help us understand and laugh. In class we will be practicing by reading our poems in front of an audience, remembering to speak clearly, pause at the end of lines, hold the book below our face, read fluently and speak with excitement. One new fact that we learned about Shel Silverstein in our research was that the last book he wrote before he died was Runny Babbit in 1999. 
