Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices

By Paul Fleischman

Book Overview

Following his Newbery Medal-winning Joyful Noise, Fleischman offers another collection of beautifully orchestrated, spirited poems for many voices. -- Booklist

These rousing, rib-tickling poems demand the joy of reading aloud. Settle back and chant The Quiet Evenings Here, as Grandma rocks, the clock tick-tocks, and no one cares a hoot for the world outside. Delight in Seventh-Grade Soap Opera, alive with hearsay about who's holding hands with whom. This innovative book weaves a tapestry of rhythm that will have readers of all ages sounding off.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763638056
• ISBN13: 9780763638054
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 44 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 10.6" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Big Talk = Big results for teaching oral poetry reading

I wish I had videotaped this year school year but due to time constraints I did not. This book comes on the heels of using Paul Fleishmann's, Joyful Noise, Poems for Two Voices. Both books offer students an interactive way to practice oral poetry reading and have lots of laughs in the process. This was in my 6th grade classroom, and my professional peers in 7th grade used this book to have their students write Advice Poems to my 6th graders going into 7th grade next year using the two and four voice formats. This book is a classroom must - you won't regret the purchase! Use the two-voice poems for your grade-level students and the four-voice poems for your high level students!

Turn kids on to Poetry

This book has three poems for four voices. Once you teach kids how to use the format they take on the task with gusto. Each poem has a different flavor. Paul Fleischman's flair for language is wonderful, phrases roll off the tongue. The concept of four voices really motivates kids to pay attention to each other and the "beat" of the poem. We need more of this kind of poetry experience to turn kids on to poetry.

Great fun--can anybody actually do this???

Those who loved "A Joyful Noise" and "I Am Phoenix" will feel that they've hit upon a treasure trove in this group of poems for four voices. The only small disadvantages: this book only contains three poems (maybe somebody should write a sequel?), and the arrangement of the color-coded lines can be a bit confusing. (Each "voice," or color, can have more than one line on a page.) So, have fun. And then go write a few masterpieces of your own. Keep the Big Talk going.