Do You See What I Saw? Poetry
Written by Kay Winters, Illustrated by Martha Weston

“Did You See What I Saw?” by Kay Winters is a collection of short poems about everyday children at school. Some titles include: School Bus, The Magic Box, Sliding Board, Swinging, Lots of Spots, Runny Nose, and If I Could Vote. School bus really stood out to me because the words in the poem were written in differently to depict the description. For example the word “big” was written in larger font than the rest of the poem while the word “bumpy” was written in a variety of upper case and lower case letters. The poem “Swinging” was a concrete poem. The words began at the top of the page, continued down the page, and then swung back up the page. The poem also began and ended with the line “Swing high, swing low”. Finally, the poem “Runny Nose” was one of the few rhyming poem. Winters wrote, “Funny, runny/ Soggy froggy/ Scratching, hatching, catching/Kerchooooo”. Her use of onomatopoeia also makes the reader feel like they experienced a sneeze first hand. This was a very cute collection of short poems that young students can relate to. ( )

Did You See What I Saw? is a book compiled of several different school related poems. The particular poem I focused on is titled "Behind Closed Doors". This poem is about a student who wonders what the items in the classroom do after the school day is over and everyone has left. I liked this poem for two reasons. The first reason I liked this poem was because the author used personification. "do you suppose...the chalk talks? the floor snores? the clock knocks? the flag brags?" The use of personification in a poem adds humor to the poem and it adds more meaning to the line.
The second reason I liked this book was because it included illustrations. The particular illustration for this poem showed a young girl imagining the classroom items alive and talking to each other. Using an illustration not only helped me as the reader to further visualize, but it helped me to connect to the story to understand the point the author was trying to make. I think the big idea of this poem is for the author to communicate to the reader what could possibly be going on in a classroom after everyone leaves, although, we will never know. ( )

Summary:
This book is all about school in poems. There is a poem about the school bus. There is a poem about books and students who love to read. There are a few peoms about the playground. It definitely relates to the everyday activities going on at school.

Personal Reaction:
This book reminds me of elementary. It made me miss all of the exciting new things that I learned in school and got to experience.

Classroom Extensions:
1. I would have my students make their own poem about school.
2. I would read this book to my students on the first day of school and on the last day of school and see if they can relate to any of the poems. ( )

A little girl expresses all her thoughts about school and the teacher in poems. Kay Winters remind us, through the eyes of first grade students, of how fun is the things we go through in school. Martha Weston uses fresh illustrations to highlight kids’ interests and happiness over all the school’s details.