Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Fleischman, P. (1988). Joyful noise: poem for two voices. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publisher.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman is a book of poems written about a variety of insects.   This is a wonderful book to get children engaged in poetry and was awarded a Newberry Award in 1989. This book has a wide range of emotions expressed when detailing different insects.  There is a poem that details the mayfly and how short it’s life is.  Another poem is a love song of the book louse.   The poem Water Striders is a fun poem where the insect talks about walking on water.  The most interesting component of this book is how the poems are written with the intent of two people reading them.   There are lines that both readers should read together, and lines that only one person will read.  Fleischman structured the poems in two columns.  One column is for one reader, and the other column is for the second reader. 

In the poem Fireflies there is a strong example of alliteration.  Alliteration is the same consonant is heard frequently within a few lines of the poem.  One portion of Fireflies says “fireflies flickering flitting flashing fireflies.  This poem also has an example of personification.  Personification is when an animal is given human qualities.  In Fireflies, it says that the fireflies are calligraphers that are practicing their penmanship and copying sentences. 

Big Question:  How did the poet appeal to each of your five senses in Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices?

Connections: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9 Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Have students select a poem in Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices and pick a fiction book that has the same topic.  For example have them read Grasshoppers in Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices and read Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel.  Have them fill in a graphic organizer that shows the similarities and differences how the authors treat the topic, grasshoppers.