Poetry Workshop: My Grandma's stories - San Salvadoran poet Jorge Arguenta - Brief Article

If you're lucky, you grew up knowing at least one gifted storyteller-an uncle who told tall tales over Sunday dinner, or perhaps a neighbor who told ghost stories over the fence. Whether fiction or fact, the magic is in making the story come to life. Jorge Argueta tells of such a magical storyteller in his poem "My Grandma's Stories."

About the Poet

Jorge Argueta is a San Salvadoran poet who writes in Spanish and English for children and adults.. In his book of poems A Movie in my Pillow/Una Pelfcula en mi Almohada (Children's Book Press, 2001), Argueta recalls memories and dreams of his childhood in El Salvador and San Francisco.

Reading the Poem

Display Instructor's Poetry Poster for your students. The two versions of the poem, in English and Spanish, make for some exciting oral reading opportunities. Begin by having a student read the entire poem in English, followed by a reading of the Spanish version by a student or teacher who reads and speaks Spanish. You might also break up the poem into stanzas and alternate between the English version and the Spanish version. Try having readers alternate English and Spanish lines or read at the same time. Make sure the students hear the poem in both languages, and spend some time talking with them about how the poem sounds in each language.

Writing Story Poems

As your students begin to brainstorm ideas for their poems, ask them to think about the stories in their own lives. Ask: Have your parents ever told you stories of what you were like when you were little? Do they tell stories of their childhoods? What is your own favorite memory of a special time? Ask each student to jot down a few ideas about the story he or she would like to tell. Then have each student find a partner and share his or her story. The partners can help each other focus their ideas and make sure that the words they choose are grounded in sensory details. For each part of their stories, have the poet pairs look for similes to help them express meaning.

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