Genre: Poetry
Age Level: All ages
Summary: Knots on a Counting Rope is a narrative poem involving two main characters - Grandfather and Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses. This poem is full of dialogue between these two characters. The boy often asks his grandfather to tell him the story of when he was born and how he was given his name. The counting rope is used to show how many times the story has been told and it's significance is used to show the passage of time, referring to the fact that grandfather is getting very old. Knots on a Counting Rope is a wonderful depiction of the special relationship between a grandfather and his grandson.
This poem is full of simile and personification. The wind is compared to the crying sounds of a bobcat and the boy is said to have raced darkness, as a human may compete in a race. These elements add to the meaning of this poem and allow more interaction between the poem and the reader.
Reflection: I am so excited to have discovered this wonderful poem. For years, I have had copies of this book in my classroom, but never taken the time to actually read it. I also found a Reading Rainbow video that goes along with this book, and am planning to use it just as soon as my class begins poetry.
I think this book would be neat to share with the class as a read aloud. I would also like to use this to show how simile and personification are used throughout poetry. There are so many good examples inside these pages. I also think that the students would be able to visualize the comparison very easily just by reading the words. Another idea would be to discuss how each student got their name. We all have a story of where our name came from and this book would be a great introduction to an activity where the students researched how they got their name.
Big Questions: What is a counting rope? What do you think it means to race darkness and win? Why did they name the boy as they did? How did you get your name?
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