Poetry Break - African American Poet

Poetry Break with “Isn’t My Name Magical?” by James Berry

Berry, James, and Shelly Hehenberger. (1999). Isn't My Name Magical? Sister and Brother Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Age Group: Elementary

Introduction: Teacher: bring a book to class that tells the meaning of the name of each child in your class. If a name(s) is not in the book, take time to email the parents/guardian of the child beforehand to ask the meaning of the child’s name. Ask students if they know what their names mean, and then read/tell the meanings if they do not. Read “Isn’t My Name Magical?”

Isn’t My Name Magical?

Nobody can see my name on me.
My name is inside
and all over me, unseen
like other people also keep it.
Isn't my name magic?

My name is mine only.
It tells I am individual,
the one special person it shakes
when I’m wanted.

Even if someone else answers
for me, my message hangs in air,
haunting others, till it stops
with me, the right name.
Isn’t your name and my name magic?

If I’m with hundreds of people
and my name gets called,
my sound switches me on to answer
like it was my human electricity.
Isn’t that magical?

My name echoes across playground,
it comes, it demands my attention.
I have to find out who calls,
who wants me for what.
My name gets blurted out in class,
it is a terror, at a bad time,
because somebody is cross.

My name gets called in a whisper
I am happy, because
my name may have touched me
with a loving voice.
Isn’t your name and my name magic?

Extension: Ask each student to think about his/her name. Ask if they like their names, allowing any student that wishes to respond as to why or why not. Afterwards, have the children make an acrostic of their names using words or phrases that they think describes them (their appearance, character, etc.). Allow any to share their acrostics with the class that would like to. (Teacher: make sure and take up the acrostics to read personally to gain any insight into a student’s personality).