Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.
―Robert Frost
Get Ready Now
How do you feel about poetry? Is it your best friend, your go-to companion when you need to celebrate, grieve, or stew? Maybe it’s the bully you avoid, still feeling the sting from the way it seemed to get the best of you in a class you were in a long time ago. Poetry could be a stranger, the complex and confusing shadow you sidestep over and over again.
No matter your current relationship with poetry, what might happen if you leaned in and got to know poetry a little more personally? What might happen if you decided to do this in your classroom, too?
Those who are longtime Big Fresh readers know that we value poetry all year long, not just in the set-aside poetry month of April. However, spring is coming, and so is the opportunity to lean into poetry.
If you want to go big with poetry in April, check out Gretchen Schroeder’s article for fantastic ideas. If you want to nurture a poetry-conscious classroom community leading up to April, then you’ll love the ideas Joanne Emery has curated. We’re also sharing more ideas in the Free for All section of the newsletter. This week we begin thinking ahead to National Poetry Month—plus more, as always.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Now is the time to dive into the 2023 Nerdy Book Club Awards for Poetry and Novels in Verse. They reflect a wide range of poetry and free-verse text and reveal an array of poetic expression while providing students with models for crafting their own poetry.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is in the middle of a new video series called Coaxing Poems. You won’t want to miss this great resource for teaching young writers (and ourselves) how to write a poem.
Gretchen Schroeder offers three poetry-writing activities to take the pressure off the writing process by using another poet’s structure and/or words as a starting point. You’ll be amazed by how deep and personal the resulting poems can become. Download a PDF for students to collect lines for a cento poem.
If you are an instructional coach, you don’t want to miss the Coach-to-Coach network that meets once a month for a cams-on, high-energy, good vibes dose of positivity and practicality. Join FREE by registering on our sister site, The Lead Learners. The next meeting is Wednesday, March 20, from noon to 12:35 p.m. (EST).
Do you wish you had more time to share new books with your students? We know you don’t need fluff or pretty activities. Instead we get to the heart of what you need to thoughtfully share new books in your classroom.
NEW! Our book guides are created and vetted by in-the-field educators. They hold true to the tenets of giving students choice and voice in their reading lives, while empowering a teacher to expand the representation of books shared with students. Click here to see all of our new book guides.
Begin with the 2024 Caldecott winner…
Big, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, is the story of a young girl who receives many messages about what it means to be big and which of those messages she chooses to own.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Gretchen Schroeder incorporates poetry into her high school classroom as much as possible, and in April she makes a plan to go big! Gretchen shares a variety of ways to create memorable and fun experiences around poetry no matter your grade level.
Joanne Emery has curated a fabulous list of resources and ideas to build a poetry-conscious classroom community.
Ruth Metcalfe reminds us of the power of routines and shows how over the course of time, morning message is an anchor in their first-grade community. This is the second installment in the series.
In this video, Linda Karamatic explores poetry with her second graders. She displays poems students have written and teaches them about fresh language using a poem about a pencil sharpener.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Matt Renwick offers insightful ideas about reaching colleagues who are resistant to coaching. Matt offers three steps and practical ideas to “quietly coach.”
This PD2Go focuses on developing a routine of a weekly poetry response. Watch a video of how Gretchen Schroeder invites weekly poetry responses in her high school classroom, and read an article by Christy Rush-Levine about ways to help adolescents connect to poetry.
Do you ever feel like you spend most of your time managing adult behaviors? Clint Allison and Joe Fabey offer practical ways to take these opportunities to build a meaningful school culture.
Quote It:
Only those with tenacity can march forward in March.
—Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
That’s all for this week!
