Choice Lit Topic: Poetry
We all need more poetry in our lives, and time spent with poems in classrooms is what many students carry away and cherish years after they’ve left our schools. Here are resources to help you bring more of the delights of poetry into your classroom and school.
Results
Poems Facing Art: Ekphrasis
Minutes before the poetry writing group got down to business, talk was about Edvard Munch’s The Scream. Sotheby’s had just sold the 1895 pastel version for $119.9 million dollars. Petra...
Poetry All Year Long
“Poetry Bands, take your places. It’s time to begin,” I announce to my eager and anxious poets. It is a warm and sunny Thursday morning in early June. Fourth graders...
Lines Written at Lunchtime Above Tintern Abbey
You said you knew it wouldn’t work because the pink of my bathroom sink clashed with the terracotta of the walls and the off-Monet of the shower curtain. But...
Found Poetry in Second Grade
Linda Karamatic teaches a small group of her second graders about found poetry.
Guiding Groups in Middle School: Reading Poetry
Katie Doherty works with a small group of sixth graders who need extra support as they read the poem "Aspects of Autumn." You can read the poem below the player....
Same Old Love Song — A Cento
Like a honky tonk angel, notes right on the downbeat, you hoax me on wings of a dove in all the tender places right through the night, confusing love with...
From “I Don’t Get It” to “Never Mind — That’s Amazing!”: Scaffolding Schema for Comprehending Poetry
In the beginning poetry was reserved for April. It is National Poetry Month after all, so why not teach about it then? As it became difficult to fit all things...
Poetry that Celebrates Summertime and the Outdoors
Summer is the perfect time for poetry. The warm, relaxed days are filled with great images and memories. There are many poetry books for children that celebrate nature and the...
Improving Poetry’s Rap
The groans of the naysayers drown out the timid cheers of the few poetry lovers in my class. I have just announced that it's time for "Poetry Friday." My students...
Pitching My Lesson Plans for a Day of Peace and Poetry
One beautiful day in October, I arrived at school to see the most amazing work taking place in the side yard. Our art teacher and several parent volunteers were placing...
Invocation at the End of Summer
I call on the spirit of summer's end, of tangled roots and the earth's deep mold, a swollen sponge of mushroom and moss. Give me your hum. I call on...
Teaching Poetry to Teens with the William Stafford Archives
William Stafford, a white poet born in 1914, might seem like an unlikely candidate to inspire my classroom of diverse 21st century thirteen-year-olds. I'll admit that even I was skeptical...
Georgia Heard on the Common Core (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Franki Sibberson chats with Georgia Heard about the surprising connections between the Common Core and poetry. Georgia is a poet and teaching consultant. Her latest books are...
A Poetry Cafe Celebration
Every April National Poetry Month is celebrated here in the United States. I love that poetry has its own place in the calendar, a whole month dedicated to increase awareness...
An ESL Poetry Cafe Celebration (Part II)
In Part I of this feature, I shared some projects, expectations, and activities for our Poetry Café celebration. This is an event where families enjoyed listening to their children read poems,...
Poetry Fridays (and So Much More) for Students and Staff
Poetry Friday is surely my most subversive act of teaching. From the outside, you see a suspension of the regular routines of reading workshop. You see children sitting side-by-side with...
Harbinger
Where has this robin been, the one who finally showed up here this morning decked out in a dullish coat of gray over a vest of faded red? Understated for...
Poetry Possibilities
April is National Poetry Month! It's time to put the poetry books front and center in the class library. I think that National Poetry Month is a bit of a...
Books that Invite Students into Poetry Writing
"Poetry is prose, bent out of shape." J. Patrick Lewis, www.jpatricklewis.com Students learn so much about crafting quality writing when they are immersed in a poetry writing unit. I often see...
New Books to Celebrate Poetry
Spring is a great time to update your poetry collection. This has been a terrific year for children's poetry -- here are some wonderful new collections I am sure your...
Lady With the Yellow Umbrella
Coming down the lane, like sixteen, sneakers kicking up ructions, smile erupting buttercup dust, hair thinned out, spiked up from a deep mix of chemical spice creeping through her veins,...
