Normalize Poetry in Your Classroom!
What's Happening this Month:
- The Telling Room
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How We Do It: Inspiring Students to Write and Publish
Telling Room staff members Molly McGrath and Nick Whiston will host a conversation with educators about their experience supporting and encouraging you to write stories and poems. They will discuss their recent collection of youth poems called A New Land and share resources you can use in your classroom. Click here to register for this event. You can also download the collection here.
Monday, March 29th @ 4pm
Click here to register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qdOqtrDIsHtddmAeLMdkMT8axVyLUrBSH
- Spend an evening with Maine poet Gary Lawless
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Hosted by the Maine Council of English Language Arts.
Lawless is a poet who has authored 21 collections of poems. He is also the co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books, a book editor, and publisher. Click here to register.
Thursday, April 8 @7 pm
- Normalize Poetry: Teach Poetry in Every Unit
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Many of us teach a poetry unit each year, but that is just not enough. Poetry is a fabulous tool for teaching the fine art of language use in every instructional unit. Maine DOE ELA Specialist Morgan Dunton will demonstrate methods of teaching grammar, usage, mechanics, and appreciation of the poetic form to enhance reading, speaking, and writing skills. Click here to register for this event.
Thursday, April 15 @3:30 pm
Resources for Teaching Poetry
- The Telling Room poetry book and educator toolkit
- National Council of Teachers of English poetry resources: includes interviews, lesson plans, blogs and other resources
- Poetry Foundation provides access to many poems and supports
- The Academy of American Poets provides materials for teachers including lesson plans, essays, and more.
- Edutopia: Five Poetry Teaching Tips for New Teachers
The birds and the seeds
masking tape across the mellow sky,
hooded chickadees
with blackened caps
click their beaks against my window
picking through the hulls
of scattered sunflower seeds
strewn about the plastic trough
suctioned to the glass.
Behind my feathered friends
stalactite crystals drip
from icy gutters,
melting holes in snow below
divots in the umber mulch
where fallen seeds,
future tiny suns of summer,
cozily nestle inside new homes
where they'll desire to sprout
-- From the trees - allpoetry.com