For the Love of Poetry!
@R10 Literacy Newsletter
Wondering About Poetry?
Poetry. Some people hate it. Some people dream about it! Some people have taught it for years, while others are just starting. Whatever your feelings or your situation, this newsletter is for you!
Some of the Technical Aspects:
Do you know how many types of poems there are? You can see one list here at Poetry Foundation. And what about rhythm and meter? Does that give you hives? Well there's a list for that, too: here. Need a glossary of poetic terms? Get that here.
Some of the Authentic Aspects:
Have you seen slam poetry? It is definitely something to be seen as well as heard.
Here are a few examples performed by young people:
- "Lost Voices" https://youtu.be/lpPASWlnZIA
- "For Teenage Girls" https://youtu.be/hb2WqeXe--w
- "If I Should Have a Daughter" https://youtu.be/0snNB1yS3IE
- "Shots Fired" https://youtu.be/x3YRJl2DjtM
What do you think? What would your students think?
Did you notice how easily you could bring in point of view, rhythm, meter, anaphora, cultural criticism, deconstruction, gender study, and even drawing conclusions using textual evidence?
This newsletter is chocked full of resources for you and your students. We hope you enjoy!
Poetry Resources for Teachers
From the Library of Congress
Listen to audio-recorded readings of former Consultants in Poetry Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks and Robert Frost; Nobel Laureates Mario Vargas Llosa and Czeslaw Milosz, and renowned writers such as Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood, and Kurt Vonnegut read from their work at the Library of Congress.
Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape
The Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape at the Library of Congress dates back to 1943. It contains nearly seven-hundred recordings of poets and prose writers participating in sessions at the Library’s Recording Laboratory and at other locations around Spain and Latin America. To date, writers from thirty-two countries are represented in this collection which includes readings in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Náhuatl, Zapotec, Aymara, English and Dutch.
Conversations wiht African Poets and Writers
This resource contains videos and interviews with the poets and authors. The series "Conversations with African Poets & Writers" launched in the fall of 2011...The archive is a multi-partner literary program between the Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division and the Poetry and Literature Center, with the support of the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa.
The “Poetry of America” initiative is part of the Poetry and Literature Center’s 75th Anniversary celebration. Through two features, “Poetry of American Identity” and “Poetry of American History,” this initiative explores how poetry connects to the following themes: immigration and migration, work and industry, social change, and peace and war.
From the Poetry Foundation
Curious about poetry, but don't know where or how to begin? We've reprinted the first chapter from the book How to Read a Poem by Edward Hirsch. Its 16 sections provide strategies for reading poems, and each section has plenty of links to examples of poems in our archive to illustrate the points.
Students venture out into the world to discover their own true love, then return to share it.
Using Black poetry in creative writing classes.
Writing poems inspired by Native American music and poetry.
Students write more creatively when they repeat themselves.
Jacqueline Woodson says, "I used to be afraid of poetry. I thought it was some secret code only certain people were supposed to understand… But I know now that poetry belongs to all of us."
From Poets.org
- Whitman's Long Lines Teaching long lines (& short lines) and how to compose them to elementary and secondary students.
- How I Teach Poetry in the Schools The author explains the process he uses to teach students poetry.
Produced for K-12 educators, Teach This Poem features one poem a week from our online poetry collection, accompanied by interdisciplinary resources and activities designed to help teachers quickly and easily bring poetry into the classroom.
Poetry Resources for Students
From the Poetry Foundation
- Poem of the Day Great classic and contemporary poems read by poets and actors, delivered every day by subscription (or students can simply visit this site periodically).
- Poetry Now A series of short radio pieces co-produced with theWFMT Radio Network and featuring some of today's most innovative poets reading and sharing insights on a new poem.
- Poetry Magazine Podcast The editors go inside the pages of Poetry, talking to poets and critics, debating the issues, and sharing their poem selections with listeners.
- And much, much more!
From the Library of Congress
Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass
This exhibition traces the different occupations and preparations that led Whitman to become the author of Leaves of Grass, as well as his subsequent evolution as a poet.
From Poets.org
A selection of poems kids love.
Ultimately the poems you or anyone will write will be the poems you (or anyone) needs. I always think of this as the blind spot in the totality of verse, a place toward which each of us is driven & where we never quite fully arrive.