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NGLISH

EWSLETTER

OLUME

SPRING

2009

ELINDA

AIR



English Newsletter

Poetry - Teaching, Reading, Writing

1.1

I love poetry. As an Englishteacher for many years I supposethat is not a real revelation. MostEnglish teachers probably begin aslovers of poetry because we are, asa rule, lovers of language, andpoetry is the highest expression of language. It is the oldest of theliterary genres with the exceptionof drama which is an extension of poetry, and can encompasseverything from the basic MotherGoose rhymes to ballads, epics,narrative and lyrics. It can be set tomusic, adapted to the stage (Cats),and celebrated in song (RandallThompson’s rendering of RobertFrost poetry or Simon andGarfunkel’s “Richard Cory”). Itcan be as brief as the 17 syllablehaiku or ﬁll volumes of books.Nations have celebrated poetsabove all other writers. PoetLaureates in many nations holdimportant cultural positions. InMiddle Eastern countries poetsoften are revered as national heros.Russia has long had a love affairwith poetry and there have beentimes when reading poetry hasbeen more popular than reading prose. Poets have been invited tospeak at national events such as theInauguration of the President of the United States.Through poetry, our languagesings, soars, and celebrates thehuman experience in all its variety.Our students should be encouragedto listen, to read and to writepoetry regularly.

First andforemost, poetryis an oral art

. Ialways encouragedmy students to read poetry aloud tothemselves. I demonstrated reading poetry aloud so that they wouldlearn to pay attention to thepunctuation and phrasing. I foundthat students loved being read toand although all poems beneﬁtfrom oral reading, some poems arealways real hits: Shel Silversteinpoems, Dr. Seuss, “TheHighwayman,” “Casey at theBat,”and many others. Whateverpoems are your favorites areprobably the ones you should readaloud. Listen to poetry set to music. Joan Baez has recorded many of the Child collection of ballads andpoetry like “Froggy Goes aCourtin’” and others have beenrecorded many times. Don’t worryabout focusing on the age of yourlisteners - good poetry, fun poetryappeals to everyone. Find poemsthat work well as choral reading and engage an entire class in various ways to read the poem.

Expose your students topoems that serve manypurposes

. Poems have beenwritten to express feelings aboutevery human experience: love, war,fear, anger, hope, triumph, tragedy,love of beauty. Show students thatpoems can be written by everyone

CONTENTS

1.1POETRY -TEACHING,READING,WRITING3.1OUR FAVORITEAUTHORS!

Robert Frost & W.B. Yeats

4.1CHILDREN’S BOOKAWARDS4.2BULLETIN BOARDIDEAS4.3YOUR PROFESSIONALLIBRARY- POETRYRESOURCE BOOKS5.1PODCASTS FORPOETRY & LITERATURE5.3BOOKS INTO MOVIES5.4LITERATURE ONBROADWAY6.0- 7BALLADASSIGNMENT

VOLUME II ISSUE II SPRING 2009

NGLISH

EWSLETTER

OLUME

SPRING

2009

ELINDA

AIR



from cowboys to scholars,children to adults. Show themthat poetry may look differentlyon the page than prose (eecummings among others). Inaddition to the more commontypes of poetry, encouragestudents to explore moreunusual types such as the

tanka

, a Japanese style relatedto the more commonly usedhaiku, the

rondeau

, a Frenchstyle poem similar to the morecommonly taught sonnet, andthe

monotetra

, an inventedpoetic style withspeciﬁcrequirements. Thechallenge of writing a poem toﬁt a particular style or typeactually encourages morecreativity by your students.

Teach poems in clusters.

This does not mean to teach a“unit” of poetry. This tends toisolate poetry from other literaryexperiences. Find poems thatcan match up to other literatureor class experiences. Some textswill sprinkle a few poems inamong other readings. Forexample, when I taughtmythology I wouldalways incorporate poemslike Yeats’ “Leda and the Swan”as well as others to supplementthe lesson and to show theinﬂuence that myths had onother literature.Below are listed manywebsites you can use to expand your teaching of poetry.

PoetryContests/AwardsCrabOrchardSeriesinPoetry:

http://www.siu.edu/~crborchd/3irstpo1.html

CaveCanemBlackPoetryAward

:http://www.cavecanempoets.org/pages/programs_prize.php

PoetsandWritersContestsandGrants:

http://www.pw.org/content/grants_amp_awards_your_guide_writ ing_contests

2009NCTEpoetryAwardWinner:

http://www.ncte.org/awards/poetry/winner

InternationalPoet ryCompetition:

http://www.atlantareview.com/page6.html

BarbaraMandigoKellyPeacePoetryCont est:

htt p://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/programs/awards‐&‐contests/bmk‐contest/index.htm

FrancesLockeMemorialPoetry Award:

http://www.bitteroleander.com/contest.html

TheLedge:PoetryChapbookContest:

http://www.theledgemagazine.com/Poetry%20Awards%20Contest.htm

PoetryforChildren:

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2008/11/more‐on‐lbh‐and‐2009‐ncte‐poetry‐award.html

RobertWat sonPoetryAward:

http://www.springgardenpress.com/spg/contests.html

TomHowardPoetryContest:

http://tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com/

Numerousotherawards,someofwhichcanbereviewedatPoetryFoundation:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/programs/awards.html==========

PoetryTypes:TypesofPoetry:Linkstodozensofpoetrytypes

:http://www.types‐of‐poetry.org.uk/

ShadowPoetry:Manyexamplesoftypesofpoetry:

http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html

51TypesofPoetry

:http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php

PoetryTypes

:http://rip.physics.unk.edu/Ast ronomy/PoetryType.html

TypesofPoetry:AVirtualEncyclopedia:

http://www.world‐class‐poetry.com/types‐of‐poetry.html

Concretepoetryindex:

http://www.gardendigest.com/concrete/

Humorouspoetry:

http://www.netpoets.com/poems/humor/===========

Poet ryWebquestsInthePoet’sShoes:

http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson78/poetshoes4.htm

PoetryforKids:

http://42explore.com/poetry.htm

Poetquest:

http://www.newhouser.net/poetry/

PoetryWebquest–fouceson4typesofpoetry:

http://www.d.umn.edu/%7Elmillerc/TeachingEnglishHomePage/TeachingUnits/webquest.htm

Webquest:PublishwithPo-etree:

htt p://tli.jefferson.k12.ky.us/EDTD675Projects/cathy/Poet ryWQ/ poetry.htm

PoetryBreakWebquest:

http://its.guilford.k 12.nc.us/webquests/poetry/poet ry.htm

PoetryWebquest:

http://www.rccsd.org/RKeim/teacher_page.htm

VOLUME II ISSUE II SPRING 2009

NGLISH

EWSLETTER

OLUME

SPRING

2009

ELINDA

AIR



InDefenseofPoetry–webquestforAPEnglish:

http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/itech/webquests/su2002/tauser/appoetry/index.htm=============

PoetryWebsites:PoetryTeachers:

http://www.poetryteachers.com/

TeachingPoetryandprose

:http://www.hstreasures.com/articles/poetry.html

TeachingPoetry:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17155

PoetryPort folios:

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=152

HowtoTeachPoetry:

http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a859‐how‐t o‐teach‐poetry.html

HowtoTeachPoetrytoHighSchoolStudents:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2179046_teach‐poetry‐high‐school‐students.html

CowboyPoetry

:http://www.ehow.com/how_2179046_teach‐poetry‐high‐school‐students.html

CowboyPoetry:

http://www.geocities.com/rodnichols.geo/cowboy.html

CowboyPoetry:

http://www.bootmaker.com/poetry.htm

RockandRollHallofFameEducation



Resources:

http://www.rockhall.com/events/

Sportsthemepoetry:

http://smiley00.tripod.com/subject_sport.html

Sportspoet ry:

http://www.bpr.com/triathlon/poetry.htm

Science[ictionpoetry:

http://www.sfpoetry.com/

NewYorkerpoetry:

http://www.newyorker.com/3iction

Mythsandpoetry:

http://www.spiffy‐entertainment.com/mythpoetry.html

=============================

3.1 Our Favorite Authors

Robert Fros t

OneoftheearliestpoetsIrememberreadingwasRobertFrost .He wasmymother’sfavoritepoetandshehadseveralofhis booksofpoems.IevenfoundahighschoolessayshehadwrittenaboutRobertFrostwhenshewasinschool.At3irst,IwasdrawninbytheimagesofcountrysideandnaturethatinhabitedFrost’swork.Ilovedthelanguageand3lowofsoundasIreadthepoemsaloud.Itwasn’tuntilyearslaterthatIcametoappreciatethedarknessthatmanyofhispoemsexplored.Whenmyfatherdied,itwasFrost’spoem“Out,out..”thatkeptcreepingintomymind,bothcomfortingandremindingmeofthetransienceoflife.“TheRoadNotTaken”and“StoppingbytheWoods”helpedmedealwiththeuncertaintiesofthefuture.Itistheundertonesandmysteriesofhispoetrythathavealwaysappealedtomeandthereisampleopportunityforclassdiscussion.

RobertFrostWebsites:

LessonPlans

:http://www.webenglishteacher.com/frost.html

RFPoetryfromTheorytoPractice

:http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=859

NarrativepoetryofRF

:http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=45

DiscoveringthePoetryofRF:

http://www.viterbo.edu/academic/ug/education/edu250/hllaurent.htm

AnalyzingtheRoadNotTaken:

http://lesson‐plans‐materials.suite101.com/article.cfm/analyzing_frosts_the_road_not_taken

LessonPlan:OneAcquaintedwiththeNight

:http://www.brighthub.com/education/k‐12/articles/1816.aspx

AuthorStudy:RFsites:

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S0000199.shtml

TheRoadNotTakenLesson

:http://www.etni.org.il/literature/road.htm==================

BooksandCD’sby,aboutorincludingRF:

RobertFrost:ALifebyJayParini(4+starsfromAmazon)TheNotebooksofRobertFrostbyRobertFrost&RobertFaggan(4+starsfromAmazon)SwingerofBirches:PoemsofRFforYoungPeoplebyRobertFrost(suitableforgrades4‐8)(5starsfromAmazon)TheTestamentofFreedombyRandallThompson–IncludeshisFrostianatributetoRobertFrost–poems

suchas

TheRoadNotTaken,StoppingbyAWoods,ComeIn,andPastureamongothers.(+starsAmazon)$14.99.CD

=======================

W.B. Yeats

If Frost was the favorite poetof my youth, Yeats became oneof my favoritepoets of myadulthood.Itwasn’t until years laterwhen I took a graduate course inmodern poetry that I learned toappreciate his use of mysticismand spiritual symbols andimagery. I recognized andenjoyed hisreferences to myths

VOLUME II ISSUE I WINTER 2009

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English Newsletter Spring 09 Issue

Focus is on poetry with links to websites related to poetry lessons, Robert Frost, W.B.Yeats. poetry podcasts, etc. A lesson plan for using ballads in class is included. Columns... (More)

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