Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I went to a Rush concert last week in St. Paul. Wow. I’m only a casual Rush fan (I love their smart lyrics, and I love the challenge of playing drums to Rush songs on Rock Band–holy
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, everyone! I took this picture a few weeks ago in Grand Marais, MN, a beautiful little town on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I got to walk along the lakeshore looking at rocks for
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, y’all! It’s great to be back after a VERY busy and social Poetry Month! Here’s some commissioned art outside the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. I believe our tour guide said these are supposed to represent flowers.
Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #22: Fess up. If you don’t feel comfortable with poetry (whether it’s the poetry itself or just the dramatic presentation of it), it’s okay to let students know that. In fact, they are often thoroughly relieved to
Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #17: Give a line some space. One approach to reading poems aloud is to do a slight pause at the end of each line, whether there is punctuation there or not. That’s the identifying factor of poetry,
Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #12: Use a Prop Use a simple prop to help share a poem visually. When I share Elaine Magliaro’s “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil,” I hold up–a pencil. And I point to each part
Tip #7: Walk and Stop Walk around the room as you read, and then STOP moving at the most important, powerful part of the poem. Kids will naturally be following your progress, and when you suddenly stop, they will pay attention to what’s happening. When reading the poem draft below
Tip #2: Define it! Is there one particularly difficult word in the poem? If so, define it for kids before you read the poem. That way, not knowing the meaning of the word won’t stop them from comprehending and enjoying the poem. Before reading the poem draft below, for example,
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I have bad wrists, so I use these Perfect Push-Up things during yoga and when I do push-ups. This image makes me think of: 1) my old spirograph (one of my fav toys) 2) being hypnotized 3) big
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture in Scotland when I went in 2008, and I will be going there again soon! This time, though, I’ll pretty much be only in Edinburgh, not out in the highlands or islands, where I
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