National Poetry Month 2015

National Poetry Month 2015

by recesstec writing

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ March 29, 2015
Recess Rewind

“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.”
  ~~Walt Whitman

We first featured National Poetry Month in a March 24, 2013 post titled “April is for Poets”.
We are featuring it again this Sunday with new links updating it to this year’s celebration.
With so many new friends finding their way to our blog, we decided that it was time to occasionally do a “Recess Rewind” with some “classic” TEC tips.
Enjoy…

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There is still time to plan for April and the National Poetry Month 2015.

National Poetry Month 2015

With the iPad and web tools, technology can take motivation and ideas to a whole new level.
To start, know that you can order a free copy of their annual poster for National Poetry Month 2015 from The Academy of American Poets.

Although posters are not guaranteed to arrive before April, it is a place to begin, and for $5, you can order past posters. The academy also offers a “Dear Poet Project” for upper grades on their website: poets.org. Included are four activities aligned to the Common Core Standards for grades 7-10.

Scholastic has a website to encourage writing poetry with published authors. Along with activities, students have the opportunity to “publish” their poems online to share with friends and family.

Another resource is from ReadWriteThink.org with online interactive poetry writing sites for students grades K-12.

Finally, a British website for “young writers” offers a list of different types of poetry with several examples of each. It is an excellent resource for student poetry anthologies. Students could choose their favorite types of poems to include in their personally created collection, or you could filter their choice depending on your students’ levels and abilities.

We hope this offers both you and your students some fresh ideas to motivate you as we enter the last months of our school year.

Enjoy your weekend! It’s chilly here, but the sun is shining and the crocuses are blooming. We are all looking forward to some April showers and more spring flowers!

[Tweet “Recess TEC offers resources for educators to launch April’s National Poetry Month 2015”]

April is for Poets

by recesstec tips writing

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 3-24-2013

“Poetry is an echo,
asking a shadow to dance.”
  ~~Walt Whitman

There is still time to plan for April as Poetry Month.
With the iPad and web tools,
technology can take motivation and ideas to a whole new level.

To start,
know that you can order a free copy of their annual poster from
The Academy of American Poets.
Although posters are not guaranteed to arrive before April, it is a place to begin, and past posters are still available.

The academy also offers a “Dear Poet Project” for upper grades on their website: poets.org. Included are four activities aligned to the Common Core Standards for grades 7-10.

Scholastic has a website to encourage writing poetry with published authors. Along with activities, students have the opportunity to “publish” their poems online to share with friends and family.

Another resource is from ReadWriteThink.org with online interactive poetry writing sites for students grades K-12.

Finally, a British website for “young writers” offers a list of different types of poetry with several examples of each. It is an excellent resource for student poetry anthologies. Students could choose their favorite types of poems to include in their personally created collection, or you could filter their choice depending on your students’ levels and abilities.

We hope this offers both you and your students some fresh ideas to motivate you as we enter the last months of our school year.

Enjoy your weekend! It’s snowing here, and even though the crocuses are blooming, it still feels like winter. We are all looking forward to some April showers and more spring flowers! 😉

Poems for the Poet

by recesstec News tips writing

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 4-15-2012

April is “Poetry Month,
and with rain in the forecast,

(It IS April…)

why not help your students start their personal “Poetry Anthologies”.

The website www.readwritethink.org is an old friend,
and can make the task fun and easy.

When searching the theme, “Poetry”, the site offers 163 results,
including online tutorials, templates, and guides to many types of poems:

  • Acrostic
  • Catalog
  • Diamante
  • Haiku
  • Rebus
  • Riddle
  • Shape/Theme
  • Sports

as well as lessons to identify and teach poetic terms:

  • Alliteration
  • Assonance
  • Metaphor
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Rhyme
  • Simile

Need more help?

www.creative-writing-now.com

offers a list of poems that students will enjoy adding to their poetry collections
and a page filled with “how-to’s”.

It includes a free downloadable Microsoft “Sestina” template that can be used to guide your students’ writing.

(I know! I didn’t know what a “Sestina” was either!)

So, if you’re looking for something fun to teach,
and something fun for your students to learn,
try poetry.

It just sounds like a “Spring Thing” to me…

Another Great Writing Resource…

by recesstec tips writing

Monday Morning Message ~ 8-22-2011

Last week I shared two websites that are great resources for teachers who teach writing.

Before the school year slips into “high gear”, I want to share one more that was brought to my attention.

http://www.writingfun.com/writingfun2010.html

 “Writing Fun” by Jenny Eather offers step-by-step guidance for students writing:

1. informational reports

2. procedures

3. recounts

4. explanations

5. persuasions

6. discussions

7. narratives

8. responses

9. descriptions

10. poetry

Each genre includes student examples, step-by-step guidance, and finally a page for students to enter their own work and print it. The Poetry Page includes an explanation and examples for 14 different types of poetic writing.

There is also a “subsection” on “everyday texts” giving attention to emails, news articles, letters, and invitations. One hint that might be helpful is that with all of the information that is loaded on each page and link, the easiest way to navigate through this site is by using the “Menu” tab located on the right side of each page that will take you back to the “Home Page”.

Please take a moment to visit this site and test it out. I think you will find it an excellent alternative writing resource.

Next week I’ll share a few more “keystroke” shortcuts that will help save precious time.

Enjoy what, for many of you, will be your first full week back to school.

Make every minute count, and make every student feel as though they matter.