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! 😉