Poetry Tips and E-books

As the U.S. school year winds down, we hope you'll continue to share poems with the young people you reach-- all year long. There are so many wonderful works written just for them and so many creative ways to invite them into the world of poetry. Here are a few nuggets from the instructional "back matter" of The Poetry Friday Anthology that you made find helpful. 

Your Poetry Checklist

     *Highlight poetry books on the chalk rail, a red wagon, or a table

     *Seek out poetry books from diverse perspectives

     *Link poems with picture books, novels, and nonfiction

     *Connect children’s poetry with social studies, science, and mathematics

     *Tell your colleagues about Poetry Friday!


E-Resources for Poetry Teaching

One of the most controversial topics in the world of reading today concerns e-books. Some people think that e-books will replace paper books and change the way we read—and they’re afraid of those changes. We agree that changes will happen, but we’re excited by the possibilities. Consider:

• a teacher can read a book review at lunch and buy an e-book version of it (for less than the price of lunch);
• that book might be a collection of poems from Mexico or Australia but is delivered immediately without shipping costs or custom fees;
• the teacher can download the e-book onto an e-reader and also a regular computer that can be projected onto a screen for the whole class to read aloud together;
• e-resources are easily searchable. A teacher can look for a poem using keywords like family or armadillo. Even if you prefer paper books, you might consider owning a second copy that is digital as a teaching resource;
• and reluctant readers (who might not like paper books but might enjoy manipulating text on a screen) can read the book using electronic bookmarks, a glossary, and sometimes read-aloud features, too.

Poetry is particularly well-suited to e-books. Imagine: a second grader is standing in line at the post office with his mother. He is bored. His mother hands him her cell phone. To play a video game? No: to read a poem in an e-book. He reads the short poem to himself and likes it. Then he reads it again—as he’s been taught—aloud. His mother laughs. The woman standing behind him laughs.  He reads another poem aloud and directs his mother (in a second reading) to chime in and guess the rhyming word. The man in front of him turns around to say the rhyming words. Next thing they know, the boy and his mother are first in line and bursting with the joy of reading.

The Poetry Friday Anthology is available in both print and e-book forms. (For both K-5 and for Middle School) So, consider getting a copy of each so that you can project individual poems using the e-book version as you lead the teaching activities.

Also, check out our e-book anthologies featuring poems by many of the same poets from the PFA. Look for:
 
    PoetryTagTime.Blogspot.com (poems linked poem-to-poem for children and all ages)

    TeenPoetryTagTime.Blogspot.com (linked ekphrastic poetry for tweens and teens)

    PoetryGiftTag.Blogspot.com  (holiday poetry linked from poem to poem)


Meanwhile, we wish you many happy Fridays (and every day) with poems and poetry. And please share your stories with us about young people's responses. Enthusiasm for poetry is contagious!

See you over at Ed's place, Think, Kid, Think! for this week's Poetry Friday round up.