Keep Poetry Instruction Alive

I am passionate about poetry. I love reading it. I love teaching it. I love reading and talking books in verse for my library and reading a talking books that highlight poetry for my library. I have become increasingly concerned about the nudges that we are getting through the core that can effectively reduce the amount of time that we feel "justified" in teaching poetry. So...I appreciated Amanda Ronan's "7 Reasons to Keep Poetry Instruction Alive." She notes that "in today's classrooms it seems like poetry has been pushed to the side." She notes a study by the Pioneer Institute that analyzes the teaching of poetry in core classrooms. As educators we must consider her 7 reasons as we craft the curriculum that guides our English instruction. These are (1) Length, Kids sometimes respond more readily to shorter works.  (2) Inference, Inferring is a skill that is easily taught in poetry and applicable in many academic areas.  (3) Emotions, Forget the common core; literature is about touching emotions, and kids need to think about their emotions and the emotions of others. (4) Figures of Speech, Can there be too much practice with these? (5) Historical, I love teaching history and literature to getter.In AP, we often discuss what aspects of our culture and history will be reflected in poetry. (6) Performance, I have had some great experiences with having kids perform poetry.  (7) Critical Thinking, An excellent way to encourage critical thinking skills. . If we consider the points made in her article it becomes clear that poetry instruction does indeed support the skills required by the common core. Further, poetry instruction creates smarter students and better people. These things still matter.

Keep Poetry Instruction Alive

I am passionate about poetry. I love reading it. I love teaching it. I love reading and talking books in verse for my library and reading a talking books that highlight poetry for my library. I have become increasingly concerned about the nudges that we are getting through the core that can effectively reduce the amount of time that we feel "justified" in teaching poetry. So...I appreciated Amanda Ronan's "7 Reasons to Keep Poetry Instruction Alive." She notes that "in today's classrooms it seems like poetry has been pushed to the side." She notes a study by the Pioneer Institute that analyzes the teaching of poetry in core classrooms. As educators we must consider her 7 reasons as we craft the curriculum that guides our English instruction. These are (1) Length, Kids sometimes respond more readily to shorter works.  (2) Inference, Inferring is a skill that is easily taught in poetry and applicable in many academic areas.  (3) Emotions, Forget the common core; literature is about touching emotions, and kids need to think about their emotions and the emotions of others. (4) Figures of Speech, Can there be too much practice with these? (5) Historical, I love teaching history and literature to getter.In AP, we often discuss what aspects of our culture and history will be reflected in poetry. (6) Performance, I have had some great experiences with having kids perform poetry.  (7) Critical Thinking, An excellent way to encourage critical thinking skills. . If we consider the points made in her article it becomes clear that poetry instruction does indeed support the skills required by the common core. Further, poetry instruction creates smarter students and better people. These things still matter.

Paper vs. Digital: Does It Matter?

"Do people read as well on screens as they do on paper?"

According to the New York Times article "Reading Literature Online: A Price For Convenience?" researchers in France and Norway looked at this question.  I found the results a bit surprising.  Readers who used e readers and those who used paper books responded similarly to emotional measures and to questions regarding setting. But...the e readers fell apart quite a bit on questions about time and sequencing.

Such results raise questions certainly in the field of education.  More and more we are using electronic books and tests and online resources to teach our curriculum and meet our standards.  Further, we are even beginning to evaluate our success rate by testing more and more digitally.  Students' graduations and teachers' evaluations depend on these results.  We need to be sure we are providing the best opportunities for success.

One researcher noted, “It’s all one complex web that we need to start disentangling...” The study might still provide fodder for those who insist that reading a novel on a screen just isn’t the same. “It’s a confirmation that these ergonomic dimensions, the tactile feedback of holding paper, might actually matter,” she said. Certainly educators will be watching and reading as this web is disentangled!

Poetry Matters...to W.S. Merwin

In this fascinating article, Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin, 86,  says of poems, "I wrote the last one about 10 days ago, it doesn't stop and and don't know where it comes from..." 

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/prize-winning-poet-still-age-86-124924676.html

He further discusses his motivations for writing and his hopes for his next collection.  He notes that he must write in increasing larger longhand as his eyes are not what they used to be.  In a world where I continue the discussion about the relevance of poetry, this article was a refreshing read!