“Nothing is so beautiful as Spring–” Gerard Manley Hopkins
It’s April, which means budding trees, warmer days, and…poetry! Yes, April is National Poetry Month, so in the spirit of spring, here are two of the many resources out there that you can use to grow students’ interest in verse, or reinvigorate your own love of poetry.
The New York Times has 11 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. Among them:
- A student challenge to create a New York Times “found poem”
- Read about contemporary “soldier-poets” and their work
- How do rap and song lyrics stack up to poetry? Are they poetry?
Scholastic has a multitude of poetry teaching resources for all levels of instruction:
- How to hold a poetry workshop for high school students
- Poetry lesson plans such as ones on haiku, poetry theater, and many more
- Tips for reading and analyzing poetry, and a ton of related resources
Here’s To Life
Life is what you make of it
I see it as beautiful days
and nights and having plenty
Here’s to life make the most
of it from the begining you
learn its a large world go
its’ your chance to shine
take it your wise decisions
are shown
Here’s to life make the most
of it fill it with love
prayers and friends
lucindygwilson Ambassador Of Poetry
Another great place to discover new poems is the new spoken word poetry album “Poetic License: 100 Poems/100 Performers” featuring Jason Alexander, Patti LuPone, Michael York, Kate Mulgrew, Paul Provenza and 95 other top performers reading a poem of their choosing. If you know anyone who claims that they don’t like poetry, you should get them this album so they can hear the magic that you already see on the page.
For more info, to read the amazing reviews, or to purchase the album, visit GPRRecords.com.
“Poetic License” is available for purchase and preview on iTunes. Here’s a link to Part 1 of the album: http://bit.ly/poeticlicense_itunes
More info:
Said Trav S.D. on his blog Travalanche:
“Three of my favorite poems happen to occur all in a row: Poe’s Annabel Lee, Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Tennyson’s Ulysses — it’s like back-to-back hits on the poetry Top 40. Furthermore, the indiscriminate mix of bold-faced names and literary classics produces more than usual interest. Florence Henderson reads Longfellow! Barbara Feldon reads Margaret Atwood! And a long list of others: Christine Baranksi, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, Charles Busch, Michael York, JoBeth Williams, Paul Provenza, Richard Thomas, Kate Mulgrew, etc etc etc.”
More Links:
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/gprrecords
Facebook:
http://bit.ly/PoeticLicenseFanPage
Web Site:
http://bit.ly/gprrecords
Thank you, I am very honored to participate.
Lucindy G. Wilson Ambassador Of Poetry