Summer is drawing to a close…can you believe it’s almost Labor Day? We hope you had a wonderfully relaxing and/or exciting summer. We here at POL have been quite busy getting ready for the 2010-2011 Poetry Out Loud season. This year we have revamped some of our materials: from our competition and classroom materials, to the website, to the poems themselves. So take some time to look through the website and our materials and let us know what you think.
Teacher’s Guide & Judge’s Guide
Although we offer updated versions of these guides every year, this season there are some significant changes. The biggest alterations are to Poetry Out Loud scoring: If you are running a classroom or school contest, please be advised that the official scoring has changed. As you can see on our new Contest Evaluation Sheet, the Overall Performance score is now out of 9, making the entire score a maximum of 47 points. To clarify the scoring process, we have a new, more detailed Scoring Rubric and Accuracy Score Sheet.
Learning Recitation DVD
We have a new DVD out this year! Now called Learning Recitation, the hard copy is included in the new Teacher’s Kits available from your state arts agency. The individual performances can also be viewed in the Video section of this site. A mix of old and new performances, this DVD is a great tool for getting students involved with poetry and introducing them to the art of recitation.
Website
As you may have noticed, the website looks a bit different this year. Over the summer we have tried to better organize how we present information on the site. Also, we have added an ineligible poems page, which is a convenient list of former POL poems that are no longer eligible for competition. We hope that these changes will make it easier to find the information you need to have a thriving POL program.
If you have any questions or comments about any of these changes, don’t hesitate to comment in this blog or contact us directly. We wish you all a happy and successful school year!!
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 08.31.10 | PERMALINK | NO COMMENTS
Don’t forget, the Poetry Out Loud National Finals are next Monday and Tuesday (Apr. 26-27). For those of you unable to join us in DC, keep informed on Twitter where we will be posting up-to-the-minute information live from the competitions. Follow us at http://twitter.com/poetryoutloud and use the hashtag #POL for the latest updates. For the rest of you, see you in DC!!
Well, the end of National Poetry Month is fast approaching. Hopefully you have discovered some wonderful verse over the course of this month and you will continue to read, recite, write and spread the love of poetry throughout the year. So as a final nod to Nat’l Poetry Month 2010, we offer a small sampling of poetry on the art itself.
Poems on Poetry
A Fit of Rhyme Against Rhyme–Ben Jonson
Ars Poetica–Archibald MacLeish
Epilogue–Robert Lowell
How I Discovered Poetry–Marilyn Nelson
The Poet–Yone Noguchi
The Poet at Seventeen–Larry Levis
Poems about other Poets
A Supermarket in California–Allen Ginsberg
Hysteria–Dionisio D. Martinez
On Shakespeare–John Milton
You, Andrew Marvell–Archibald MacLeish
Poems about Writing
For the young who want to–Marge Piercy
In My Craft or Sullen Art–Dylan Thomas
The Author to Her Book–Anne Bradstreet
Many of Billy Collins’ poems cover the art of writing
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 04.22.10 | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (1)
“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
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 04.05.10 | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3)
Feeling a bit “romantic” with Valentine’s Day nearing? This week the UK newspapers, The Guardian and The Observer, are highlighting one Romantic poet a day. On The Guardian’s website, you can read an introduction to each poet, listen to audio of some of their seminal works and download podcasts of discussions. Here is a snippet from the intro to Coleridge by Richard Holmes: Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 01.27.10 | PERMALINK | NO COMMENTS
“The wind may blow the snow about,
For all I care, says Jack,
And I don’t mind how cold it grows,
For then the ice won’t crack.
Old folks may shiver all day long,
But I shall never freeze;
What cares a jolly boy like me
For winter days like these?”
–Sarah Orne Jewett, “A Country Boy in Winter”
Do you, as Wallace Stevens said, “have a mind of winter”? Do you get lost in thoughts of snow-laden tree branches and frost-covered windows? Or are you of another mind altogether; a mind that leans towards warmer climes and shuts down at the thought of putting on another layer of thermal clothing? Well, we have a list of seasonal poems to suit either mindset. Would you rather celebrate the winter weather in Baer’s “Snowflake” or wallow in the cold despair it can bring in Rexroth’s “The Bad Old Days”? Take a look at these other chilly POL poems: Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 12.15.09 | PERMALINK | NO COMMENTS
Of all of the lesson plans that we have online and in the Teacher’s Guide, the one that garners the most praise from educators is the Tone Map.
This 1 -3 day lesson plan is designed to show students that many poems move through a series of moods and tones to tell a particular emotional story. It has a term list for use in the classroom with nearly 200 tones from “abashed” to “zealous” to spark students to learn to describe mixed emotions and distinguish subtle shifts in tone and mood. Not only will they build their emotional intelligence, they will perfect their recitation skills by knowing how to portray the shifting tones and moods of a poem.
Click here to download the Tone Map lesson plan and other great planning resources for teachers.
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 12.03.09 | PERMALINK | NO COMMENTS
“I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don’t see,”
-Lisel Mueller, “Monet Refuses the Operation”
Much of reading and reciting poetry lies in each individual performer’s interpretation of that poetry. Here is an animated interpretation of one of our POL poems, “Cartoon Physics, Part 1,” read by the author, Nick Flynn. This short video is part of a series of short poetry films on the Poetry Foundation website. After watching that poem, check out these other animated adaptations of POL poems: Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 11.18.09 | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (1)
The Poetry Foundation has recently launched an amazing new teaching and learning resource. The Poetry Learning Lab was developed for teachers, students, and learners of every age, and encourages readers of all levels to immerse themselves in poetry. Visit this section of the Poetry Foundation website for all things educational: Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 10.14.09 | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3)
Days are getting cooler, leaves are changing, autumn is everywhere and a new Poetry Out Loud season is off to a strong start. If our site traffic is any indication, more and more students are beginning their searches for those perfect poems. While you can look through the comprehensive alphabetical listings of poems or poets, we thought we’d highlight some of the other ways to search that the site offers. Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 10.01.09 | PERMALINK | NO COMMENTS
The new school year is upon us: a fresh start for students, teachers and parents alike. A new start for us here at POL too. One exciting development is this blog-a place for you to exchange tips and ideas, get questions answered and have discussions about teaching and learning poetry.
NEW LESSON PLANS–We have heard your requests for more lesson plans and we’ve added links to two plans by Chicago author and teacher Eileen Murphy. Continue reading »
Posted by Justine Chiappetta on 09.08.09 | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (2)
