April 3 to 9 on ReadWriteThink

The first days of April always make me think of the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, and of Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”

So many April poems, it’s little wonder that April is National Poetry Month. This week, ReadWriteThink has poetry activities, lesson plans, and calendar resources to support you. Have a great week!

New Resources

• Visit the Thinkfinity Community for links to 30 different poetry-writing resources. (For grades K–12)
   
• International Reading Association launches Learning Pages partnership with ePals to engage schools, parents, and students across the entire suite of ePals products with their own collaborative programming.
   
• Prepare students and their families for Drop Everything and Read Day (April 12) with the new Make Time for Reading tip sheet.
   
• ReadWriteThink has a new collection of tips and activities translated into Spanish for use at home that you can use to explain how families can help their children develop as skilled readers and writers.
   
• New lesson plan: What’s Under the Slide? Making Inferences Using Microscopes (for grades 3–5)
   
• Get ready for Earth Day (April 22) with interactive STEM games and lesson plans for teaching students to think green.

From the Calendar

• April 4: In 1928, Maya Angelou was born. Ask students to read some of Angelou’s works and reflect on how one’s life and experiences can influence one’s writing. (For grades 7–12)
   
• April 5: Pocahontas married John Rolfe on this date in 1614. Explore the fact and fiction of the legend of Pocahontas through research and discussion. (For grades 7–12)
   
• April 7: Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday was born in 1915. Identify powerful and descriptive images in Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit” for a mini-lesson on tone and about the lynchings in the South during this time. (For grades 9 –12)
   
• April 9: In 1939, Marian Anderson was denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall. After exploring historical background materials, write a letter to a newspaper editor about social injustice. (For grades 7–12)
   
• Look ahead to next week for literacy activities on copyright, Gary Soto, Seamus Heaney, Noah Webster, Poem in Your Pocket Day, and the RMS Titanic.

Connecting with Other Teachers

• Connect with teachers across the country and around the world in our Reading & Language Arts group forum in the Thinkfinity Community.
   
• Will you write a haiku for Thinkfinity? Talk about Thinkfinity as a whole, your favorite partners, lesson plans you love, useful resources, or outstanding webinars. Whatever inspires you. Post one poem or several.
   
• 2011 marks the sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Sign up for the Civil War Stories from the Smithsonian’s History Explorer, a 30-minute webinar on April 20th at 4pm or on April 23 at 1pm.
   
• Keep students at the center of learning by registering today for the Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards Virtual Conference Series.
   
• Thinkfinity is planning to invite educational figures to discussion events. Who would you like to connect with in the Thinkfinity Community?

If you have feedback or questions about ReadWriteThink, all you have to do is contact us. Have a great week!

 
[Photo:French Lilac Detail by farlane, on Flickr]