pedablogical

Write a Poem a Day for National Poetry Month

by Traci Gardner • March 31, 2011

April is National Poetry Month, sponsored by Academy of American Poets and other poetry organizations. ReadWriteThink includes links to poetry lesson plans, websites, and classroom activities on the calendar entry for April 1.

I wondered, however, if we had enough resources on the site to write a different kind of poetry every day. I began with student interactives and then hit the site’s search engine to come up with the list below.

Each day has a link to a different kind of poetry writing, either a specific poetic form, like sonnets or acrostics, or poetry focused on a particular topic, like seasonal haiku or color poems. The materials range in grade levels, but could usually be adapted for any age (even college students).

So here’s the challenge for you and students: I found a different poem for every day of the month. How many different poems can you write?

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
					1: Acrostic Poems	2: Seasonal Haiku
3: Nonsense Poems	4: Catalog Poems	5: Bio- Poems	6: I-Am Poems	7: Shape Poems	8: Riddle Poems	9: Nursery Rhymes
10: Color Poems	11: Two- Voice Poetry	12: Headline Poems	13: Diamante Poems	14: Rebus Poems	15: Parody Poems	16: One-Sentence Poems
17: Name Poem	18: Magnetic Poetry	19: Letter Poem Creator	20: Bilingual, Spoken-Word Poetry	21: 5Ws Poems	22: Free Verse	23: Alphabet Poems
24: Concrete Poems	25: Found Poems & Parallel Poems	26: Cinquain Poems	27: Limericks	28: Traditional Sonnets	29: Astronomy Poetry	30: Sports Poetry

Cross-posted to the NCTE Community ReadWriteThink.org Group and the Reading and Language Arts Group on the Thinkfinity Community.

[Photo: Magnetic Fridge Poetry by Minimalist Photography, on Flickr]

ReadWriteThink

March 27 to April 2 on ReadWriteThink

by Traci Gardner • March 29, 2011

Hope March is heading out like a lamb for you. After all the snow and rain of the last weeks, we could all use a nice, pleasant transition into April. As you plan your classes for the last days of the month, ReadWriteThink has lesson plans and related resources to support you.

New Resources

Help students understand the Conflict in Libya with a special collection of lesson plans and classroom resources from Thinkfinity.org.
ReadWriteThink has a new collection of tips and activities translated in Spanish for use at home. The resources span grades K–12 and cover important literacy topics, such as “How to Help a Child Choose a Book” and “How to Be Safe Online.”
New lesson plans:
- Designing Elements of Story in Little Blue and Little Yellow (for grades K–5)
- Literature Response in Primary Classrooms (for grades K–2)
- What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose (for grades 6–8)
- What’s the Purpose? Examining a Cold Manipulation of Language (for grades 9–12)
Show students how and why it is important to preserve the environment with eco-friendly classroom resources from Thinkfinity.org.
Prepare students and their families for Drop Everything and Read Day (April 12) with the new Make Time for Reading tip sheet.

From the Calendar

March 30: Black Beauty author Anna Sewell was born in 1820. Through Sewell’s novel, explore cruelty to animals and extend the discussion to current events. (For grades 3–12)
March 31: CÃ©sar ChÃ¡vez was born on this day in 1927. research a civil rights leader and do a creative writing piece, followed by a short story, with their group. (For grades 7–12)
April 1: April is National Poetry Month! Students are assigned to be “poets of the day” and are provided several models to create, illustrate, and present their different poems to the class. (For grades K–12)
April 2: Hans Christian Andersen was born on this date in 1805. Compare one of Andersen’s stories to the original story with
the Venn Diagram tool, write fairy tale autobiographies, and explore satire with the movie Shrek. (For grades K–12)
Look ahead to next week for literacy activities on Maya Angelou, Pocahontas, Billie Holiday, and Marian Anderson.

Connecting with Other Teachers

Kindergarten Teacher ReGina Harvey explains how to spark imagination and engagement with fractured fairy tales in ReadWriteThink community stories.
Take your teaching career to the next level! Watch the new ReadWriteThink ReView video to Find out how you can benefit from the outstanding professional development resources from IRA and NCTE.
Join our Reading & Language Arts group forum in the Thinkfinity Community to exchange ideas and resources teachers across the country and around the world.
April Fool’s Day is Friday. Share some humorous books that get kids laughing and learning in Humor and Giggles in the Classroom.
Join the discussion on Bullying and Civic Education in the Thinkfinity Community.
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!

—Traci Gardner

[Photo: Young Irish Lamb Sitting. by moonjazz, on Flickr]

Bedford Bits

OMG! LOL! Bits Flashback for March 28

by Traci Gardner • March 28, 2011

Last week, the OED announced a new batch of words that have been added to the dictionary. Among this year’s inductees are OMG, short for “Oh My God,” and LOL, short for “Laughing Out Loud.”

My favorite part of the announcement is the background on the word LOL: “the letters LOL had a previous life, starting in 1960, denoting an elderly woman (or ‘little old lady’; see LOL n./1).” Other fun new words include ego-surfing, smack talk, meep, and muffin top.

OMG! It’s hard to compete with all these new words, but I’ll try. LOL! Here’s a run-down on the new entries posted on Bedford Bits last week.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet, that is Andrea Lunsford’s question! Can students tweet and still write well? Andrea shares several ways they can.
High School Bits blogger Crystal Farrell argues for a modern classroom that is a mixture of lecture, interaction, practice, assistance, and technology in Technology and Education: Together at Last.
What makes a hero a hero? Jack Solomon considers characteristics of modern-day heroes: Official Heroes, Outlaw Heroes, and . . . Charlie Sheen!?
Barclay Barrios shares the lessons a teacher can learn by grading students’ papers in Paper Two: Possibilities and Problems.
Nedra Reynolds describes student reactions to online assignments and wonders whether students are suffering from Blogging Overload.
Steve Bernhardt explores how lists can improve performance in writing classrooms in Make a List.
What lessons do you recall from your school days? Traci Gardner reflects on what makes a lesson memorable and asks, What Lessons Are You Leaving with Students?
Jay Dolmage considers rhetoric and the Online Genres represented on Facebook and Twitter.

A Few Extra Reminders

Share Teaching Resources for First-Year Writing on the new NCTE Community Board and connect with other CCCC members on the CCCC Connected Community.
Early registration for the Computers and Writing Conference ends April 15. Information on the conference, lodging, and travel online. The conference happens in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 19 to May 22.
Read the top intellectual property developments of 2010 in the CCCC IP Caucus Annual. The free document can be downloaded as a Word document or PDF from the CCCC website.
Looking for some new resources for the classroom. Check the Top 10 Web Tools for Teachers, according to The Harvard Education Letter.
If you’re heading to CCCC, make sure you check out C’s the Day! CCCC – the Game? Level up through a series of quests, earn special prizes and titles, and more. Follow the game on Twitter: @csthedaygame

Finally, let me hear what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your suggestions will shape upcoming posts.

—Traci Gardner

[Photo: 15 by Cofrin Library, on Flickr]

ReadWriteThink

March 20—26 on ReadWriteThink

by Traci Gardner • March 20, 2011

Spring is finally here. National Poetry Month is just weeks away. No matter what grade level you teach, ReadWriteThink has lesson plans and related resources to support you.

New Resources

Answer students’ questions and discuss current events with Thinkfinity.org’s classroom resources on earthquakes & tsunamis and nuclear energy.
Spring into Writing! Create a haiku about the season with the grades 3–5 lesson Seasonal Haiku: Writing Poems to Celebrate Any Season.
Need some egg-citement in your life? Then, listen in to hear about some books featuring adventurous chickens on Episode 32 of Chatting About Books: Chicken Adventures.

From the Calendar

March 21: It’s World Poetry Day! Explore a poem by Billy Collins, create themed poetry collections, annotate favorite poems, or try your hand at acrostics, diamante, letter, or shape poems. (For grades K–12)
March 22: Randolph Caldecott was born on March 22, 1846. Create a classroom literary award modeled after the Caldecott Medal (For grades K–12)
March 24: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof premiered in New York in 1955. Introduce students to the characteristics of drama with Reader’s Theater. (For grades 5–12)
March 25: Celebrate Kate DiCamillo’s birthday today. After examining the characters in one of DiCamillo’s stories, students write original short stories featuring animals as central characters. (For grades 3–6)
March 26: Poet Robert Frost was born in 1874. Celebrate Frost’s birthday and his poetry by exploring his innovation in the sonnet form. (For grades 3–12)
Look ahead to next week for resources on National Poetry Month and the birthdays of CÃ©sar ChÃ¡vez, Anna Sewell, and Hans Christian Andersen.

Connecting with Other Teachers

Want to ask questions, exchange ideas, & share resources for teaching reading & language arts? Join our Reading & Language Arts group forum.
What books do you recommend to get kids laughing and learning? Share your favorites in Humor and Giggles in the Classroom.
Join the discussion on Bullying and Civic Education in the Thinkfinity Community.
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!

Bedford Bits, Teaching Composition

March Madness! Bits Flashback for March 20

by Traci Gardner • March 20, 2011

It’s the time of year for basketball and brackets, underdogs and dream teams, last-second miracles and heartbreaking losses.

In the classroom, why not try a March Madness Poetry Tournament? It’s an activity you can easily customize for your class. Don’t have time for all 64 participants? Just move down a level or two to the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight. Not teaching poetry? Focus your tournament on whatever you’re reading, viewing, or talking about in class (or out). How about a Final Four showdown among four authors you’ve studied?

Even if you aren’t following basketball, we have some slam-dunk strategies for you, all posted on Bedford Bits in the last week:

Holly Pappas considers the challenge of student diversity in the composition classroom in One Size Does Not Fit All.
High School Bits blogger MG Gannon focuses on occasion, argument, and research using Internet news sources with Rhetorical Context: Rhetoric in the Wake of the Arizona Shootings (Part 2). Read Part 1 of the series for an activity that analyzes political speeches.
Andrea Lunsford explores The Importance of the Writing Center and their impact upon students’ abilities to think and write critically.
Dan Martin shares his experiences with Writing About Writing pedagogy in WAW: Increasing Credibility and Course Personalization.
Barclay Barrios talks about electronic tools and feedback on student work in Commenting with Word: The Basics.
Traci Gardner has a solution that takes the torture out of poetry analysis in Using Pop Culture to Hook Students on Poetry.
High School Bits blogger Jodi Rice suggests some strategies teachers can use them with Cool Google Tools.
Susan Naomi Bernstein explains how the familiar music people love can help learners to connect to unfamiliar material in Listening to Learn.

A Few Extra Reminders!

Start planning now to participate in Collaborvention 2011: A Computers & Writing Unconference. (It’s all online, so it fits your travel budget!)
If you’re heading to CCCC, make sure you check out C’s the Day! CCCC – the Game? Level up through a series of quests, earn special prizes and titles, and more. Follow the game on Twitter: @csthedaygame
Be sure to check out Bedford/St. Martins’ brand-new website. It has a cleaner look and feel, new navigation elements, and helpful resources that make your search for course materials quick and easy.
Bedford/St. Martins’ online reference Writer’s Help has a Facebook page! Become a fan!

[Photo: March Madness by toddwickersty, on Flickr]

ReadWriteThink

March 13-19 on ReadWriteThink

by Traci Gardner • March 13, 2011

We’ve set our clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time, and Spring is nearly here. What will you do in class this week? Here are some resources from ReadWriteThink to support you.

New Resources

Answer students’ questions and discuss current events with Thinkfinity.org’s classroom resources on earthquakes & tsunamis.
In like a lion, out like a lamb! It’s the perfect time for the grades 7–12 lesson It’s Raining Cats and Dogs! Make a Children’s Book about the Weather.
Hear about fiction & nonfiction books that explore music in the lives of teens on Episode 36 of Text Messages: Musical Books for Teens.

From the Calendar

March 15: Beware the Ides of March! Explore superstition and proverbs—and perhaps a bit of Shakespeare. (For grades 3–12)
March 16: The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850. Ask students to explore the meaning of the book’s title, characterization, related movies and more. (For grades 9–12)
March 17: Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Talk about Irish tales and world culture to celebrate. (For grades 1–12)
March 19: On this day in 1918, the United States passed the U.S. Standard Time Act. It’s the perfect time to talk about time! (For grades 3–12)
Look ahead to next week for resources on World Poetry Day and birthdays of writers Kate DiCamillo and Robert Frost!

Connecting with Other Teachers

Want to ask questions, exchange ideas, & share resources for teaching reading & language arts? Join our Reading & Language Arts group forum.
What books do you recommend to get kids laughing and learning? Share your favorites in Humor and Giggles in the Classroom.
How are you celebrating Women’s History Month with your students or in your classroom?

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

—Traci Gardner

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