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Meter
I try to show the kids the simple fact that much of what we write can feel iambic even when we’re speaking normally. In the hush of the classroom we read all the lines of the ages, and marvel that...
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Sick
“‘I cannot go to school today,’ / Said little Peggy Ann McKay.” So begins one of the Girl’s favorite poems, the famous “Sick” by Shel Silverstein. Yet in our case, the sickness is real, and the truism...
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Because They Asked
Simple instructions — the starter — great them when they enter the classroom. Complete: “Poetry is…”. Write at least five facts about poetry. Then complete “Poetry isn’t…” and write five more things...
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My English I Honors students have just finished up a four-week poetry unit, which is in a way one of my favorite units we do. It’s not just that I love poetry, which I do, or that I hope to instill in...
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Day 47: Quartets and Cars
Quartets This afternoon, while cleaning up the kitchen, putting away groceries, and just generally puttering around the house, I discovered a BBC culture podcast that talks about, among other things,...
View ArticleOne Art
Today, we finish up our poetry unit, going over my all-time favorite poem, Elizabeth Bishop’s villanelle “One Art.” The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to...
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Discovery
We started working on poetry this week. I always begin with the same poem: Because You Asked about the Line Between Prose and Poetry Sparrows were feeding in a freezing drizzle That while you watched...
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