and I am reminded just how powerful the thoughts of our youth can be.
These are Young Chicago Authors, participating in the Louder Than A Bomb poetry slam. I was all excited thinking maybe it was still going on and that I could go see one. But...it ended last month, so I have to wait a year.
April is National Poetry Month! Have you done any poetry with your kiddos? If I was still in middle, I would totally share this video clip with them. How can you not be inspired?
Actually, this week, I was reading poetry with my second graders. They wanted to rap the poems - they kept doing it as we read together, so, I did what any good teacher would do - I followed their lead. I told them that they should rap the lines of the poem. At first, I don't think they believed that it was so, but after we practiced a few times, I got this. (Sorry I couldn't embed it!)
I mean, kids want to write and perform like the Young Chicago Authors, so why wouldn't we follow that interest and desire to do so?
This April, give your students great mentor texts of poetry. Encourage them to put their ideas on paper, tell their stories, and grow their poems through the process of revision. We can give them an authentic audience, their classmates, to hear their ideas. This is what writing is all about!
And then this summer, my teacher friends....anyone interested in doing a summer writing institute with Young Chicago Authors? It's $150 for three days and I'd love to do it with a friend! Check out the deets here!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
0 comments:
Post a Comment