My esteemed colleague Ray Voley recently reminded me of a VERY valuable resource for junior high and high school language arts teachers. "Poetry 180" is a site originally developed by Billy Collins, whose goal as a previous U.S. Poet Laureate was to ensure that students across the country had regular access to great poetry. The site has links to 180 poems (enough for one per school day for the entire year) and provides an excellent resource for teachers who wish to make poetry part of their classrooms. To read some REALLY amazing student-authored writing, including some poetry, head on over to hawknews.org, the home of Kenny Lake School's Writers Workshop. These student authors have PLENTY to be proud of! Spend some time reading their writing, listening to their podcasts, and enjoying their videos. Great stuff. Finally, because it wouldn't be right to talk about poetry and then not share even a single verse, here is Collins' "Introduction to Poetry." Enjoy! Introduction to Poetry Billy Collins I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author's name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means. Check out the recently-published progress report on the state of Arts Education in three Alaskan districts -- with the CRSD being one of them! Thanks to Annie Calkins, ASCA Consultant and New Visions Project Facilitator, for helping to bring the arts to life in our district!
The Alaska Arts Education Consortium's summer institutes are top-notch experiences for teachers wishing to learn more about integrating and embedding the arts in daily classroom learning experiences.
As an AAEC member district, the CRSD has full fellowships for TWO teachers to attend any one of the summer institutes. For more information about the institutes, locations, and dates, visit the AAEC website. For more information about the CRSD's fellowships, contact Tammy at 3234 ext. 233, or via email. Governor Sean Parnell has declared March as "Arts Education Month" in Alaska. Take some time this month to integrate the arts into your students' classroom learning experiences. Remember that "the arts" means more than just drawing and painting! Don't forget about simple movement and drama activities, like acting out a scientific process or turning a short story into a readers' theater performance...or musical endeavors such as writing a rap to help students remember a math formula or composing a poem about the life of a historical figure. Make learning memorable for students by integrating the arts! For information on what's happening with the arts across Alaska, visit the AAEC website! Be reminded of the power of the arts by watching this short yet poignant video... The initial response to the Project ARTiculate Kits has been overwhelming! Eleven of the fifteen kits were checked out at our January 21st in-service! Remember that check-out is for TWO WEEKS at a time. A complete list of our Art Kits is available here. |
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