Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades: 20 Poems and Activities That Meet the Common Core Standards and Cultivate a Pass Ion for Poetry - Softcover

Heard, Georgia; Janeczko, Paul B

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0325027102 ISBN 13: 9780325027104

Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books, 2011

Synopsis

"As teachers today, everything we teach has to be turbo-charged with skills and the promise of advancing our students academically. Here's the cool thing: poetry can get you there. It is inherently turbo-charged. Poets distill a novel's worth of content and emotion in twenty lines. The literary elements and devices you need to teach are all there, powerful and miniature as a Bonsai tree." Paul B. Janeczko

You'd like to teach poetry with confidence and passion, but let's face it: poetry can be intimidating to both you and your students. Here is the book that takes the fear factor out of poetry and shows you how to use this powerful genre to spark student engagement and meet language arts requirements. Award-winning poet Paul B. Janeczko is the master for creating anthologies for pre-teen and adolescent readers, and here he's chosen 20 contemporary and classic selections with step-by-step, detailed lessons for investigating each poem from the inside out. Kids learn to become active readers of poetry, using graphic organizer worksheets to help them jump over their fear and dive into personal, smart, analytical responses. There's no better genre than poetry for helping students gain perspective on their own identities and their own worlds, and Paul provides a space on each reproducible poem for private thoughts, questions, feelings, and ideas. Your students will discover what each poem means to them.

The 20 poems in this collection were chosen for their thought-provoking topics; compelling real-world themes that lead to conversation and collaboration in middle school classrooms. And by showing you how the poems and activities address the common core standards for English Language Arts (complete with a sample chart linking the poems to the standards), Paul provides a clear understanding of how you can "get there" using poetry.

You can cultivate a passion for poetry in your classroom. Take the journey with Paul B. Janeczko and grow in confidence with your students, meeting some standards along the way.

About this title

About the Authors

Georgia Heard has taught writing and poetry for over 25 years in urban, rural, and international classrooms. She was the 2023 recipient of NCTE's prestigious Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her numerous other books for teachers include Heart Maps, The Revision Toolbox, and Finding the Heart of Nonfiction. The first edition of Awakening the Heart was heralded as one of "12 Books Every Teacher Should Read" by Instructor Magazine. Georgia Heard received her M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University and was a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

In addition to her Heinemann professional books, Georgia is the coauthor of the professional titles Poetry Lessons to Meet the Common Core Standards and A Place for Wonder, as well as children's literature such as Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems.

Celebrated poet Paul B. Janeczko published over 50 books, including poetry anthologies, guides for young writers, fiction, and books for teachers. He received multiple awards, including the American Library Association Books for Young Adults, American Library Association Notable Books, New York Public Library Best Books, and School Library Journal Best Young Adult Books of the Year.

Edition details

• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0325027102
• ISBN 13: 9780325027104
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 200