Poetry in the Classroom
There are many books of poems available now for the classroom, yet we can do more. Helping children and young adults to write poems is a wonderful way to encourage imagination, and language skills. How does one approach the subject? Most teachers, themselves, have not enjoyed an experience of writing poems; and several have expressed an interest in trying, for personal pleasure and classroom use.
Grace Cavalieri, Maryland Poet Laureate, has two goals for meeting with teachers; 1) Offering the ways to access and express a poem; 2) Adapting writing principles as a means for self-expression. The second goal really relies on the first, because it demystifies the process before offering practical exercises for young students. Expressing ourselves is great for our well-being and health. Besides it’s fun!
We’re welcoming teachers of all grade levels to meet in two sessions of one and a half hours each on Zoom. Session One Starts March 18, 2023, 10-11:30. A follow up session will be held, April 29, 2023, 10-11:30.
Please register by March 10, 2023. The program is limited to 15 participants. The first 15 registrants will be accepted. Please register now to secure your spot in the program on this form.
This program is sponsored by Georgetown University, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding/Center for Contemporary Arab Studies collaborative Education Outreach program, and the Fund for the Future of Our Children (www.futureofchildren.net). The U.S. Department of Education is funding a National Resource Center on the Middle East and North Africa which is providing funding for this program along with the co-sponsor Future of Children.
Grace Cavalieri is Maryland’s tenth Poet Laureate. Her new book is The long Game: Poems Selected & New (The Word Works.) She founded and produces “the Poet and the Poem” for public radio, now from the Library of Congress, celebrating 46 years on-air. Grace was formerly Asst Director for Children’s Programming, Corporate PBS. Among other awards she holds the Allen Ginsberg Award and the CPB Silver Medal. She is an Academy of American Poets Fellow.