Tech Talk

Tech Talk

Shelley Martin-Young

The Importance of Poetry: Making the Tech Connection

Poetry! Just saying the word poetry aloud may elicit a wide range of emotions from both students and teachers alike. Take a minute to reflect on the word poetry. Say it aloud, revel in the word. What emotions bubbled to the surface when you thought of the word poetry? Inevitably, when I tell my preservice teachers that we are going to write poetry I hear moans and groans, but by the end of the semester, poetry is one of their favorite genres.

We need poetry in our lives. Beginning your school year with poetry helps build community and allows you to learn about your students while they learn about you and each other. Poetry is rhythm and rhyme, and it speaks to the soul. According to Elena Aguilar (2013) a blogger for Edutopia, poetry is “the most kinesthetic of all literature, it’s physical and full-bodied which activates your heart and soul and sometimes bypasses the traps of our minds, and the outcome is that poetry moves us.” Reading poetry builds vocabulary and enhances creativity. Reading poetry aloud builds fluency and listening skills. Poetry is also a great way to explore and play with language: similes, metaphors, rhyme, imagery. You can even use poetry to teach grammar. Below I will introduce you to two of my favorite poetry + technology approaches.

Ethical ELA – Choice and Voice Literacy

For all things ELA, Ethical ELA (Donovan, 2022) is a must-have resource. Dr. Sarah Donovan, Assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, began this blog in 2015 as a place to share resources and connect with teachers. In this blog, Dr. Donovan shares her thoughts about and resources for assessments and grading practices, reading, writing and poetry. The blog also hosts educators from across the country to share what is on their hearts. Here you can read my blog post about the Tulsa Race Massacre, hear from a survivor, and listen to some authors who have written about the Tulsa Race Massacre. On this blog, Dr. Donovan hosts a monthly Open Write for educators to share their voice and their poetry. The Open Write takes place over a fiveday period. For each of the five days a “host” provides a poetry inspiration, writing tips, and a mentor poem. Teachers are then encouraged to write a poem on the Ethical ELA blog and respond to other authors. Teachers are also encouraged to share the prompts with their students. There are even suggestions on how to respond to each other.

In April each year, the site hosts a month-long poetry writing challenge known as #VerseLove. #VerseLove operates the same as the open write, except that there will be inspirations for 30 days instead of just five. Dr. Donovan writes on her blog, “Write because you can. Write because it helps you see your world anew. Write because this will be a place to

experiment, take risks, be brave, be silly, be supportive of all writers all month long. You will feel a renewed connection with humanity” (Donovan, 2022, #VerseLove section). You can even earn continuing education credits from Oklahoma State University Writing Project. Sign up for Open Write here and join the writing community for June’s Open Write June 19-23.

You might also enjoy these other poetry blogs for educators: Mrs. Renz’ Class (Renz, 2022), the edublogger (Morris, 2019), Teaching with Heart, Fire, and Poetry (Intrator and Scribner, 2014), and Two Writing Teachers (Shubitz, 2022).

Mentor Text to Start Your Year

One of my favorite ways to begin the school year with poetry is by using Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon as a mentor text. This poem is a peek into memorable moments from Lyon’s childhood and a terrific way to get to know your students. Educators, activists, psychologists, and others from around the world have joined together to use this poem as a template for their own poems. Start by sharing the original poem with your students. You can listen to George Ella Lyon read her poem. You can learn more about George Ella Lyons by visiting her website for Word Weavers (I love this description). On her website you can learn about Ms. Lyons’ activism (poetry is great for activism and social justice) and discover fabulous resources for teaching poetry. Lyon joined teacher and activist Julie Landsman to create the I Am From Project. This project is designed to bring people together from all over the country to share their stories in an attempt to stamp out hate. There is even a Facebook page created for this project. After sharing the poem with my undergrads at OSU, they created their own Where I’m From poems and then used the app Book Creator to add photos, decorations, and sometimes their voice to share their story. With permission from the students, I am sharing a few of the poems. Click here to read Lisa’s poem, here for Georgia’s poem, here for Sadie’s poem, and here for Nina’s poem.

Other great books to use as mentor texts for poetry include: Gone Fishing by Tamera Wissinger (2015), Shaking Things Up by Susan Hood (2022), When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano (2016), Hip Hop Speaks to Children by Nikki Giovanni (2008), This is Just to Say by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski (2014), and Seeds, Bees, Butterflies and More by Carole Gerber (2013).

Reading and writing poetry is important for developing language and literacy skills. Adding technology into poetry is just another way that you can get students excited about writing poetry. In this column I have shared only two of many of my favorite poetry techniques. Look for more poetry in future Tech Talk columns.

Literature Cited Fogliano, J. (2016). When green becomes tomatoes: Poems for all seasons. Roaring Book Press. Gerber, C. (2013). Seeds, bees, butterflies and more. Henry Holt and Co. Giovanni, N. (2008). Hip Hop speaks to children: A celebration of poetry with a beat. Sourcebooks Explore. Hood, S. (2022). Shaking things up: 14 young women who changed the world. Harper Collins. Lyon, G.E. (1999). Where I’m from. Absey & Co. Sidman, J. & Zagarenski, P. (2014). This is just to say: Poems of apology and forgiveness. Clarion Books. Wissinger, T.W. (2015). Gone fishing: A novel in verse. Clarion Books.

Blogs Cited Donovan, S. J. (2022). Ethical ELA. http://www.ethicalela.com/ Intrator, S.M. & Scribner, M. (2014). Teaching with Heart, Fire, and Poetry: Where Teachers Share about Their Life & Work https://teachingheartfirepoetry.com/ Morris, K. (2019). The Edublogger. https://www.theedublogger.com/april-poetry-month/ Renz, H. (2022). Mrs. Renz’ Class: Ideas & Resources for Creative 21st Century Teachers. https://mrsrenz.com/

Shubitz, S. (2022). Two Writing Teachers: A Meeting Place for a World of Reflective Writers. https://twowritingteachers.org/

Dr. Shelley Martin-Young is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at Oklahoma State University. Her research interests include hidden history, place-based education, children’s literature, and technology. She can be reached at dawn.martin-young@okstate.edu