This book is chockfull of student poetry samples and unique ideas, including field trips and a poetry night hike, to spark students' imaginations and inspire them to write poetry. Poetry of Place: Helping Students Write Their Worlds isn't your typical book about teaching poetry. Sure, you'll find plenty of information on helping students learn the fundamentals of writing poetry. But you'll also find creative, innovative ways to engage students in poetry-even those students who may be initially resistant to poetry. Through his extensive work with students in grade school through high school, poet-in-residence Terry Hermsen has learned how to foster a love of poetry by taking the learning out of the classroom-and into students' real lives. With numerous lessons and activities, Hermsen demonstrates how even the most mundane, everyday items-from "stuff" to food to photographs-can spark the imagination of student poets. Truly teacher-tested, Hermsen's lessons draw on his extensive teaching career as well as a semester-long case study conducted in two high school English classes in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Activities include using literature and art to spark ideas for poems, transforming a routine field trip into a poetry-writing session, and exploring nature and students' surroundings through a poetry night hike. Filled with student examples, this book illustrates that poetry doesn't have to be boring. It can help students develop interpretive and creative thinking skills while helping them better understand the world around them, wherever they may live.

Poems are made to read OUT LOUD! A wittily illustrated anthology of poems, designed to be read aloud. 20 poems by the award winning â??Joseph Coelho will arm children with techniques for lifting poetry off the page and performing with confidence. Perfect for confident children and shy readers alike, this book teaches all sorts of clever ways to performing poetry. Children will learn 20 techniques for reading aloud by trying out 20 funny and thoughtful original poems by the much loved and award winning performance poet, Joseph Coelho. There are tongue twisters, poems to project, poems to whisper, poems to make you laugh. There are poems to perform to a whole class and others to whisper in somebody's ear. Richly textured, warm and stylish illustration by Daniel Gray-Barnett bring each page to life. "Poetry for children is dead. Really? Not when there are young poets like Joseph Coelho" ~ Books for Keeps

Grounded in craft, this book was composed on three premises: That the study and modeling of great poems is integral to understanding poetry and learning to write poems, that scaffolded learning builds a writer’s and a reader’s confidence and knowledge base and increases learning, and that teachers and facilitators of poetry can and should build learning environments we call “our hearts in a safe place.” Each chapter contains an introduction to a main focus, new terms, a model poem, an explication, short prompts heuristic to each chapter’s focus, and a model exercise. Student poem samples are included in each chapter. The last chapter discusses syllabi, portfolios and alternate grading. A Heart’s Craft differs from other poetry” how to books” because it combines art with pedagogy in a unique and effective fashion.

An expanded version of A Fire in My Hands, Gary's Soto's acclaimed collection of poems about growing up Latino, now in paperback.

For a child, the time between sundown and sunup can be an enchanting world of mystery and fun, a time when fairies dance, night creatures creak and hum, and stars reign over all. What are a child's thoughts when he or she hears the evening's first cricket, has a sleepover with friends, or looks up at the stars and wonders, "What's up there?"

In 1995, the school diagnostician called a seven-year-old "the worst child seen in 20 years of teaching." Can a child's fate be sealed by such a diagnosis? Well, in 2018, that boy received a Ph.D. from Oxford University. Do you have a child struggling with reading? What labels has your child been given? How do you feel they will progress through school? This is a story for you. --- Every parent has high hopes for their children. When Lois Letchford learns her son has been diagnosed with a low IQ at the end of grade one, she refuses to give up on his future. After thorough testing, Nicholas proves to have no spatial awareness, limited concentration, and can only read ten words. Although discouraged, Lois knows things have to improve. After all, her son is young, and every child learns at their own pace. But once Nicholas is labeled "learning disabled," a designation considered more derogatory than "dyslexia," the world of education is quick to cast him aside. Determined to prove them all wrong, Lois temporarily removes her son from the school system and begins working with him one-on-one. She has no formal reading education herself, and no one to guide her. But she has hope and the strength of will to persevere. And sometimes that's all you need. What happens next is a journey--spanning three continents, unique teaching experiments, never-ending battles with the school system, a mother's discovery of her own learning blocks, and a bond fueled by the desire to rid Nicholas of the "disabled" label. "Reversed" is a memoir of profound determination that follows the highs and lows of overcoming impossible odds, turning one woman into a passionate teacher for children who have been left behind. Nothing is impossible when one digs deep, and looks at students through a new lens.