So, this was the last class I had with the 5th graders. And this is the last day of National Poetry month. But of course, poetry continues. I hope that you enjoyed these poetry adventures. I know that they were written for 5th graders, but again, I hope maybe they made you smile and if […]

Your poetry can be many things. But is it always about you. We have a break next week, and in our final week, I’d like to have a poetry reading where as many of you who want to share your work can read anything that you’ve created during our time together. We’ve already been on […]

Is poetry a story or is it a song? Is it important or is it silly? Does it tell the truth or does it lie? Is it for adults or is it for children? One of the things I like most about poetry is how much it’s often in between things. It makes sense, but […]

So, this is the third installment of my fifth grade poetry class. Please understand (as with all six of these adventures) that this was written for 5th graders and I was the teacher. So please forgive me if I seem a little teacherly? This week, we were talking a lot about reading one’s poetry and […]

Adventure 2: Saying Without Saying. What am I? Poems can also be like riddles.They can be used to talk about ideas and people in ways that are hidden. They might be hidden because of safety, or because you want to make a connection between two things that seem different but really aren’t…sometimes, even for fun. […]

I’ve been teaching poetry in the schools for the past couple years with Red Hen Press. This spring presented new challenges because of the pandemic–we had to do everything through zoom. Because of this, I couldn’t improvise in class as I usually do. So instead I wrote some thoughts on ways to enter and think […]