#TeachLivingPoets to Broaden Perspective

Funded Sep 19, 2017

What you have afforded my students is the opportunity to see themselves in poetry. Not only have these contemporary poetry collections you added to my classroom library broadened my students' perspectives about other ways of being human, but about themselves as individuals. To say the very least, my students have gotten more than they bargained for with poetry this year.

Beginning last fall when the books arrived, I introduced #TeachLivingPoets to my classes. #TeachLivingPoets is the call for teachers to do just that -- to include contemporary, diverse voices in their curriculum and teach the works of poets who are real, living, and available. Some of the projects and activities my classes have tackled using these new materials include: close reading and analysis, "Poetry Friday" recitations and readings, a poetry blog share with other AP Literature students across the country, and the development of their own poetry modeled from a contemporary poet.

Being on the other side of the desk, here's what I've noticed.

- My students no longer fear poetry. These contemporary works have built a sturdy bridge into canonical works, and with each success, they take a confident step into the complexities of all kinds of literature.

- Students connect to poetry. This project is proving to me what I long suspected -- when you put the right poem in the right kid's hand, he'll scribble it down, take a picture, borrow the book, or sometimes sneak it out of the classroom. This connection between student and poem nurtures a love of reading and, importantly, of self reflection.

- Contemporary poetry is meaningful. When students find themselves and the world reflected in poetry, it's magic, and the upshot for me as the teacher, is that students begin to understand the place and purpose of poetry in our world. My students are learning a more complete truth from these poets, and they're learning that "all you need is your voice" to be powerful.

I could go on, but I'll let one of my students, Molly, tell you about her experience...

"Reading contemporary poetry and writing about it has strengthened my view on the world. Reading poems from living poets who talk about current problems helps me understand them. It helps me grow in my writing, my thinking, and in connecting to real life situations. It's one of my favorite parts of this class."

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting this project.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Hilliard