Dear Teachers,
Please find some time to enjoy poems with your students from early stages of learning and onward. Poems help expand our learning and our skill at exploring ambiguity and clarity with curious confidence. I have been inspired by students’ lives, life and world events, and the joy of learning in community to write poems that bring metaphor and fun in accessible language to international students.
As our American poet June Jordan wrote, We are the ones we have been waiting for. So, don’t hesitate, don’t wait. Bring the magic of metaphor to your class. We can help connect hearts and minds and build Social Emotional Learning with international flair and respect for all.
These poems range in level from beginner to high intermediate. You can read more thoughts and ideas about my poems in this collection here.
Teaching tips:
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Read poems aloud to your class after introducing new vocabulary or ideas.
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Follow up with lively repetition. Use whispers, shouts, different voice tones.
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Follow up with paired or group readings.
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Mingle, pair or group dictations with value statements from the poems are fun.
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Give time for discussion of themes in longer poems.You could dictate questions, or have students create the questions together in groups.
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Writing in journals, writing stories, or writing dialogs also help students integrate language from the poems.
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Recycle the ideas and language from poems in your future classes.
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Write poems with your students.
I plan to share more poems and ideas, so stay please stay in touch.
With deep respect and kind regards,
Venette
