April is National Poetry Month, so we thought it only fitting to share a few ideas from our team.
Barbaric Yawp in the 21st Century: Using Tech to Engage Budding Poets – from Beth Holland on Edutopia
“… given our students’ inclination to use technology, consider the potential if we leveraged that desire to help them better identify with poetry,” suggested Beth. She then provides three project ideas for incorporating technology.
- Uncovering Poetry in Primary Sources – using Lauren Putman’s (@PutmanLauren) blackout poems as an example, Beth explains how students highlighted and manipulated text to extrapolate poetry from The Battle of Salomis by blacking out the remaining words. To culminate the project, students recorded an audio reflection about their poems to further synthesize the experience.
- Delivering Poetry through Multiple Media – in her own English classes, Beth encouraged her students to create video versions of their own poems. By allowing them to use their favorite music, their own photos and drawings, as well as their own writing, students connected with the assignment – and the language of poetry – using their preferred medium.
- Let Students Sound their Barbaric Yawp – With technology, not only can students easily share and distribute their work, but they can also publish their creations to a broader audience. Beth describes how Karen Bosch (@karlyb), the K-8 Technology Instructor at Southfield Christian School in Michigan, inspired her students to write their own poetry anthology, including video, audio and images, and then publish the completed version in the iTunes Bookstore using the Book Creator app (available on iPad or Android). Not only did she allow her students to incorporate media as a way to enhance their verse, but she also empowered them to share their passions with a broader audience.
>> Read the full article on Edutopia
iPads X Black Out Poems – from Greg Kulowiec on The History 2.0 Classroom
Greg was also inspired by the work of Lauren Putman (@PutmanLauren). Not only does he provide great information about the history of black out poems as well as details on the workflow that Lauren’s students completed, but he also created his own version using Explain Everything.
http://youtu.be/0pvsupT3fFw
>> Read the full post on The History 2.0 Classroom
Greg will be doing a session on Redefining Writing & Feedback with Video & Mobile Devices at the July 28-30 EdTechTeacher Summit.
To learn more about incorporating technology into English and Language Arts curricula, check out some of our summer workshops!
- Reading, Writing, & Research with iPads & Mobile Devices with Beth Holland
- Empower Student Learning with Digital Portfolios with Greg Kulowiec
- Teaching English & Language Arts with Technology with Tom Daccord and Jeannette M E Lee