O’Connor offers new approaches to teaching poetry in middle and high school with more than 25 writing activities that can constitute an entire course or work as individual lessons.
John S. O’Connor offers exciting new approaches to teaching poetry in middle school and high school classrooms with more than 25 high-interest activities designed to sharpen students’ writing and self-understanding and heighten their awareness of the world around them. In the process, he demystifies poetry for teachers and students by using students’ own life experiences as the basis for all student writing. The activities can constitute an entire course in poetry writing or work as individual lessons, depending on the teacher’s classroom goals. Early lessons start out with simple lists and wordplay; later lessons involve more complicated forms and subjects. Throughout the book, however, the emphasis is on fun and making sure that every student succeeds. In all, O’Connor provides an impressive number of poetry models-more than 30 professional models and more than 80 models from students in his own classroom. Students will also learn how to dramatize poems, creating special effects in performance, both in the classroom and beyond the walls of the school. Wordplaygrounds shows how students can move beyond the traditional boundaries of English curricula, interpreting poetry through a variety of media, including music, art, and dance-without special talent and training in these areas.
O'Connor has taught English for 18 years in a wide variety of settings, and at every level from sixth grade to college; he currently teaches at a high school outside Chicago. He offers a number of ways that teachers can use students' personal life experiences to help students become less afraid and more comfortable with poetry, see how poetry writing and performance connect their lives, and understand how poetry can enrich their lives. Designed for use in middle and high school classrooms, the text features some 30 professional poetry models and 80-plus poetry models from students in the author's classroom. No subject index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)