National Poetry Month: Tips from Sean Hill
Tips for Integrating Poetry Into Your Classroom
- Before beginning your poetry lesson, set an intention and guidelines for sharing.
- Start out the lesson with an open dialogue. Ask students to share their definition and perceptions of poetry. Which poets/singers/artists are some of their favorites and why?
- Read students your favorite poem!
- What did they like about it?
- Could they relate?
- Questions to help facilitate student sharing:
- What did they learn from writing their story or poem (about themselves, their day, their creativity, etc.)?
- What was easy about writing poetry?
- What was difficult?
- What patterns did they see in their poetry or creative process?
- Were there any consistent themes in the poems/stories generated by the class?
- Encourage open dialogue during poetry sharing.
- Ask students how sharing their poems and stories made them feel. This open dialogue will help to encourage creativity and comfort in sharing their ideas and creative work.
- When grading poetry and creative writing, try to focus on simple deliverables students can meet (i.e. page length, use of specific number of poetic devices, etc.)
- Remind students that their imagination is infinite!
Meet our friend, Sean Hill! He is a professional poet and musician based in Los Angeles. Sean began his poetry career in 2006, with a mission to, “support, create, and manifest a universal inner & outer realistic and fun world peace” by empowering all those he encounters to embrace their inner poet! Sean has conducted poetry workshops at various local schools where he has taught students to recognize and appreciate the poetry that surrounds them everyday in music, stories, comedy, ads, greeting cards, and much more! Sean firmly believes that, “poetry has always been a powerful tool for reflection, understanding, healing and adventure”. Through his website, social media, and Google+ Community, Sean has created the “Poetry Club of Awesome”- a club where all are welcome as members to share their poetry! Since April is National Poetry Month, Sean has shared a few tips on how to incorporate poetry into your classroom!
www.letsbendreality.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/tgwctoan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/seanhilldeep
Twitter: www.twitter.com/seanraymondhill
Instagram: www.instagram.com/afroactorpoet
Tumblr: http://actorpoethuman.tumblr.com
