Last week, I introduced the class to French Surrealist poetry and Dadaism. This sounds very highbrow, but actually this poetry is right up the kids’ alley. Why? Because it’s totally nuts. Basically, these poets were responding to the insanity of World War One by deifying nonsense. But lots of it is very lively, wondrous nonsense.Continue reading “Dada in Our Hearts: teaching French Surrealism and Dadaism to children”
Tag Archives: literature
Teaching Great Poetry to Children: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins is pretty much my favorite poet. That’s kind of a silly thing to say, since having a favorite poet is like having a favorite food, and how could I choose between ice-cream and fresh blueberries and the perfect hamburger and my boyfriend’s tom kha soup? Poetry is delicious in at least asContinue reading “Teaching Great Poetry to Children: Gerard Manley Hopkins”
Writing our own Canon
Well, our puppet show performances came off well last week. What I mean by that is not that it was perfect by adult standards, but that the students felt really good about it. They enjoyed it and worked with a tremendous amount of focus to make it their best. Also, there were cupcakes. Kenneth Koch,Continue reading “Writing our own Canon”
Some Opposites — a Frog Hollow Crankie
After a steep technical learning curve, I have a Frog Hollow Crankie* for you all. This is one we made to the poem “Some Opposites” by Richard Wilbur. We memorized this poem, and had a great time with it. It’s got a great rhythm, which helps make it easy to memorize, and it’s funny toContinue reading “Some Opposites — a Frog Hollow Crankie”
Frog Hollow School 