The first assignment in the Spring Break Reading Challenge asks participants to set a goal for the duration of the challenge. Some suggestions Karin gives are: reading a book, organizing book shelves, or catching up on book review posts. Hm. This is a toughie. I need to do ALL of these things--How do I choose?I think that I am going to challenge myself to line up some great poems for National Poetry Month (which is April). I use a ton of poetry in my teaching and am always scouting for poems that relate to books/ plays/ themes I'm about to teach. During the school year, I post a Poem of the Week in my classroom and sometimes on my class blog, but in April I like to have a Poem of the Day. This requires a ton of forethought. And, I can't repeat too many poems because I have students for four years, so they'll know (or at least some will) and that might be off-putting.
So, I am officially going to challenge myself to find and stockpile poems I can use for:
Poetry Fridays (to go with Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, The House on Mango Street, Persepolis, The Hunger Games, and Pride of Baghdad)
Poem of the Week (for March, May and June)
Poem of the Day (for April)
Hm. I guess I'll need about sixty or seventy poems to get me through to the end of the year. But, if I start now I be in great shape for the rest of the school year! Any suggestions to get me started?
