Inspiration You have learned a lot in your lifetime. I bet you have some advice to give that would, if not make life easier for another, comfort them in their journey to make sense of this world. If you are up for it today, write …
Three #verselove2019
Inspiration Writing poems can be intimidating. One exercise that spoken word artist Sarah Kay suggests to make poem-ing more accessible is making lists. The list itself can be the poem or the list can be a springboard for creating other poems. There are many list …
Two #verselove2019
Some Inspiration Something I have noticed about teaching is that my identity tends to get wrapped up, even defined by my role in the life of students. I sometimes forget who I, Sarah, am — the quirks and gifts that I have carried with my …
One #verselove2019
Some Inspiration I imagine there are mixed feelings floating across this virtual space as cursors blink within the comment box below. What will you write today? Will it be any “good”? Every writer can attest that whispers of doubt are a natural part of a …
Writing Poems About the Season, a 5-Day Plan by Anna J. Small Roseboro
As you look ahead to April and plans for National Poetry Month (which we hope includes #verselove2019, Ethical ELA’s poem-a-day celebration), consider a week of seasonal writing brought to you by the amazing Anna J. Small Roseboro. What a gift she is to teachers and …
30 Days of Verse: Sign-Up to Write a Poem a Day with Ethical ELA this April #verselove2019
Writers, teachers, teacher educators, people-who-say-they’re-not-poets-but-just-might-be (essentially, everyone)! I know it feels too soon for April and National Poetry Month, but I am looking forward to springtime in great anticipation of living in the universe with and through verse. During the month of April, I will …
Rhetoric in Spoken Word: Analysis, Response, Writing, and Speaking for Change
Our seventh grade class began the final quarter of our year together with a closer look at rhetoric, specifically how a speaker earns the audience’s attention and trust (ethos), how a speaker moves an audience to feel (pathos), and how the speaker persuades and teaches the audience with jargon, facts, examples in the hopes that those who listen will consider the issue in a new way or be moved to act (logos).
Introducing the Best Co-Teachers Around
“So the speaker is saying that she wishes her mother would have left her courage behind instead of her brooch. Can you relate this poem to another poem or story?” says Jonathan. “Yes, Andy*?” “This reminds me of a movie, Guardians of the Galaxy.” “What …
Please, stop with the countdowns.
I am a resistor of the “countdown,” as in counting down the days until the end of school. I am anxious as nearly 600 other educators to dive into Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher’s 180 Days and get the story for my next novel that is …
30, April 30th, Lines and Verses Borrowed
Congratulations! Inspiration: We have shared this virtual space for 30 days — 30 days of words, phrases, images, and lines borrowed from lives lived and imagined. Today, we’d like to encourage you to select a day from our 30 days on ethicalela.com and reread …