Inspired by the success of its Poem-a-Day effort, the Academy of American Poets announced it is launching a new program meant to introduce poetry to the classroom.
Beginning September 2, the group’s new Teach This Poem initiative will send its email subscribers a poem a week from the poet.org collection. Classroom activities and resources, including still visuals, audio, and video from other institutions’ collections, will also be provided.
Series curator Madeleine Fuchs Holzer says the resources are produced by K-12 educators and are selected to provide multiple points of entry to both study and help teachers connect across subjects.
“Our desired outcome is to assist teachers of all disciplines in being able to easily incorporate poetry in their classrooms, and to engage students who have diverse learning styles with poetry,” Holzer said in an email. “We also hope, after talking with a number of educators who have previewed the materials, that the materials will help develop close reading skills.”
Teachers’ interest in lesson plans posted to poets.org also served as inspiration for Teach This Poem.
“A number of New York City school teachers with whom we had been meeting last year suggested that we start something similar, specifically for teachers,” said Holzer, the Academy of American Poets’ Educator in Residence. “Teach this Poem is the result.”
You can sign up for Teach This Poem here.