[LIT] Online Poetry Slam

[Laurie Wasserman]

Bill and Keith,
Thanks for reminding us of this; I can't wait to do this again! This is
such a wonderful opportunity to connect with other middle schools. My
students last year had so much fun with this; we were partnered with
Bev's school in Little Rock. The highlight was knowing other kids and
teachers  could read and comment on their poetry and they could read
other student's poetry and comment. 
As a culminating activity, we did a poetry slam in the library and
invited parents, teachers and siblings. We served punch and cookies for
the kids and coffee for the adults. One of my toughest students,
Stephen, wore his "church clothes" that day and decided to keep them on
all day. He was so proud of his project (he presented the song "Dear
Mama" by Tupac and what elements of poetry it had that he felt made it
good poetry. I videotaped the whole thing, and couldn't have been more
proud.
I'll be honest: I was worried about teaching poetry prior to this, and
now I would never dream of not including it! Here in New England, where
we wait anxiously for Opening Day and spring, it is something that I
consider part of our spring tradition!
Thanks so much to the dynamic duo of Keith who is the man behind the
scenes, handling all the technology and Bill, who moderates our Lit
Group, and makes the Poetry Slam a reality. 

Laurie Wasserman, NBCT/TLN
Grade 6 Special Needs Teacher
Medford, Massachusetts 
crystalannie at comcast.net