MWSubstack 009: Poetry; Research Projects
Whether you prefer to explore rhythmic literature year-round or during its special month, we have amazing resources. It's also the season for research papers. Can we make them easier and more fun?
Welcome to MiddleWeb Substack. It’s a twice-monthly, two-topic, five-minute read for middle grades educators, featuring several of MiddleWeb’s most popular and influential articles, a book review, and a noteworthy 4-8 resource or project we’ve spotted. That’s it!
►POETRY
Help kids learn to enjoy poems – barbaric yawps optional!
We've always loved the way Cheryl Mizerny began her MiddleWeb article Poetry Writing Made Fun: 10 Cool Teaching Ideas with a clip from The Dead Poets Society. It's the scene where teacher John Keating has his students rip out the introduction to their poetry textbook, shouting "excrement!" as he derides the author's formula for poetry analysis and ignites a passion for "rhythmic literature" in his young charges. Cheryl writes:
While I would have loved for my students to feel moved to sound their barbaric yawps over the rooftops, I knew I would be content with them appreciating poetry as an art form and the apotheosis of word choice. To achieve this, I decided to focus on enjoying and crafting poetry and not analyzing it to death at the start.
Cheryl goes on to share 10 of her favorite ways to engage students as readers and writers of poetry – from "poems in your pocket" and "book spine poems" to the addition of music, illustration and collaboration. Her post is a huge resource, with more than 32,000 reads since April of 2017. Poetry is timeless!
For even more engaging poetry hooks, try:
Ideas to Integrate Poetry Throughout the Year (Megan Kelly)
Celebrate Poetry Month with Five Fun Activities (Marilyn Pryle)
What Changes Kids’ Minds about Poetry (Linda Rief)
Using Poetry Pauses to Elevate Student Writing (Brett Vogelsinger)
Invite Your Students to Peel Some Poems (Kathleen Palmieri)
Teaching Students That Poetry Is a Necessity (Dina Strasser)
Novels in Verse: The Why, Which and How (Kasey Short)
►RESEARCH PROJECTS
Helping students make meaning of their facts
How do we teach research skills to middle school students? We begin with engagement. That's the advice of Angie Miller, who's written one of the best books we've come across on scaffolding students through the research process. It’s a Matter of Fact: Teaching Students Research Skills in Today’s Information-Packed World inspired her MiddleWeb article How We Can Make Research Matter to Kids. Here's her thesis statement:
We’ve all collected research projects that have been less than inspiring. A list of facts glued onto a poster board. PowerPoint presentations with ten bullets on a page that are all but plagiarized. Essays that are five paragraphs of formulaic writing that, at their best, are boring and, at their worst, chaotic and disorganized. Let’s agree that this is not the kind of research that encourages critical thinking or creativity.
Students need to make meaning of their facts—they need to draw conclusions, argue points, prove ideas, and produce solutions. They don’t need to know a list of facts they can look up anytime; they need to understand how their facts work together. And this should be challenging and fun! It should be the inroad to our curriculum where students can freely explore. If we want research to engage our students and jumpstart creative and critical thinking, we have to intentionally shift our assignments.
Follow along as Angie, a former New Hampshire Teacher of the Year, TED speaker and NatGeo Teacher Fellow, uses the story of her student Drew and his passion for a video game situated in Renaissance Italy to flesh out her model of modern-day student research.
For more insights into making student research matter:
Taking Small Steps to Build Research Skills (Megan Kelly)
Independent Study for Middle Schoolers (Geraldine Woods)
Help Students Add Detail to Research and Writing (Tan Huynh)
Making Student Research More Fun and Efficient (Jeremy Hyler)
Helping Students Do Research in the Stacks (Sarah Cooper)
8 Essay-Free Ways to Share Student Research (Angie Miller)
Use Inquiry Charts to Boost Student Research (Sunday Cummins)
►ELSEWHERE
Science, poetry, a total eclipse of the Sun!
[Use-by date: 4/8/24]
The Universe in Verse is an annual, free streaming "celebration of the wonder of reality through stories of science winged with poetry" – organized by the remarkable essayist Maria Popova. This year's event will take place live during the Eclipse. Even if you don't attend, you can read the details and amaze your students with the dazzling odds of our Earth/Sun eclipse ever happening. (Learn more here.)
►OUR BOOK REVIEW
Poetry Pauses: Teaching With Poems to Elevate Student Writing in All Genres by Brett Vogelsinger
"This book is amazing – and a must read for anyone who teaches English," says reviewer Kasey Short, eighth grade ELA teacher and curriculum leader. "I have taught poetry in many ways over the years and this book provided me with lists of new ideas and poems that I want to incorporate in my class." Read the complete review.
►REVIEW THIS SPOTLIGHT BOOK FOR US
Improving Teacher Morale and Motivation: Leadership Strategies That Build Student Success (Ronald Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn). Routledge Eye on Education, 2023.
This engaging book takes an in-depth look at student learning through the lens of teacher motivation, providing clear examples of how to inspire and support teachers during challenging times. GO HERE to see the free book and our reviewing guidelines.
►NEXT TIME
Teachers' formative assessment skills are always being put to the test. We'll share best tips and strategies from our contributors. We'll also look at trends in teaching civics and current events. Is there still a role for schools in sustaining a civil society?