Discusses the impact that three ecologists had on the poetry of Gary Snyder. Provides examples of Snyder's poetry in which the ecological concepts of the food chain, succession, the biology of loops, and networks are illustrated. (MDH)

Describes the work of Andrew Carroll, director (and only full-time employee) of the American Poetry and Literacy Project, who tours the United States giving away books of poetry to combat the idea that poetry is only for the intellectual elite. Some of his suggestions for teaching poetry to students are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses the development of voice through a specific free-form poetry-writing experience. Suggests a method for teaching poetry that draws heavily on poets from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Shares evidence that this approach to teaching poetry can be the starting point for students developing writers' voice, and suggests ways to move…

Questions the notion that William Blake's epic poem "The Four Zoas" is simply a manuscript--it is a part of Blake's working through the problems of publication during the reign of a conservative, nationalistic government at war with France. Suggests that Blake's construction of the text makes the act of reading "both traitorous and…

Lists characteristics of gifted and talented (G/T) students and analyzes how these characteristics show how G/T students can excel in writing and understanding poetry. Describes techniques for poetry writing that can help these students understand their own difference and diversity, and notes specific poetry to read about the subject. (SR)

Describes how the author uses the poems of Edgar Lee Masters'"Spoon River Anthology" in her developmental writing classes to foster literary discussion, build vocabulary, and teach a broad range of essay writing skills. (SR)

Argues that the differences between the worlds kids live in and the worlds they are taught to desire (through television, movies, music, and magazines) can cause a desperate confusion that children long to have resolved. Describes how the author, a teacher of writing, has students think and write about reality. (SR)

Four child-crafted book projects help promote students' holiday spirit. The projects, all based on a simple accordion fold, resemble cards but open to reveal more than just a greeting, allowing students to think and write about what the holiday means to them. Projects include a poetry book, a rhyming book, and a memory book. (SM)

Suggests that major works of orally grounded literature, like "Beowulf," are the result of collective engagement with the question of what wisdom is. Claims "Beowulf" is the result of a set of cultural transformations and a means by which such transformations took place. Suggests it speaks to traditional verse's role in the consolidation of new…

Describes how the Seattle (Washington) Public Library celebrated National Poetry Month in 1997 with readings, workshops, lectures, and poem-a-day display boards in libraries and community centers. Suggests ways libraries can organize programs, activities, exhibits, and displays for National Poetry Month (April) at minimal cost and staff effort.…

Exiled to Mussoorie, India, Tibetan students participating in a poetry workshop wrote persuasively about collective rage, communal loss and gratitude, and the shared wish to return home. The author, an American English professor, helped them express their individuality (a non-Tibetan value) while preserving their cultural identity. (MLH)

Considers poetry for children by the late Ted Hughes, British Poet Laureate. Examines it in its own terms as poetry and in terms of its intended audience. Suggests his poetry was an attempt to create a body of work that remained true to his gift of "caging" the minute within real and imaginary worlds. (SR)

Presents an interview with Wendy Bishop, known for her ground-breaking work in the teaching of creative writing, and Gerald Locklin, known for his many published poems in small underground presses. (TB)

Discusses the writing of poetry in middle school content classrooms as a link between content area concepts and writing to learn. Describes several poem types, includes poetry samples, and discusses special concerns in implementing poetry writing. (JPB)

Describes how two colleagues, an English teacher and a German teacher, taught interdisciplinary poetry units using multimedia and hypermedia, based on using computers as cognitive learning tools rather than as "teaching machines." Describes the interdisciplinary poetry project which focused on animals and on human interaction with animals.…