How do YOUR students feel about poetry?

 

Maybe your students love poetry — or maybe they don't... yet!

We get it — some students roll their eyes at the word "poetry." Maybe you never even mention the p-word because you know your students will grumble and groan. We're here to help.

Show your students our incredible three-minute intro video and they'll see how exciting poetry can be.

If you're new to our site, we've thought of you too: Check out our welcome page for teachers, which will guide you through everything we have to offer. 

If you're returning to us, welcome back! We're thrilled to see you again. Keep on scrolling to find out what's new this year... 
 



Run a contest for grades 6-8 and read our new poems


The second edition of our junior recitation competition for grades 6-8 begins NOW! Plan your contest for this fall and submit your students' videos to the Junior Online Finals as early as November 1. Our submission deadline is December 5, and the champions will be announced in early January.

Know a 6-8 teacher who wants to get their students amped about poetry? Forward this email to them and tell them to contact us with any questions. We think of ourselves as a friendly lot, and we're always happy to help teachers get their students reciting! 

This spring, poets Adam Sol and Louise Dupré were named our Junior Anthology Editors and they selected 30 new poems for our 6-8 anthology. We've got Naomi Shihab Nye, Langston Hughes, Dina Del Bucchia, and more in English, and oh my, be sure to check out the list in French too. 
 



Read the Senior Anthology

Not to be outdone, our Senior Anthology Editors Hoa Nguyen, Cecily Nicholson, Damian Rogers, and Joshua Whitehead have made some incredible choices for the senior anthology for grades 9-12

Larissa Lai? Yup. Aja Monet? Indeed. Translations of Aimé Césaire and Mahmoud Darwish? Bien sûr and na'am. No doubt we'll be seeing their work recited this year.

We'll continue to add poems until the end of December, so keep an eye on our Recently Added page. We'll open our website for submissions to the Senior Online Qualifiers on February 1, 2020.

And have you seen the French editors' picks? Simply gorgeous
 



Submit your Poet In Class request

Poet Sheniz Janmohamed says that "A poet's job is to confront the uncomfortable, to familiarize the unfamiliar, to make magic of the every day, to capture fleeting moments, to hold vigil, to bring the reader closer to the fire.” Wouldn't you love to have a poet, like Sheniz, bring your students closer to the fire?

We're now accepting visit requests for our Poet In Class program (and remember, they're free!), so check out the list of poets visiting classes this year and submit your school's request as soon as possible. Requests will be considered on a first come, first served basis, and visits will happen between September and March 27.
 



Contact us to participate in a Team Regional

Would you like a trio of your students to each learn a different poem, work collaboratively to sharpen their recitation skills, and then compete against trios from local schools? Then our Team Regional event is for you (and them)!

We'll be hosting Team Regionals across the country again in February and March. We only run events where there's enough interest, so let us know if you're in.

 

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