Poetry is everywhere during the month of April!  Poetry Everywhere with Garrison Keillor returns to public television and the Web with new poems and unique voices.  Produced in association with the Poetry Foundation, the project offers short poetry films that air during unexpected moments on public television and that can be used in the classroom.  Poetry Everywhere also provides links to biographies, articles and more, such as related poems for a thematic approach to poetry.  You’ll also find a link to Animated Poetry with 34 animated films created by students working with the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s creative writing program.  Here’s an animation of Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Started Early”.

New to the project this season is the Poetry Everywhere collection on Teachers’ Domain, an online library of free media resources for classroom use.  The collection features a diverse group of 35 poets.  Each entry includes a short introduction intended to spark student interest and desire to read the poem, questions for classroom discussion and other teaching tools.  Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find:

• Exploring Selected Haiku by Issa (grades 7-12) — A media-rich, comprehensive lesson examines the format, humor, and nature of Japanese haiku poet, Issa, and allows students to analyze various haiku and write their own
• Aunties, by Kevin Young (grades 7-12) — Video segment, accompanied by discussion questions and standards, where the poet  gives life to memories steeped in the Deep South.
• I started Early – Took My Dog by Emily Dickinson (grades 7-12) — Video segment uses animation to illustrate this  poem about the sea and includes links to a background essay, teaching tips and standards.

We’d love to receive your comments about this site or a favorite site you’d like to share with teachers.