The Puzzle: Blog

In these painful times, we find ourselves turning more often than usual to the arts. Providing a sense of solace and human connection, the arts help us process the complexity of modern life, corral worry, process sorrow, deal with isolation, and find small pockets of joy.

Of late, we’ve been particularly thankful for the poetry that arrives in our inbox each week from the American Academy of Poets. The Academy sends along one poem that it encourages teachers to share and discuss with students, complete with discussion and writing prompts.

If you are teaching English remotely this month, perhaps you can share and discuss some of the poems with your students. Of course, other educators teaching remotely may find ways to make cross-disciplinary connections. For the rest of us, the poems and questions are excellent ways to reflect on our shared experience in a fragile world.

Among our favorites of late are the following poems:

“Election Year,” by Richard Blanco

“Prairie Spring,” Willa Cather

“Having a Coke with You,” Frank O’Hara

“Declaration,” Tracy K. Smith

“Notes on the Peanut,” June Jordan

“Leave No Trace,” by Maggie Dietz

For the 2020 National Poetry Month, The Academy also offers 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the Virtual Classroom. Among its suggestions is an update of its Dear Poet project — a multimedia program that encourages students to explore select poems by past and present members of the American Academy of Poets Board of Chancellors and Poet Laureate Fellows (well-known poets all), and in response write letters to the historical poets followed by letters to the current members of the Board of Chancellors and Poets Laureate Fellows.

The Dear Poet lesson plan also includes an exploration of the concept of voice in writing, prompts for creative writing, and related vocabulary words.

The American Academy of Poets also offers a downloadable Poetry in the Classroom Calendar (with links) as well as theme-based lesson plans for teachers. The Academy’s collection of Shelter in Poems — poetry that “helps us find courage, solace, and actionable energy” — is another valuable resource.

The Pulitzer Center is also offering five excellent lessons teachers can use for National Poetry Month.

As we contemplate our post-pandemic future, it’s also worth going back to reread Richard Blanco’s “One Today,” a poem Blanco read at Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, January 21, 2013.

And don’t forget that April 30, 2020 is the official National Poem in Your Pocket Day. Begun in 2008 in New York City, the Poem in Your Pocket Day is now taking place in all 50 states and in Canada.

What other ways are celebrating National Poetry Month or incorporating poetry into online learning? Let us know what you're doing in the comments below.

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