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Free Tech Resources for Teaching Poetry

Creative expression offers many academic benefits for students. In addition to art and music, writing provides the perfect opportunity for student creativity, and poetry is one particularly important outlet. Whether teaching about famous poets or encouraging kids to try their hand at generating original works, the Web offers an abundance of resources for teachers to use when teaching poetry in the classroom.

Here are 10 free tech resources to enhance poetry lessons:

Web sites:

  1. Poetry Foundation: This site, the source of Poetry magazine, is dedicated to discovering, sharing and celebrating the best poetry has to offer. Teachers can browse poems and thousands of poets and get full bios and more. The site also features up-and-coming poets as well as current news and events.
  2. Poetry Out Loud: Access plenty of teaching resources such as lesson plans, tips, class schedules and guides. Watch videos of poets reading their poetry, find advice on reciting poems and more. 
  3. Poetry Teachers: Find tips on teaching students how to write and perform poetry and get excited about the art form. The site offers books on poetry teachers can purchase at a low price, and educators also can get help bringing authors to their classrooms. 
  4. The Poetry Archive: This site aims to make a wide assortment of poetry accessible to a large audience. Here, users can find funny, sad, inspirational and other types of poems. Teachers can play audio of poems, study poetry, and get teaching guides on all types of poetry. 
  5. Shmoop: Explore resources on a number of subjects, including poetry. The site helps teachers effectively define poetry and offers hundreds of poems that come fully equipped with an introduction as well as a "Why Should I Care?" section. 

Apps:

  1. Poetry Daily: Users are introduced to a new poem each day and have the ability to archive and save their favorite poems. Teachers can show students a number of different poems by different authors and in different genres. 
  2. Shakespeare: William Shakespeare is considered one of the best poets of all time. With this app, users can explore all of his works while learning the definitions of unknown words and getting help with unfamiliar passages. 
  3. Verses: Students can save poem and lyric ideas, tweet poems and use the built-in rhyming dictionary to look up rhymes, near-rhymes and more. 
  4. Poetry Everywhere: Inspire students by accessing short videos of poets reading their own works.
  5. American Poetry: Search a library of 5,000 poems by 50 of America's most famous poets including Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson and others. 


Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor
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