Georgia Heard
Bringing Poetry into Everyday Life
Welcome!We all have poetry inside us, and I believe that poetry is for everyone, but can we recognize it when we hear it, in our students, and in ourselves? Sometimes it disguises itself, it doesn't rhyme, it doesn't sound like a limerick, so we have to look for it in unlikely places. The way we speak to our loved ones every day and night: when you tuck your children into bed; the first words you speak to your spouse or partner when you wake up in the morning. When we're not trying to be anything other than ourselves, that's the stuff of poetry. Whether you are a student, teacher or a poet I believe our challenge is to find the poetry all around us every day. Children are often the best teachers of this. That's one of my goals when I teach poetry is to help every student find the poetry inside. Check out the student Poem of the Month below which may inspire you to write your own poem. Good luck! Georgia Heard Events and WorkshopsFebruary 12 & 13, 2009 Reading For the Love of It, Toronto March 7, 2009 Rhode Island Writing Project, Providence, RI March 12 - 23, 2009 American Embassy School New Delhi, India March 31, 2009 T.C. Reading & Writing Project, NYC April 1 & 3, 2009 T.C. Reading & Writing Project, NYC April 2, 2009 TLA, Houston, Texas April 24 & 25, 2009 New York City May 1 & 2, 2009 New York City June 9 & 10, 2009 Dodge Learning Conference on Teaching Reading and Writing, Perry, Georgia June 29 - July 3, 2009 T.C. Reading & Writing Project Summer Writing Institute, NYC August 27, 2009 Delmar, NY October 29, 2009 IRA, Grand Rapids, MI November 5, 2009 IRA, Branson, MO November 14, 2009 Indiana Partnership for Young Writers, Indianapolis February 25 & 26, 2009 Osage Beach, MO July 13, 2010 Hamline University, St. Paul, MINN Poems by ChildrenI love poems that encourage us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, and help us be amazed by the world around us. This poem "Stone" by Lily was one of many wonderful poems written by students at the incredible Taipei American School where I had the pleasure to visit in November. Stone by Lily You fell off a mountain, Tumbled into a river, Washed by the water, Rolled into the forest, Amazed by the trees, Dived into an ocean, Marveled at the creatures, Washed onto the shore, And now in my hand, Amazed by me. Recipe for Writing an Autumn Poem by Georgia Heard One teaspoon wild geese. One tablespoon red kite. One cup wind song. One pint trembling leaves. One quart darkening sky. One gallon north wind. This poem appears in my new book Falling Down the Page: List Poems (Roaring Brook Press Spring 2009) How to Order Books Check out www.heinemann.com to order Georgia Heard's professional books and www.amazon.com for Georgia's children's books. Also, to read more information about her latest book Climb Inside a Poem: Reading and Writing Poetry Across the School Year go to www.climbinsideapoem.com. Recommended ReadingTeachers frequently ask me what children's poetry anthologies I recommend. I've found a few that include a variety of poems both rhyming and non-rhyming and on a variety of subjects: Here's A Little Poem:A Very First Book of Poetry ed. by Jane Yolen The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury ed. by Jack Perlutsky A Family of Poems ed. by Caroline Kennedy Tips for Writers |
Books Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems (Roaring Brook Press) My newest work is a collection of list poems to inspire young poets to write their own poems. Each list is gathered with a poet's eye -- carefully selected details presented so that readers see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Some of the poets include: Lee Bennett Hopkins; Jane Yolen; Naomi Shihab Nye; Liz Rosenberg; and Eileen Spinelli, Rebecca Kai Dotlich and many others!  In this book Georgia Heard and Lester Laminack tap into children's poetic natural inclination and demonstrate how reading and writing poetry can support and extend young children's language and literacy development.  Georgia Heard shows you how to reassure your students that revision is not an indicator of bad writing, but an integral part of the writing process. The Revision Toolbox provides ready-to-use strategies that take the mystery out of teaching revision and help even the most reluctant writers revise.  Awakening the Heart explores how to cultivate the poet in every elementary and middle school student - through well-drawn examples, detailed exercises, creative projects, and down-to-earth classroom teachings.  Writing Toward Home offers practical advice on overcoming some of the obstacles writers of all ages face: writer's block; fear of rejection; confronting silencing critics in your head; finding the time to write. Each short chapter speaks to the larger truths about writing and how to truly live the writer's life: how to become more of a risk taker; how to excavate the past as a source; and how to become an acute observer of the world.  For the Good of the Earth and Sun offers a method of teaching poetry that respects the intelligence of students and teachers and that can build upon their basic originality. This book provides detailed, organized information so that teachers themselves can begin to enjoy and feel knowledgeable about poetry and then pass those feelings onto their students. The author's text is supplemented by samples of students' work in original and draft form.  This anthology of beautiful and powerful poems and illustrations will help children all over the world get through difficult times and continue "to live," "to laugh," and "to sing."  Georgia Heard brings together twelve poems and one traditional song about identity and the self with a variety of original art as illustrations. |
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