Exploratorium 2012: Procario, Nicole

Table #11    Poetry for All

 Audience:    Elementary

 Presenter:    Nicole Procario

                     PS 36X/The Unionport School

                     1070 Castle Hill Ave.

                     Bronx, NY 10472

Library Web site: http://www.ps36x.org/

E-mail: NProcar@schools.nyc.gov

 Description, Goals, Intended Outcomes:

This project began with two different ideas I had at the beginning of the school year. As the new librarian at my school, I wanted to do many things. Two of my main goals were to bring authors to our school and organize fun, educational and memorable activities that would reach as many members of the school community as possible. Poetry for All is the project that evolved out of these original goals. This project was implemented school-wide for grades PreK through Grade 5. Students, parents and teachers were to meet a published author in order to be inspired to learn about and write poetry to create poetry books. Our original poetry was then going to be made into books by the company, Student Treasures. After these books were created, our entire school celebrated poetry with a huge school-wide poetry celebration during the entire month of April.

This project had multiple parts and intended outcomes. It began with meeting and learning from an experienced writer. The learning outcomes were that students would strengthen their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills while taking part in this project. Equally important in this project was that our students get excited and inspired to write and express their thoughts and feelings through poetry; a final goal was to involve parents and members of the community in the entire process. It was my hope that this project would have a positive impact on our students and would encourage them to work hard and be proud of themselves.

Process to Develop and Implement this Project:

It all began with the author coming to visit our school in December. I actually contacted a few authors via their websites and Robert W. Kurkela was the first one to respond. He called me at my library and loved the idea that his visit would be part of a larger project. (He does not charge an appearance fee! He only requires travel expenses which equaled about $60 for my school.)

The day began with a meet and greet for parents in the library. Parents were able to look at some of the author’s work, talk with him  about writing and purchase books if they wanted to. Then we had two assemblies--one for grades Pre K through 2 and a second assembly for grades 3 through 5. The assembly was designed as a multimedia experience which showcased the author’s work as he spoke about the writing process and how poetry is all around us. Students, parents and teachers were very engaged. At the close of each assembly, it was announced that all students were going to write poetry to create books of their own.

Everyone was very excited!

The next phase was a huge undertaking. It could not have been possible without Student Treasures, a company that publishes student writing and illustrations into beautiful hard covered books! Book publishing kits for all classrooms from Pre-K through grade 5 arrived and were distributed to each classroom. All teachers were provided with instruction sheets, book pages, letters for parents, order forms, etc. Without the hard working teachers in my school and the support of administration, this project would not have been possible.

The next phase took place within each classroom. First, teachers taught lessons about poetry writing and read favorite poems to inspire their students. I created a LiveBinder of poetry resources for the teachers to use throughout this process and made poetry books available to all students and teachers in the library. Next, the original poetry written by the students had to be put on the book pages following very specific instructions. Some students and classes came to the library to work on their books; I also visited some classrooms to help with the process. Afterwards, we collected all book kits, order forms, payments, etc. to review, organize and finally, pack all the materials to be sent to the company.

After about a month, the completed books were shipped back to our school. It was decided that the Thursday before Spring vacation would be our School Wide Poetry Celebration. We invited parents, members of the community, and authors. The day began with refreshments in the library for parents and guests. They were given the opportunity to look at student poetry, check out poetry books to read at home and were provided with many poetry resources that they could use.  The next part was the best part:  We once again had two assemblies. There was a slideshow of poetry that had been created during this process. Groups of students read famous poetry, some of our guests read poems. Then the classes were presented with their poetry books. Students and teachers shared their poetry with the audience and were met with cheers and applause. It was a wonderful celebration.

Budget:

About $100.00 (varies according to book program chosen)

Timeline:

September 2011

      Set a publishing date with Student Treasures.

      Confirm appearance date with author.

December 2011

      Author Visit/Introduction of Project

January 2012

      Students and Teachers create original poetry.

    Publishing materials arrive and are distributed school wide by the Librarian.

February 2012 – Book Kits are collected, packaged and shipped out.

March 2012 – Books are created by Student Treasures. April 2012 - School Wide Poetry Celebration

Evidence of Outcomes, Possible Adaptations, Lessons Learned:

All members of our school have expressed how wonderful this project turned out. Students were excited, motivated and proud of their work. Looking towards next year, we are discussing how we can build on this fantastic project to continue this new tradition while taking any suggestions and/or obstacles we experienced from this year into consideration. One option we have discussed is possibly having certain grades publish at different times of the year. Another option we are considering is having each grade have their books focus on a different genre.

Common Core State Standard(s) addressed:

RL.I.10: With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity

W.1.11: Create and present a poem, dramatization, art work, or personal response to a particular author or theme studied in class, with support as needed.

Information Fluency Continuum (IFC) Skill(s) addressed:

Selects books, poems or media based on teacher selected criteria or personal preferences.

Contributes to group media project to communicate ideas to classmates, families, and others.

Skill(s) taught:

     Connects ideas to own interests.

     Chooses the format for the product based on personal preferences or uses format chosen by the teacher or librarian.

      Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

Assessments:

K.1: Connecting ideas to own interests

1.7: Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

2.7: Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

3.8: Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

4.10: Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

5.9: Modifies and revises own work based on feedback from teacher and others.

5.11: Identifies own strengths and sets goals for improvement.

Resources Used:

Robert W. Kurkela's biography, books and more can be found at his website: http://www.kidzpoetz.com/index.html.

Student Treasures

Student Treasures created all of the books for my school for free!!! (This does depend on which publishing package you choose.) We just needed parent permission for all students and were required to offer all parents the opportunity to purchase copies of student books. All information can be found at their website, http://www.studentreasures.com/. They also offer live chat assistance which was very helpful during the process.

Poetry Resources

The poetry binder can be found at http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=353488.

Places:                                                                                  People:

Library                                                                                  Author

Auditorium                                                                           Librarian

Classrooms                                                                             Teachers

School Website and PA System                                             Parents

                                                                                             Students

Materials:   

Poetry resources

Student notebooks, pencils, pens, markers

Book Kits provided by Student Treasures