How to Teach a Poem (and Learn from One, Too)

"How to Teach a Poem

(and Learn from One, Too)"

An NEH Faculty Humanities Workshop

hosted by

DePaul University and The Poetry Foundation

Professor Eric Murphy Selinger, Workshop Director

August, 2007-June, 2008

What if we said to any educator that he or she had a resource within his or her grasp that would improve reading skills, verbal skills, and writing skills; that would require no additional outlays of money; that would make students better performers on standardized tests; that would provide daily inspiration in their lives; that would increase their self-esteem; that would help them enormously with the nuts and bolts of literacy, such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar; that would connect them with the multi-ethnic nature of democracy; that would improve vocabulary in meaningful and enjoyable ways; that would dramatically improve their listening skills; that would honor the integrity of their feelings; and that would be a solace and joy they could carry through their whole lives? Chances are any educator would say, Where do I sign?

--Baron Wormser and David Capella, A Surge of Language xxiii-xxiv

Poets have always insisted that their art is not just sweet, but also useful, a source of both instruction and delight. Teachers who love poetry concur. They find in it a way to teach not only the language arts, but lessons in character, heritage, and attention to detail important throughout a student’s life.

Teachers uneasy or unfamiliar with poems, however, find it difficult to tap this versatile resource. For them, in 2007-8, DePaul University and the Poetry Foundation will host “How to Teach a Poem (and Learn from One, Too),” a Faculty Humanities Workshop sponsored by the NEH. Working with English professors, master teachers, and poets, twenty Chicago-area middle-school teachers will learn current best practices in poetry instruction and become more confident, knowledgeable readers in their own right, able to make good use of poetry across their existing curricula.

What Will the Workshops Cover?

Spanning the 2007-08 school year, the workshops of "How to Teach a Poem (and Learn from One, Too)" will cover several topics, including:

• What are Poems For?
• "Close Reading" and its Discontents
• Poetry and Emotional Intelligence
• Poems of Empathy, Heritage, and History
• Teaching Poetry through Performance
• Poetry Across the Arts: Music, Theater, Calligraphy, Scrapbooks
  

For a full schedule of workshop dates and topics, click here.

When Will the Workshops Meet?

This Workshop begins with three sessions in August (August 14-16, 9-2pm, with lunch provided), and will continue with monthly evening sessions (5-8:15 pm, all on Mondays) throughout the 2007-2008 school year.

Participants will receive CPDU credit for the workshops they attend, and a $50 honorarium for each workshop they attend during the school year. That's right: you can earn up to $500, just for studying poetry!

Even if you cannot attend all of the workshops, you are encouraged to apply. The deadline has been extended to Friday, August 10, for the initial sessions, and plenty of space is still available for the school year sessions as well.

Who Will Lead the Workshops?

Scheduled workshop faculty include:

Poet Baron Wormser and Prof. David Cappella, authors of A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day by Day

English Teacher and NCTE consultant John O'Connor, author of Wordplaygrounds: Reading, Writing, and Performing Poetry in the English Classroom

English Teacher Eileen Murphy, two-time coach of Illinois State Champions in the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition and alumna of the NEH summer seminar "Say Something Wonderful: Teaching the Pleasures of Poetry"

English and Theater Teacher (and Improv Coach) Danielle Filas, alumna of NEH summer seminar "Say Something Wonderful"

Poet Kevin Coval, co-founder of Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Teen Poetry Slam and artistic director of Young Chicago Authors

Dr. Wendy Sternberg, Founder and Director of the pioneering Chicago arts-education organization Genesis at the Crossroads

DePaul Professors Eric Murphy Selinger (also Project Director for the NEH seminar "Say Something Wonderful") and Jonathan Gross, Director of the DePaul Humanities Center and author most recently of Thomas Jefferson's Scrapbooks: Poems of Nation, Family, and Romantic Love Collected by America's Third President.

For a full schedule of workshop dates and topics, click here.

How do I Apply?

To apply, simply email the project director, Eric Selinger, at eselinge @ depaul . edu. Please tell me something about yourself and why you are interested in the workshops, and please confirm that you are a middle school teacher (grades 6-8). Let me know where you teach, how long you have been teaching, and whether you in advance of any sessions you won't be able to attend.

I Have Questions!

Feel free to email me directly at eselinge @ depaul . edu. And remember, for a full schedule of workshop dates and topics, click here.