THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY
April 12, 2016

Friday, April 30, 2010

NPM 50 State Tour: Florida

Happy Poetry Friday!

Are you ready to say goodbye to National Poetry Month? I'm not. We still have a way to go on our 50 State Tour of Poets Laureate.

Florida became the 27th state on March 3, 1845. In 1928, it instituted a poet laureate program.

The Sunshine State's poet laureate is a lifetime post. So, despite being an 82-year-old program, there have only been three Floridian poets laureate. Dr. Edmund Skellings has held the job since 1980.

Skellings has won awards for his blend of technology and poetry including the Videographer Crystal Award of Excellence for a collection of 3D animated poetry, Word Songs, in 2002.

Here is his video-poem from Word Songs, "Incantation."




Unexpected discoveries like Skellings' work have made my National Poetry Month Tour an amazing project. Search www.youtube.com for animated poems created by Skellings' students. Cool stuff.


Sorry we didn't make it to Hawaii before the end of April, gang. On this blog, at least, NPM is taking over May while I finish out the 50 State Tour.


Today's Poetry Friday host is Mary Ann at Great Kid Books. Stop by for some good reads and the Poetry Friday blog roll.

7 comments:

Mary Lee said...

My students NPM project will be continuing into May as well! Sometimes if you're going to do it all or do it right you can't confine the work to the vessel of time.

Author Amok said...

After posting, found Skellings' tribute to Van Gogh. It's just beautiful. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbAUIy2qeEM

Author Amok said...

What are your students working on, Mary Lee? I'd love to hear about it.

"The vessel of time" -- what a beautiful (breakable?) concept.

jama said...

What a cool video! Glad you're continuing your project into May. Can't leave Hawai'i out!

Author Amok said...

Jama -- I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Aloha State is a wall-of-shame member.

I am proposing Joy Harjo as their first poet laureate. What do you think?

all things poetry said...

Wow, Laura, I had never seen this done before. I love it when the various art forms mix it up! Very cool!

Laura Evans

Author Amok said...

Hi, Laura. I know -- I think his work is amazing. If you get a chance, check out more on youtube. The one on Vincent Van Gogh is a beautiful poem & amazing presentation.

How cool would it be to do something like this with high schoolers?