National Poetry Month 2013: Meet Christine, the Media Queen

Some of the most tech-savvy people I know are librarians. Excuse me: Media Specialists. It's a well-earned term. Although they are still the people who have that magical skill of putting exactly the right book into a child's hands, today's media specialists also guide students and library patrons as they navigate the internet, conduct research using technology, and consume information.

Old School Librarian

New School Media Specialist
Read "Meet Your New School LibraryMedia Specialist" at Scholastic.

It's Poetry Friday. I know all of you educators and librarians will be excited to meet media specialist Christine Hurley. She was recently named Maryland Society for Educational Technology’s 2013 Outstanding Educator!

Christine has a bevvy of spots in the TechnoVerse that she's using with students during National Poetry Month.

Poetry and Technology Blog

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”
~ Robert Frost

The students and teachers at Emma K. Doub School for Integrated Arts and Technology have been immersed in poetry over the last few weeks. We’ve read poems, studied various types of poetry, and created our own poems – it’s been an amazing and creative journey full of discovery and wonder, all in support of our school-wide goal of collaborative digital writing and in honor of National Poetry Month.

How does technology fit in with poetry instruction? The two seem to be polar opposites, when in fact they can blend together to create new and exciting lessons. Whether you have one iPad or a 1:1 initiative, a computer lab or just one computer in your room, you CAN make technology and poetry happen in your classroom! Here is a list of the some of the best FREE poetry apps, websites, and electronic resources!

Poetry Websites:

http://www.poetry4kids.com

http://gigglepoetry.com

http://www.rif.org/kids/readingplanet/gamestation/poetrysplatter.htm

http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html

Collaborative Writing Resources:

Stixy.com – Interactive sticky-note board where students can collaborate on writing projects.

Edmodo.com – Safe social-networking for school!

Poetry Apps:

Poetry from the National Poetry Foundation – great collection of poems.

The Poetry App – contains poems read by poets and actors as well as a good collection of 

poems for students.

Poetry Daily – an app that brings new poems to your device every day!

Poetry Magnets – Refrigerator magnets for your iDevice!

The last app, Poetry Magnets, is a new and fabulous favorite of mine. Refrigerator magnets for the iPad, how FUN is that?! We recently used it to create poetry in 3^rd grade. I briefly demonstrated the app, then I gave the students time to play write:

In Poetry Magnets, the students have the ability to drag words from a word bank at the bottom. They can create new word tiles if they are looking for a specific word as well.

When the students finished writing, we had a sharing session. They used their iPads to mirror their work on my laptop, which is connected to a projector and running AirServer – here is Sylvie, sharing her work:

Some of their products were amazing. Below is a sample poem by Sylvie, age 8.

Poetry appeals to all kids – less words means less pressure when it comes to writing. When you combine it with a fun website to engage lower readers, a collaborative writing resource, or an app to give kids another outlet for their writing, amazing things occur!

Mrs. Christine Hurley is the Library Media Specialist at Emma K. Doub School for Integrated Arts and Technology in Hagerstown, Maryland. Christine graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood/ Elementary Education, and then a Masters of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Educational Technology. After teaching for five years and earning her National Board Certified Teacher status, she decided to switch careers and pursue her Library Media certification.  Currently she is pursuing certification in Writing for Children and Young Adults through McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Christine was recently chosen by Tech4Learning as an "Innovative Educator" for her use in integrating the Tech4Learning suite of software into her instruction. 

Visit her website at http://hurlechr.weebly.com – you can also find her media center social networking sites on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube! 

Christine, you are a Media Queen. Thank you for sharing all of these resources and Sylvie's beautiful Refrigerator Magnet poem. What relaxing imagery she conjured from those magnets.

Today's Poetry Friday is Irene Latham at Live Your Poem. I believe it's Irene's turn with her NPM 2013 Progressive Poem today. Stop by for poetry links and to check on the group poem's progress. (And stop back here on Monday, when it's my turn to add a line to the poem.)