Friday, March 24, 2017

Spoken Word Poetry

To continue our exploration of poetry, we want to immerse you in some spoken word performances. As you listen, think about how speaking a poem changes the experience for you as a reader/observer. What kinds of things do you notice? What do they leave you thinking about?  How might it change you as a writer? Is there a poem you've written that needs to be spoken out loud?

Over the course of a few days we will watch performances by single spoken word poets and teams of spoken word poets. Consider: What impact do single and multiple voices have in spoken word poetry?

And of course, which of these speaks to you as a human? If you could choose a poet to perform for your graduating class who would it be? If there was one you could listen to every day for inspiration who would it be? How do these poems intersect with our social justice lenses and conversations? How do they connect to each other?

Single Speaker

Friday, March 3, 2017

What to read for book club?!?

For book clubs, we encourage you to read books that will help prepare you to be a high school reader--that means trying to read just above your level, which may be high level young adult fiction or perhaps an adult book. Or, maybe you want to do an author study where you read two books by the same person or a few books about the same topic (for example, The Crossover, The Final Four, and Boy21). We have lots of books in our library or you can peruse the lists below and try to find other titles at the public library, school library, or bookstore.

Remember, it is so important to be reading not just in school, but for two hours at home over the course of the week. Now is the time to build stamina for the reading you will be doing in high school.

If you have other recommendations or links to great lists, please list in the comments!

Young Adult:

 16 of the Most Exciting Books in 2016 by Read Brightly

19 of the Best YA books of 2016 by Buzzfeed

Check out lists Ms. Warren has put together in the past HERE.

Adult Level: 

Realistic Fiction: The Most Dangerous Place on Earth, The History of Love, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 

Historical Fiction: All the Light We Cannot See, The Secret Life of BeesI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Sci-Fi/Dystopian: 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm


Mystery: The Lovely Bones, Reconstructing Amelia

Adult Level Books for Teens by School Library Journal (this is a blog that features multiple books around a particular topic for each post--a great resource!)