Teaching Dare to Dream . . . Change the World
A few weeks ago, I hit that time of year in my sixth grade classroom I usually dread. Poetry. I've never been a big fan of poetry myself. Teaching poetry to sixth graders usually feels to me like trying to make a trip to the dentist sound fun. They don't buy it. So we slog through two weeks of rhyming couplets, dubious metaphors, and allusive symbolism before we all breathe a huge sigh of relief. This year I wised up. Wrote a grant that got me a class set of Dare to Dream . . . Change the World books. This collection of poems edited by Jill Corcoran features writing by some of today's top KidLit writers and poets. Each spread couples a biography of someone who has made an impact in some way with two poems that relate to that person. Nicole and I (well, mostly Nicole) had the pleasure of putting together a Teacher's Guide for Jill. We honed in on as many of the Common Core Standards for grades 6 through 8 as we cou...