Friday, August 07, 2015

Poetry on Pinterest

Are you a fan of Pinterest? It's a website that offers a virtual "bulletin board" of visuals that often link to other sites you can learn more (and often buy things). It's an interesting tool for actively collecting images and ideas, particularly for crafts, projects, recipes, events, etc. Very teacher-friendly and also a black hole for losing yourself in a multitude of "pins." 

For poetry, I have found it an interesting source of ideas and inspiration-- and in the spirit of full disclosure, Janet (Wong) and I have used it to share poem "cards" based on our Poetry Friday books (more on that later).  Here are a few links to get you started.

Poetry Quotes
I love quotes about the power of poetry and you'll find many presented visually on Pinterest. Here are two quick examples. When I have time, I hope to add a bunch of my own that I often use for presentations. I think the combination of powerful words and powerful image is really thought-provoking. 

































































Poems
There are also many full-text poems to find on Pinterest too-- which worries me. Just in case you weren't aware, it is NOT okay to post a poem in it's entirety UNLESS you have permission from the poet (and the publisher) to do so or IF the poem is in the public domain. Shel Silverstein's work, for example, is NOT in the public domain, but you can find it online. In our case, Janet and I do secure permission from poets before creating visuals for their poems and sharing them online. Here are two poem examples I found on Pinterest (and I can't vouch for the rights question). I do like the WAY they are presented-- with the page of the book visible in interesting ways.


































































Teaching Poetry
There are also many ideas for presenting and teaching poetry-- although many are links to materials for purchase. But even simple visuals can be useful. Here are a few examples that I found fun and interesting: fingerprint poetry, found poetry, and a poetry tools graphic.

































































































































There are also many great lists of poetry books-- which is so helpful since the COVER of each book is included in each list. Plus, links to poetry performance videos (most available on YouTube, too), and more.  If you've found other poetry resources you love, please let me know. I'm still learning.

The Poetry Friday Anthology series on Pinterest
Meanwhile, please indulge a bit of self-promotion as I share the "boards" we have for our Poetry Friday series here. You'll find nearly 100 full-text poems with accompanying visuals that we have created (with permission of each poet) and provided for you to link or download and use in the classroom, library, or anywhere you want to share a poem with young people. There's a Pinterest "board" for each book-- our K-5, middle school, science, and celebrations anthologies. Here's one sample poem from each book along with a link to the Pinterest "board" for all the poems from each book that are currently posted. Enjoy!

Now head on over to Tabatha's place where she is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering. See you there!


10 comments:

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Great ideas for how to use Pinterest with poetry! I love your graphics and displays. Keep it coming!

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

You've highlighted some great pins here, Sylvia. While I have a presence on Pinterest, I confess, I haven't spent much time there– I'm a little afraid of falling down the black hole of time. I know I will succumb to gravity at some point!

Margaret Simon said...

School has begun for me. This is a wealth of resources for me to make poetry central. Thanks!

Amy LV said...

Thank you, Sylvia! I will check out your links and look forward to what you've discovered. Pinterest is a whole big world! I have a few Poetry Pinterest boards too, but I need to get back to them - thank you for the inspiration! xo

Sylvia Vardell said...

Thanks, y'all. I do love the inspiration I find at Pinterest, as well as the process of creating bulletin boards of pins to share myself. It is so cool that we have so many web resources to guide us, so many ways to link with one another, and such a community to keep us going too!

Sally Murphy said...

AN excellent range of poetry resources. I am fairly new to Pinterest, but am finding it both fun and informative.

Liz Steinglass said...

Thank you! This is very helpful. I have a few boards going but I haven't visited them in a while. It's time to go back and look around a little more. Thanks too for the reminder not to post poems without permission.

Liz Steinglass said...

Thank you! This is very helpful. I have a few boards going but I haven't visited them in a while. It's time to go back and look around a little more. Thanks too for the reminder not to post poems without permission.

Mary Lee said...

GACK! I have successfully resisted Pinterest so far...but you are tempting me in!

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I'm just finding my way here, Sylvia, and once again, Mary Lee and I are doppelganging--I have never really got the hang of Pinterest, and now I think I must!