IRA: The Movie

We recently presented at the annual conference of the International Reading Association in New Orleans. Our topic was "How is a Poet Like a Scientist? Maximizing Teachable Moments in Both Reading and Science." 

We had a fantastic panel of presenters including: 
Shirley Duke (Author, Peachtree Publishers)

Eric Ode (Author, Kane Miller Publishing)

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (Author, Clarion Books)

Vida Zuljevic (Library Media Specialist, Pasco WA)

and of course:

Janet Wong (Author/Publisher, Pomelo Books)

and me,

Sylvia Vardell (Professor, Texas Woman’s University)

Each person brought a slightly different perspective-- in reading poetry aloud, in sharing poetry with young people, and in making connections between poetry and science. Here are just a few fun clips to give you a taste.

Janet addresses the important topic of diversity in poetry:

Amy reads one of her poems aloud ("Meter Stick") from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science.

I introduced poet Eric Ode (pronounced  O-dee) by reading one of his poems aloud ("Science Fair Project" from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science).

Then Eric invited the audience to join in on his poem, "Science Fair Day" (from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science).

Vida (bringing the educator perspective) shared the poem, "Questions that Matter" by Heidi Bee Roemer (from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science) along with how one second grade teacher approached the poem with her students.

Bonus: Poet Sara Holbrook was in our audience and was willing to jump up and share her poem, "Friction" (also from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science).

Isn't it marvelous to see how poets explore science topics?

Wouldn't it inject fun in a science lesson to start with a poem?

Can you imagine kids' responses to these engaging poems?

Get your copy of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science here.

A big THANK YOU to audience member and poet Laura Purdie Salas for making these mini-movies with my handy dandy Flipcam! And thank you to our wonderful panelists and to the enthusiastic audience that joined us-- and on Mother's Day!

Selected Bibliography of Books by Presenters

Calkins, Lucy; Parsons, Stephanie and VanDerwater, Amy Ludwig. 2013. Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages. Heinemann.

Duke, Shirley Smith and Ostrom, Bob. 2014. Step-By-Step Experiments with Plants. The Child’s World.

Duke, Shirley Smith and Ostrom, Bob. 2014. Step-By-Step Experiments with the Water Cycle. The Child’s World.

Duke, Shirley Smith. 2006. No Bows. Ill. By Jenny Mattheson. Peachtree.

Duke, Shirley Smith. 2013. Science lab: Gases (Explorer Library: Language Arts Explorer). Cherry Lake Publishing.

Duke, Shirley Smith. 2013. The Amazing Brain (Rainbow Readers). Compass Publishing.

Ode, Eric. 2007. Tall Tales of the Wild West (And a Few Short Ones). Meadowbrook Press.

Ode, Eric. 2012. Dan, the Taxi Man. Ill. Kent Culotta. Kane Miller Books.

Ode, Eric. 2012. When You're a Pirate Dog and Other Pirate Poems. Ill. by Jim Harris. Pelican Publishing.

Ode, Eric. 2013. Sea Star Wishes: Poems from the Coast. Ill. by Erik Brooks. Sasquatch Books.

Ode, Eric. 2013. The Boy and the Dragon. Ill by Jim Harris. Pelican Publishing.

Suen, Anastasia and Duke, Shirley Smith. 2013. Teaching STEM and Common Core with Mentor Texts: Collaborative Lesson Plans, K-5. Libraries Unlimited.

VanDerwater, Amy Ludwig. 2013. Forest Has a Song. Clarion.

Zuljevic, Vida. 2005. Using Puppets with English Learners to Develop Language. In Supporting the Literacy Development of English Learners: Increasing Success in All Classrooms edited by Terrell Young and Nancy Hadaway. International Reading Association.

Zuljevic, Vida. 2010. I Was Almost Five. Lulu.com.

Now head on over to Violet's place (Violet Nesdoly Poetry) for the Poetry Friday gathering. See you there!

Image credits:

hdwallpapersfree1080.com/albert-einstein-pictures

fuelyourwriting.com/the-writing-spaces-the-reculsive-emily-dickinson