Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research
  • Home
  • Our Initiative
  • The Divergent Award
    • 21st Century Literacies Lecture Series
    • LECTURE VIDEOS
  • Our Team
    • Affiliates/Collaborators
    • Collaborate
    • Leadership Team Interest Form
  • Our Thinking
    • Call for Participation
    • Grant Opportunities
    • Military Connected Resources
  • Text Sets to Push the Canon

Our Thinking

Snapshots of our thinking and grappling with current issues related to our work.
Latest blog

Reflections on "Reflections on a Gift of a Watermelon Pickle" and Our Roles as Literacy Cheerleaders

6/3/2014

3 Comments

 
by Shelbie Witte

One of the first books of poetry I ever read as a child happened to be the first book of poetry I ever taught as a teacher in the classroom.  "Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle", published in the late 1960's, was a ground-breaking compilation of poetry that specifically appealed to the 'modern' adolescent.  Poems by Eve Merriam,  Sy Kahn, Carl Sandburg, Ezra Pound, and dozens of others were representative of the great works of literature that spoke to our hearts as readers.  As teachers, it became a critical reference text for short pieces of literature that would motivate and engage our students to want to read more, write like, and experience literacy through creative voices. My favorite from "Reflections" is by Eve Merriam:

"How to Eat a Poem"
Don't be polite
Bite in.
Pick it up with your
fingers and lick
The juice that may
run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now,
whenever you are.

As teachers, we often serve in the role of literacy cheerleaders, offering our students multiple avenues and doors into the world of texts.  As our world evolves, so do the texts that motivate and engage.  Indeed, the very meaning of "text" has also changed, making our list of critical reference texts even more diverse.  What texts move your students to devour their words? How do you encourage your students to eat a poem, a novel, a text?
3 Comments

    Contributors





    George Boggs
    Edgar Corral
    Jose Paco Fiallos

    Katherin Garland
    Charise Kollar
    Tresha Layne
    Mark Meacham

    Raúl A. Mora

    Barbara Pace
    Amy Piotrowski

    Rikki Roccanti

    Ekaterina Rybakova
    Sheri Vasinda

    Amy Vetter
    Shelbie Witte

    Sergio Yanes

    Archives

    November 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    June 2017
    April 2017
    April 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    21st Century Literacies
    Access
    Amy Piotrowski
    Barbara Pace
    Charise Kollar
    Classic Literature
    Classroom
    Dewey
    Digital Natives
    Edgar Corral
    Ethics
    Film
    Flipped Classroom
    George Boggs
    Google Glass
    Grafting
    Inquiry
    Instruction
    Jose Paco Fiallos
    Journey
    Kathy Garland
    Katie Rybakova
    Language Arts
    Media
    Multimodality
    Music
    Pinterest
    Popular Culture
    Preservice Teachers
    Qualitative
    Raul A. Mora
    Research
    Rikki Roccanti
    School Reform
    Sergio Yanes
    Shelbie Witte
    Technology
    Video
    Wikipedia
    Young Adult Literature
    Young Writers' Camps

    RSS Feed



Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Our Initiative
  • The Divergent Award
    • 21st Century Literacies Lecture Series
    • LECTURE VIDEOS
  • Our Team
    • Affiliates/Collaborators
    • Collaborate
    • Leadership Team Interest Form
  • Our Thinking
    • Call for Participation
    • Grant Opportunities
    • Military Connected Resources
  • Text Sets to Push the Canon