Susan’s note: I typically have Brian Hannon join my APSIs for session to show us around LMS Voice Curriculum, a site filled with poetry resources. Not only does the site have poetry lessons that are ready to go in the classroom (with a writing workshop lesson, a literary analysis lessons, an essay prompt for the poem and sample essay for each lesson), this site is a great way to learn about new poets and poetry. Brian has recently expanded his site with guides for entire collections. Thanks to Brian for taking time to show us around on his site.
I just wanted to share some updates about the LMS Poetry Curriculum Database. Our curriculum creators have been working hard over the summer and have new resources available on the site. Here’s a quick rundown of what they’ve been up to this summer!
Unit Guides:
The Unit Guides are full-length units focused on a variety of poetry collections. Each Unit Guide consists of biographical information on each of the poets, ready-to-go lesson plans, and other valuable resources. We hope that the guides will be useful starting points toward incorporating more full-length poetry collections in your classroom!
The Unit Guides are for the following texts:
- Felon by Reginald Dwayne Betts
- Honeyfish by Laurent K. Alleyne
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (not technically a “collection,” but it works!)
- Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
- Finna by Nate Marshall
- Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo
*We also plan on releasing a Unit Guide for Ada Limón’s The Hurting Kind in the next several weeks!
To access the Unit Guides, simply click on “Unit Guides” in the filter column on the right-hand side of the page and all available units will populate.
LMSchat with Richard Blanco:
We are excited to announce the upcoming episode of LMS Chat, our monthly virtual chat series featuring artists hosted on the LMS Curriculum Database. Each of our chats are an hour long session, and give our audience the unique opportunity to hear directly from the poets as they talk about their work, inspiration, craft, and more. The chats are open for both teachers and students to attend.
This month’s guest is Richard Blanco! We will be discussing – in addition to other topics – his poem, “Shaving,” which was featured on the AP Literature Exam this year.
The free chat will be held on Thursday, August 25th at 8:00 P.M. EST. Space is limited and registration will close soon, so please make sure to sign up as soon as possible!
To sign up for this amazing event, please register at bit.ly/lmsvoicechat.
Weekly Lesson Plans:
Now that most teachers are back (or close to being back) in school, we will resume our weekly lesson drop on the site! This week’s lesson focuses on Marilyn Chin’s “Gruel.” The lesson asks students to examine the subtitles of Netflix’s Stranger Things and create their own set of “auditory enhancements” in response to Marilyn Chin’s poem. All the resources you need can be accessed by clicking on the thumbnail on the site!
We hope you and your students enjoy the resources! Please let us know if there’s anything that you’d like for us to provide or add to the site! You can reach me at brian@lmsvoice.com.
Brian Hannon is the Director of Secondary Curriculum for LMSvoice. He currently teaches AP Literature , AP Language , and English 10 in Alexandria, Virginia. Brian was the co-founder of the poetryN.O.W., and through his involvement with this organization, Brian went on to found the two largest youth poetry events in his area, the Hyper Bole and Louder than a Bomb. When poetryN.O.W. was absorbed by Split This Rock, a non-profit organization in Washington D.C. that meets at the intersection of poetry and social justice, Brian served as their Youth and Education Development Fellow.
