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THE POETRY PAGE

September 17th, 1883 It was on this day that the poet William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. He studied to become a physician, though his interest in poetry also grew during his college days, when he moved in the same circles as the imagists and modernists Ezra Pound and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle). He became a doctor in his hometown, writing at the same time and publishing short stories, essays, and plays as well as poetry. Williams believed in using common elements, rather than classical or obscure references in his poems, and perhaps his most famous ones are "The Red Wheelbarrow" and "This is Just to Say". Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize after his death. Learn more about Williams here.

AUTUMN POETRY COMPREHENSION:
Print out copies of this delightful autumn poem to introduce your students to a comprehension exercise. They will read the poem and then assess its meanings, looking at the different lines and words used. A class discussion on the different student answers given would partner well with the exercise.

BIOGRAPHY POEM FORMS:
It's amazing how these format poems turn out, and how each one states something unique about the owner. Your students will be proud to share their format Bio Poems as part of Open House Night, or in a class display.

MAGNETIC WORDS:
While this activity suggests using magnet strip words to create poetry - and it certainly is fun to do so, encouraging students to play with words and be captivated by them - it can also be used for creating sentences, word families, spelling lists, and other literacy exercises.

INTERACTIVE ACROSTIC POEMS:
Introduce your elementary students to the acrostic poetry format with this online tool. After an example is given, students input their topics, then brainstorm a list of words to describe those topics. Interactive steps guide students through the completion of their acrostic poems.

ROBERT FROST OUT LOUD:
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Several of the selections included in this online Robert Frost anthology are offered in audio, with the poet himself reading his poems. It doesn't get much better! Harper Collins offers more readings from the poet at the 2nd link above.

FRIDAY POSTER:
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You can change out your classroom posters weekly with our quotable posters series. Today's printable poster features a quote by one of America's best-loved poets, Robert Frost.