Poetry March Madness [S4 E90]

Listen to the full episode below:

Do you ever find yourself out of ideas when March rolls around? I’ve got a solution for you today!

It’s me, Amanda, and I’m riding solo this week to share one of my very favorite interactive game-like activities with you. This is an activity that I do during the month of March to expose my students to new poetry in a really engaging way.

What’s March without March Madness, right? Well my friends, it’s time for not just March Madness, but Poetry March Madness! It looks a little something like this:

If you’re wondering what in the world Poetry March Madness is, I'm going to walk you through exactly how to get started. You’ll also hear which supplies you're going to need, and how you can fit this into your classroom and unique schedule. 

Really, you can do this activity during any month. It doesn’t have to be during March. What's most important is that you keep your goals in mind.

Poetry March Madness creates opportunities for new voices to enter your classroom and gives students a chance to interact with poetry in a non-threatening way. Speaking from experience, it’s going to be powerful and life-changing for your students!

Topics Covered:

• My rationale and goals for Poetry March Madness

• The various approaches that you can take to implement Poetry March Madness

• How gamifying your content creates excitement while also exposing your students to new things

• Eliminating the stigma of poetry being an unreachable and extremely difficult text

• Examples of the types of poems to include in this interactive poetry activity

• How to physically set up your bracket in your classroom

Resources

• Grab your ticket to The Shakespeare Teacher Festival. 

• Check out how I’ve used Poetry March Madness and grab my March Madness Bracket.

• Grab my brand new resource, Teaching Poetry With the Big Six

• Sign up for our FREE Down With the Reading Quiz MasterclassJoin Curriculum Rehab

• Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching

• Follow Marie on Instagram: @thecaffeinatedclass

• Follow Amanda on Instagram: @mudandinkteaching

• Let us know what you think! Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Related Episodes:

• To Teach Poetry

• To Teach Social Justice Through Poetry

• To Celebrate Diverse Voices: Indigenous Writers 

• To Celebrate Diverse Voices: LatinX Writers

More about Brave New Teaching:

Join hosts Amanda Cardenas (Mud & Ink Teaching) and Marie Morris (The Caffeinated Classroom) in discussions about being brave, trying new things, and all things teaching! As seasoned classroom teachers, Amanda and Marie bring their experience, insight, energy, and oh, so many opinions and ideas... It's time for all teachers to take their classroom and teaching practice into their own hands!

Tune in on your favorite podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.