Internet Field Trip: Poetic Wealth on the Web

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After Emily Dickinson died in May 1886, more than 1,700 of her poems, which she had bound into booklets, were found. An extremely private person, Dickinson very rarely left her town of Amherst, Massachusetts and had only about 10 of her poems published in her lifetime. But now Dickinson's poetry is read all over the world — not only in books but on Web sites devoted to her. Today, young people who love to write poetry may still pen it on scraps of paper the way Dickinson did, yet many have the chance to share it with the world — on pages such as Write It for older poets or Writing with Writers: Poetry for younger poets.

At her KidzPage, Emmi Tarr seeks to enchant not only the very young but kids of all ages with poems by Ogden Nash and original verse by students about clouds, sunflowers, frogs, friendship, and lots more.

While the act of writing a poem is usually very solitary, the community—like nature of the Web has inspired new ways of sharing the experience and meaning of poetry. British students who visited the battlefields of World War I were moved to post poetry about the war by Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen on their page.

Playing with Poetry: Activities that Make Reading and Writing Poetry Even More Fun
Activities that encourage you child's love of reading and writing poetry. Ideas include making a poetry collage, reading poetry aloud, finding your kid's name in a poem, and more.

Poetry for All Ages
To show the delight and fun that words can be, introduce your students to poetry.

It's Poem Day!
Give poetry its own special day of the week! Special idea and activities by Ellen Booth Church.

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