Synopses & Reviews
For the Good of the Earth and Sun is a book about poetry written for teachers at all levels, from primary teachers to graduate assistants to college teachers of English. Although the book's examples are drawn primarily from elementary school classrooms, the principles of teaching poetry discussed are applicable to any classroom containing student poets.
The book does not provide a formula to elicit poetry from students; rather, it offers a method of teaching poetry that respects the intelligence and originality of both teacher and student. For many adults, poetry is strange and occasionally pleasant at best, and at worst frustrating and impossible to understand. This book explores poetry from the inside as it is: powerful and necessary, one of humankind's most ancient and durable inventions. Step by step, the reader becomes more familiar with the world of poetry and learns not to feel uncomfortable or afraid of it. The book also offers the reader a chance to watch Heard as she makes discoveries and mistakes and learns from both; and to read the vivid, striking words of children she listens to, instructs, and encourages.
Review
Intelligent, respectful, and beautifully written, this book bypasses lesson plans and gimmicks and gets to the heart of what writing poetry is all about . . .The Writing Teacher
Synopsis
The principles of teaching poetry discussed are applicable to any classroom of student poets, regardless of age.
Synopsis
For the Good of the Earth and Sun is for teachers at all levels, especially for those teachers who feel anxious about introducing poetry to students.
Georgia Heard offers a method of teaching poetry that respects the intelligence of students and teachers and that can build upon their basic originality. She explores poetry from the inside as it is: a powerful and necessary way of looking at the world, and one of mankind's most durable inventions.
Her book provides detailed, organized information so that teachers themselves can begin to enjoy and feel knowledgeable about poetry, and, from there, pass those feelings on to their students. The author's text is supplemented by examples of students' work in original and draft form.
About the Author
Georgia Heard received her M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University. She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York City. Currently, she visits schools and speaks at conferences in the United States, Canada, and around the world inspiring students and educators with her workshops and speeches. She is the author of numerous professional books on writing including her most recent A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades, as well as: The Revision Toolbox: Teaching Techniques that Work ; Writing Toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way; For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry; Climb Inside a Poem: Reading and Writing Poetry Across the School Year (coauthored with Lester Laminack); and Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School which was cited by Instructor magazine as "One of the Twelve Books Every Teacher Should Read." She is also the author of several books for children including: Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems; This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort; Creatures of Earth, Sea and Sky: Animal Poems; and Songs of Myself: An Anthology of Poems and Art.