I enjoyed the odd, somewhat paradoxical, feeling of recording my first podcast by speaking into a phone receiver. I have to admit, it was so easy it felt like cheating.
For this inaugural event, I chose to read my favorite poem by Mary Oliver.
I really believe that reading poems out loud is essential to fully understanding and appreciating them, so it seemed a fitting use of my cast.
In spring I created a lesson plan based on a think-and-feel-aloud strategy found in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Students are paired up. First, they read the poem independently, then out loud to each other , then .... (here's the good part) they read it out loud while verbalizing their reactions, thoughts, feelings, questions. This creates an awareness of their own natural response to the poem - which, really, is more important than puzzling out how they think they are "supposed" to feel.
To make a long story short, I think it would be beneficial to podcast this. Students could choose to share it with the class for discussion, or they could just use it for further analysis of the poem.
Brainstorm: Maybe a page on my wiki, Poetry Matters, where people could post these and discuss in threads.
What do you think?
