Teaching a Group of Poems on a Theme/Topic

(A nonexhaustive index of William Stafford Archive poems and some resources for teaching poetry in conjunction with these topics) Whether an English teacher is interested in teaching a theme and using multiple poems by William Stafford, or a social studies or science teacher is interested in one of these topics and could use poetry as a way to help students to explore the ideas/issues these topics raise, this list of titles available here in the archives might be a place to start. These topics are found again and again in Stafford's poetry - it might be useful for students to find later poems on the same topics and to see the threads as they develop over the years. Likewise, students may find it very interesting to research William Stafford's biography to see how these issues permeated his life. The articles are not specifically linked to William Stafford's poetry, but might be applied to any of these poems.

• Peace/Social Justice

  Poems

  A Visit Home
  By the Snake River
  At the Bomb Testing Site
  Watching the Jet Planes Dive
  A Ritual to Read to Each Other
  On Quitting a Little College
  Reporting Back
  The Star in the Hills
  Things We Did that Meant Something
  A Dedication
  Representing Far Places
  

  Articles that may be helpful:

  Camangian, Patrick. Untempered Tongues: Teaching Performance Poetry for Social Justice. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v7 n2 p35-55, Sept 2008. (Eric #: EJ832207)
  
  Damico, James. Evoking Hearts and Heads: Exploring Issues of Social Justice through Poetry. Language Arts, v83 n2 p137-146, May 2000. (Eric #: EJ751807)
  
  Gorrell, Nancy. Teaching Empathy through Ecphrastic Poetry: Entering a Curriculum of Peace. English Journal, v89 n5 p32-41, May 2000. (Eric #: EJ604744)
  
  Moreillon, Judi. Peace Poems and Picasso Doves: Literature, Art, Technology and Poetry. ReadWriteThink.org/lessons, April 2003. (Eric #: ED482391)
  
  Pierce-Thomas, Cassandra. Looking through the Eyes of Injustice: Integrating Poetry and African-American History. Multicultural Education, v14 n4 p2-6, Sum 2007. (Eric #: EJ774714)
  
  Stovall, David. Urban Poetics: Poetry, Social Justice and Critical Pedagogy in Education. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v38 n1 p63-80, Mar 2006. (Eric #: EJ748058)
  
  

• Environmentalism/Deep connection to nature

  Poems

  Ceremony
  At the Salt Marsh
  A Survey
  At the Bomb Testing Site
  The Fish Counter at Bonneville
  Outside
  The Well Rising
  Connections
  The Research Team in the Mountains
  The Tillamook Burn
  B.C.
  

  Articles that may be helpful:

  Gustafson, John A. A Walk with Robert Frost. Nature Study, v37 n3-4 p37, Mar 1984. (Although uses Frost's poems, application could easily be made to Stafford's work in a similar nature walk.) (Eric #: EJ300311)
  
  Gustafson, John A. Why Wait for Science? Journal of Outdoor Ed, v24 p11-21, 1989-90. (Article includes several environmental poems to use as well as lesson ideas.) (Eric #: EJ413903)
  
  Harms, Jeanne McLain, and Lettow, Lucille. Supporting Environmental Education through Poetry. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, v8 n2 p167-171, Win 1995. (Eric #: EJ496561)
  
  Harms, Jeanne McLain, and Lettow, Lucille. Poetry and the Environment. Science and Children, v37 n6 p30-34, Mar 2000. (Eric #: EJ612073)
  
  King, Robert. Science and Poetry in the Classroom. Insights into Open Education, v22 n5 Jan-Feb 1990. (Eric #: ED313716)
  
  Walders, Davi. Poetry and Science Education. Eric Publications, Eric Digests in Full Text. Nov. 2000. (Eric #: ED463946)