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Website Review of Favorite Poem Project Robert Pinsky (United States Poet Laureate
(1997-2000) All Ages (Reviewed with High School Students in
mind) Language Arts: Poetry, Creative Writing Reviewed by Kathryn Pelton WEBSITE DESCRIPTION: The favorite poem website was created by Robert
Pinsky, the United States Poem Laureate from 1997-2000. Pinsky wanted to create something that was
“dedicated to celebrating, documenting and
encouraging poetry’s role in Americans’ lives (Pinsky, 2009).” For one year, Pinsky accepted ‘favorite
poem’ submissions from 18,000 Americans “— Americans from ages 5 to 97, from
every state, of diverse occupations, kinds of education and backgrounds
(Pinsky, 2009).” This website is
simple in its purpose; to make others aware of inspirational poetry and how
it has impacted others. On the site,
Pinsky has collected videos of average Americans (a fifth grader, a
construction worker, and an anesthesiologist, for example), and some
influential individuals as well (Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton, and
Leah Ward Sears, the Supreme Court Justice of ACCURACY
OF CONTENT: The website contains accurate content and is complete in all
sections (there are no sections under
construction), however, there are certain pages where the text runs over
a picture and can be difficult to read.
The content itself is easy to read and is very age appropriate for the
intended student audience (all ages).
The arrangement of information goes above and beyond what you would
expect. The Favorite Poem Project began as a resource for average Americans
to submit their favorite poems so their power could be shared with
others. Robert Pinsky, the site
creator, has gone beyond this mission by creating lesson plans for teachers
to utilize. Therefore, all sections of
the site would be useful and beneficial to reference. The site contains no biases, although it is
clear that Pinsky is biased in his belief in the value of reading and
thinking about poetry! TECHNICAL
QUALITY: This website, because of its simplicity, is
extremely easy to navigate through.
Although the website is well-funded and put together, there isn’t much
to it. Nothing is ‘non-functioning’
within the site, and all of the links are easy to use and directed me to the
place they intended to. Aesthetically,
again, the site is fairly straightforward.
When first opened, the page itself is tiny, and the basic colors are red
and blue (very patriotic!). The title
at the top of the page states, Favorite
Poem Project: Americans Saying Poems They Love. And it is clear that this is the basis
for the site: to share. The videos of
poems being read are the central focus, and the home page opens to them
directly. At the bottom of the page,
there is a link to USE
OF TECHNOLOGY: Seeing as the direct
basis of the site is a video component, the use of technology is
obvious. However, this site would need
to be directly managed by the teacher using it so that a purpose and goal
could be attached. Otherwise, the site
would be used to entertain and its true purpose could be lost. On the site itself, there are no special
little characters that move, or flashy links to any animated games or
activities. Therefore, students
exploring the site without a purpose could become bored with the content
quickly. ROLE
OF STUDENTS: If driven and/or
guided, students have the ability to grasp the idea behind the simple power
of words that Favorite Poem makes
central to its work. I do believe that
a format, created by a teacher, would need to be followed when students
explore the site. There are over 40
videos listed on the site, and it would be a bore to watch every single one
(I think I only perused through 5 or so).
Therefore, for students to achieve learning goals, to maintain
interest, and to be fully empowered by the poems, lesson plans or basic
directions should be adapted to assist the students in their
exploration. Possibly the teacher
could ask that students access the site at home, choose one video amongst the
40+, watch it, and then write about their feelings on their chosen
video. Those choices could then be
discussed in class the following day.
This could introduce a unit on poetry, the power of persuasion and words,
and/or poetic elements. ROLE
OF TEACHER: The role of the teacher
is always to guide. So, although there
are no inappropriate distractions within the site, without direct guidance
boredom and a loss of interest could kick-in quickly. Students would require some sort of basic
instruction before using this site (unless the teacher’s purpose was to allow
the students to simply explore some of the videos on their own, and the
teacher knew and was comfortable with her student’s internet capabilities). To begin, teachers could display the site
onto a projection screen in the classroom, or talk to the students while they
sat at their own computer in a lab, and then guide the students through some
of the links and information. Teachers
could show and explain that the basis of the site are the videos, and that
the other links-although they can be read-basically only offer information
for teachers and information on the project itself. The teacher could then choose a video that
she wanted all of the students to observe, and could then have the class
participate in a discussion on that specific poem/video. The students could then go home to watch a
video of their choice. CLASSROOM
USAGE: As Pinsky mentions on the site, "Poetry connects us with our deep roots, […] our
evolution as an animal that created rhythmic language as a means of
transmitting vital information across the generations. We need to communicate
not only with our peers but our ancestors and descendants, and the arts of
poetry, writing, print, digital media serve that communication. As the oldest
of those arts, poetry in a deep-going way calls upon the very nature of human
society, our interdependence upon one another not only in space but in time.
We need the comfort and stimulation that this vital part of us gets from the
ancient art.” Poetry is meant to be
shared and these videos show the power of words and of human connection. Students could work with these
videos in small groups, with a partner, or independently. The purpose of the site is to share and to
broaden our ideas of others. It can be
directly linked to Language Arts (and History) curriculum, because each
person reading a poem also describes how the poem has affected them in their
own personal way. This allows us to
connect with others and to sympathize with their experiences. CRITICAL
SUMMARY: Overall, the Favorite Poem Project website allows
students to understand the experiences of others, delight in the sound of
poetry being read aloud, and to become comfortable with the idea of poetry
(it doesn’t have to be that scary
or foreign). The site also offers many
resources for teachers to become comfortable with teaching poetry (again, it
doesn’t have to be that scary or
foreign). It has information on
workshops, text, DVD’s, and lesson plans that can be easily incorporated
and/or integrated into curriculum.
Therefore, critically, this site would certainly be useful, but its
purpose is straightforward and basic: to softly float in the liquid
loveliness of poetry. OVERALL
RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10): For
what it is, in its simplicity, I give the Favorite
Poem Project website: 8 out of 10. EXPLANATION
OF RATING: This website, although
the premise is powerful, is fairly basic.
Much more could be done (seeing as it was created through a
partnership with the U.S. Congress and |
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©Kathryn Pelton | Last Revised 6/16/2009 | Kathryn1128@aol.com |