Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School » (New Edition)

Georgia Heard is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project where she worked as senior staff developer in the New York City schools for seven years. She is currently a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, and a consultant and visiting author in school districts throughout the U.S, Canada and around the world. She is the author of numerous professional books on teaching writing including her most recent A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades (Stenhouse, 2009) and Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School (Heinemann) which was cited by Instructor Magazine as "One of the Ten Best Books Every Teacher Should Read." She has also authored many children's books including her most recent Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems (Roaring Brook Press, 2009).

Fans of the best-selling For the Good of the Earth and Sun will applaud this sequel by beloved author Georgia Heard - an inspiring and practical handbook that celebrates the natural power of poetry to teach the essential tools of all writing.

Awakening the Heart explores how to cultivate the poet in every elementary and middle school student - through well-drawn examples, detailed exercises, creative projects, and down-to-earth classroom teachings. Along the way, we learn how to: create environments that encourage children to express their innate sense of wonder; introduce poetry that will engage them; and help children make the transition from reading and talking to writing.

Best of all, Awakening the Heart is filled with luminous poems - by children, famous poets, and Heard herself.

Making a Poetry Environment: A Place Where Your Life Really Matters

Reading Poetry: Poems Keep Singing to You All Your Life

Writing Poetry: Where Does Poetry Hide?

Crafting Poetry: Toolboxes

Sharpening Our Outer and Inner Visions: Poetry Projects

Epilogue: Yourself as the Key