Documentary Poetics in AP Lang

Mrs. Williams’s AP Language students recently explored the pulse within poetry known as documentary poetry: poems written using primary source material as inspiration, with the goal of conveying the voice in the source document(s) authentically, and maybe even incorporating excerpts from the source document into the poem.

Writers used a variety of primary source documents related to the Vietnam War, Hurricane Katrina, and the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, composing poetry in a variety of styles.

Drop by the library to read nine sample poems:

• The Numbers of the Dead by T. Flynn
• Excerpts from an Interview with a Cameraman at My Lai by M. Reichert
• Untitled poem about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti by M. Sizemore
• My Lai by S. Tembe
• Lessons by M. Healy
• Reconciliation by G. Buddiga
• For All Who Served Their Country by A. Williams
• Peace With Honor by M. Morris
• Untitled poem based on photo from Vietnam War by R. Huang

Bike to School Day Fills the Racks

Thanks for another successful Bike to School Day!

There were 35 participants this year: 26 cyclists (including 7 teachers) and 9 students who wore their helmets to school.

All are eligible for prize drawings (winners’ names will be posted on the library bulletin board by lunch today).

Several participants traveled over 10 miles this morning, including Livvy who biked 13 miles!

Thanks to everyone who participated – and to the Governors School Foundation for supporting this event by funding the refreshments and prizes!  One student even had on the bike socks he won on last year’s Bike to School Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To view more photos from this morning, check out the library’s online album for the event.

Easybib access will expire July 31

The Governors School Foundation generously funded our access to Easybib for this past school year so that students and teachers would have a full year to compare Noodle Tools and Easybib and decide which citation management tool they prefer.

When Dragons voted this spring, Noodle Tools came out ahead, so we will not be renewing our Easybib access. Our current subscription will expire on July 31.

If you need a record of citations you currently have stored in Easybib you’ll want to print them or save a copy on your home computer before July 31.

If you’d prefer to purchase an individual Easybib MyBib Pro account, the current cost is $19.99 per year.

Dragon writers and VCU slam poets share the mic

The MW Library hosted Mrs. Yagel’s creative writing students for a (slightly belated) celebration of National Poetry Month on Thursday, May 2.

Two poets from VCU’s Slam Nahuatl, Saidu and Josh (the two poets on the left in the Slam Nahuatl photo below), joined the celebration, performing one pair poem and two individual poems each.  Seven Dragon writers read as well, including Adam who shared his first spoken word poem.

Wonderful work, writers!

For Shakespeare week, excellent FREE digital editions of 13 plays

In the week of the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the people responsible for the Folger Digital Texts from the Folger Shakespeare Library. So far, they’ve digitized the Folger editions of thirteen of his plays:

1. Hamlet
2. Henry V
3. Julius Caesar
4. King Lear
5. Macbeth
6. Merchant of Venice
7. Midsummer Night’s Dream
8. Much Ado about Nothing
9. Othello
10. Romeo and Juliet
11. Taming of the Shrew
12. Tempest
13. Twelfth Night

There are apps in the works, but in the meantime, the web interface is beautiful with fabulous functionality AND gives you the option to download each play as a PDF that you can read on your personal computer or mobile reading device.