Your students will finally discover poetry they love

Thanks for your interest in downloading this sample from Whispering in the Wind: A Guide to Deeper Reading and Writing Through Poetry. In it, author and educator Linda Rief introduces “Heart Books,” a project inspired by the Heart Maps of Georgia Heard.

Setting up your own “Heart Books” will be a snap with Linda’s detailed guidance. And once this project is up-and-running, it’s self-sustaining. Students can easily come back to this work throughout the year as it fits into you schedule. This unique approach to teaching poetry is an antidote to complex and dull poetry units often masquerading as test prep.

In this sample, you’ll find:

• A look at the unique role poetry can play in students’ reading and writing growth
• The genesis of the Heart Book project and how to start thinking about bringing them into your classroom
• Examples of student responses and snippets of what they learned throughout a year of exploring poetry