Online Poetry-Writing Contests for Educators engage students in the natural need to grow competitively. Other Stuff |
Classroom Poetry Workshops |
Kite Paper Airplane Craft 3-Year-Olds Can Make Read it HERE |
February - the month of love - is also Black History Month. Read and Print R. Renée Bembry's article, "Why Black History Month is Important" at Helium.com. In 1926 Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African American author, scholar, founder of the Journal of Negro History, the Associated Publishers, the Negro History Bulletin, and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History established the second week in February as "Negro History Week" in celebration of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. It was by means of the Association's work and Dr. Woodson's pioneering efforts that by 1976 the event officially became established as "Black History Month" today often referred to as "African American History Month". Dr. Woodson's purpose in establishing Black History Month was to pay...Read Full Article HERE |
The fact that poetry-writing may be unfamiliar to students in any given classroom simplifies placing
participants on level playing fields. This levelness can be exploited by teachers requesting shows of
hands representing students who have and students who have not participated in poetry-writing events
before. The levelness may also be detected by students questioning one another following contest assignment.
So... As they say... Let the competition begin!
How exactly do these contests work?
In conducting classroom poetry-writing contests, MyStoriesAndPoems...
- Submits Theme-Stories for you and your students to read and discuss {More Theme-Story information and Synopses of current Theme-Stories maybe found at the bottom of this page}
- Critiques poems your students write in relation to the materials
- Returns critiqued poems to you for student re-writes
- Critiques poems a second time following your resubmission of re-written work
- Selects 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place contest winners
- Submits Winning and Participatory Certificates to you to distribute to your students
- Submits Ribbons to you for contest winners
Educator roles in poetry-writing contests with MyStoriesAndPoems consist of...
- Requesting contests
- Reviewing contest reading material {Theme-Stories} with their students
- Assigning poetry-writing tasks
- Forwarding poems to MSAP via email
- Printing and returning poems to students once critiques are received from MSAP
- Forwarding re-written student poems to MSAP
- Presenting Awards to students
- At individual discretion, educators may celebrate contest completion and award presentation with cupcakes and punch!
How much does MSAP charge for poetry-writing contests? Sample MSAP Author, R. Renee Bembry, poems may be found throughout this site and at her first website FunnyPoemsForKids.com. The Home Page at this site displays a wonderful example of her ablity to transform simple poems which attests to her poetic ability. Her poem, "My Shoes", found at FunnyPoemsForKids.com is presently being used by StudyIsland.com as a teaching tool for that program. |
MyStoriesAndPoems understands that keeping costs within their budgets is a must for educators.
This is why Classroom Poetry-Writing Contests are conducted online unless educators requests
otherwise. So, let's address the cost question by pinpointing materials and labor associated with
conducting classroom contests.
1. Coducting contests online eliminates costs associated with packaging and shipping.
With these fees eliminated, MSAP is able to conduct contests with minimal startup costs.
2. Evaluating student poetry, however, is time consuming. MSAP prepares critques,
such as you may view HERE, for each student poem. For a class of 20 - 30 students, this
process easily takes a few hours.
3. All students participating in MSAP Classroom Contests receive MyStoriesAndPoems.com
Certificates. Winners also receive Ribbons. MSAP normally sends these items through the
US Postal Service. However, educators wishing to print student Certificates themselves may
reduce printing, packaging and mailing costs to fees associated with shipping winner ribbons.
In these cases, MSAP prepares Certificates and forwards them via email to teachers. Combining
small classes may also aid in keeping fees low.
4.In short, depending on how many students participate in a Classroom Contest as outlined
in "Options" below, fees run approximately $5.00 to $12.00 per student.
$50 Rebates currently refunded through PayPal to help educators keep costs down!