Poetry Month #shelfchallenge

So, for the month of April I am going to take the #shelfchallenge, inspired by Colleen Graves blog post on this challenge.  I decided to combine this challenge with celebrating National Poetry month, so I choose our first shelf of poetry to read through this month.

 I am excited about digging deeply into exploring this part of the curriculum.  I'm sure that this will just be the tip of the iceberg, and I will get hooked on this deep exploration of the collection.

I just got started today, and since we are already half way through the month, I am trying to make some good progress.  I started by pulling the first four books from the shelf to look through. Of those four books  I will be weeding two of them!  The first is from 1969 and the dull appearance and musty smell will give it little appeal for students.



The second is from 1990, and I found very frustrated to use.

 It is Ain't I a Woman!: A Book of Women's Poetry From Around the World, but there is no way to search for poetry by country.  The Table of Contents is not very useful, with very little information given, and there is no index at all.  Because it lacks these tools, it loses its usefulness.

The next book is awesome though!  I discovered Kwame Alexander's Crush: Love Poems, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading through them.  I love his imagery and use of practical life experiences to explore the stages and feelings of love.  I particularly appreciate the lines,

"He wishes 

He were a library

Each book she would check out."

I think this would become a very popular title, especially with the current popularity of The Crossover, if it got discovered- so, it's going on a display today!!  Great success already- looking forward to continuing my challenge.

I've already got ideas for how to expand this #shelfchallenge to include our book club kids- maybe encouraging them to select a shelf to read for the summer?  Or next year picking a shelf that they will be responsible for reading and reviewing.  Lots of possibilities to explore!