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Para-educators’ Place
by Kate Johanns, editor
How to read poetry out loud
Reading poetry can be intimidating, and the way in which a poem is read can make or break a listener’s enjoyment. If, as a classroom aide, you are asked to read poetry out loud to students, keep in mind these tips from former Poet Laureate Billy Collins:
- Practice reading the poem ahead of time.
- Read the poem slowly. Collins suggests pausing for a few seconds between the title and the first line.
- Don’t worry about being dramatic; let the words of the poem carry the weight. Speak clearly and slowly in a normal, relaxed voice.
- Don’t pause at the end of every line. Rather, pause only where there is punctuation, just as you would when reading prose. (This can be tricky.)
- Look up any unfamiliar or hard-to-pronounce words in the dictionary.
Collins has provided these tips at www.loc.gov/poetry/180, the website for the Library of Congress’ Poetry 180 program. The site includes 180 poems (one for each day of a typical school year) that educators can print for reading by a student or faculty member in a public forum, such as over the intercom during the morning announcements.
Pulling flavored milk doesn’t do a body good
Eliminating chocolate and other flavored milk from school menus doesn’t drive children to white milk but rather away from all milk, according to a 2010 study by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board, which runs the “Got Milk?” campaign (www.whymilk.com).
Based on data collected at 58 elementary and secondary schools across the U.S., researchers determined that students’ milk consumption dropped an average of 35 percent when cafeterias offered only white milk. What’s more, the rate of milk consumption didn’t bounce back in schools during their second year of offering only white milk.
The study went beyond prior milk-consumption studies by measuring the quantity of milk discarded in order to estimate the amount of nutrients lost. Researchers determined that students would have to consume four different foods to make up for the lost nutrients provided by flavored milk—and that the additional food would add more calories to student diets than flavored milk, as well as cost schools up to $4,500 more per 100 students annually.
According to the “Got Milk?” campaign, nearly 70 percent of milk consumed in schools by students is flavored. The campaign named chocolate milk the “Official Drink of Halloween” because of its “disguised” nutrients, which include calcium, vitamin D, protein, phosphorus and potassium.
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