Drama Teacher Writes Poetry/Literacy Book Entitled, “48 Poems: Reflections Of A Poet”Out of passion and desire to help his students (while teaching drama and literacy at Jr. High School 231 in Queens, New York), Gregory L Hudson wrote “48 POEMS: Reflections Of A Poet” to enhance students’ reading, writing, and comprehension.
Teaching in the classroom everyday gives an educator the opportunity to assess each student’s individual learning style. This advantage allows teachers to create instructions and materials that meet the students’ individual needs. “For years, it bothered me so much to watch my students struggle with force-fed materials that my students hated, showed no interest in, and was mostly inappropriate with respect to New York State ELA (English Language Arts; and now the "Common Core") Exam preparation. Rather than complain, I wrote and published my own literacy and drama books which are now used and sold world-wide”. “48 POEMS: Reflections Of A Poet” has 48 original poems, 8 genres, 48 stunning photos to enhance the readers comprehension of each poem, 48 Higher Order Thinking Questions (“HOT”), 48 Synopses, a chapter on commonly used vernacular, and a glossary of commonly used literary terms. Some of the poems and photos can be read and viewed at http://www.poorpennyproductions.com/ One of the unique features of this book is that after a poem is read, the reader has to read and answer a “HOT” question for that particular poem. Another wonderful feature is that the teacher can assess the student’s comprehension skills by asking the student to analyze, the poem’s title, the photo, and explain the correlation. This assessment strategy can also be used by a parent, guardian, older brother, sister, aunt, uncle or anyone. “My book gets very high marks from my students because the poems are fun, interesting, the photos are captivating, and students can personally relate to the poems. I use only one copy of my book for the class because of the cost. I do feel very sad that I can’t afford copies of this wonderful book for all of my students that they love so much”. 48 POEMS is the second of four of Hudson’s published books. The other three are: “Monologues: “Currently, students all across America are failing in Literacy and ELA at an alarming rate. Rather than force-feed students with materials that they show very little interest in, why not get students books, regardless of the genre, that they will enjoy reading. If you can get students to read … you can ultimately get them to learn any other skill regarding ELA. Too often educators become too infatuated with ineffective educational processes and strategies (soup of the day strategies and materials) that seemingly make THEM look good and does very little to help the students. Educating TODAY’S students is a 'blue-collar' job that requires teachers to roll up their sleeves and teach …. not pretend to teach or see the students and their jobs simply as another paycheck. Teachers and administrators must not only assess students, but must constantly assess themselves and their own teaching styles to meet each student's need to be an effective educator". 48 POEMS offers a very simple and highly effective way to teach various literacy skills and make it fun in the process. For example, poem #37 entitled, “Christmastime in the City” (which is also on the website) focuses on teaching “Sequence skills”. On the opposite page of the poem is a stunning photo of the hustle and bustle around Christmastime in New York City. A student or learner can be asked to explain the relationship between the title and the photo. The learner should (in the least) mention “Christmastime” After this step, the learner should be directed to the back of the book to page 116 (the chapter listing the synopsis) to see how close his or her understanding of the poem was. The actual synopsis of the poem is, “Christmastime in New York City through the eyes of a shopper”. The learner should then be directed to page 121 (the chapter listing the “HOT” questions) where the learner will be asked to answer the “HOT” question, “What sequence of events make ‘Christmastime in New York City’ so special?” To answer this “HOT” question, the student must go through and list the sequence of events of the shopper. Other literacy skills include, compare & contrast, cause & effect, main idea, and many others. This book is a wonderful educational tool for literacy teachers and students all over the world who are interested in teaching ELA, learning ELA, or simply to enhance their own, or their children’s comprehension skills. Not to be overlooked are the incredible poems, for poetry lovers, such as “A Messiah Is Coming” which prophesizes President Barrack Obama ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or Hudson’s personal favorite, “Love Me With Your Heart” from the romantic genre. For one book, this book seems to have it all. The glossary has the definitions to some of the most commonly used literary terms right at a teacher’s or professor’s fingertips such as: metaphor, simile, stanza, prose, and so on. Although the book is sold mostly as a college textbook, it is by all accounts a highly effective literacy book for all levels and should be in the classrooms around the world. All of the books can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, retailers Ingram’s Books, Baker & Taylor, publishers AuthorHouse Publishing, Rosedog Books, and in eBooks (except 48 Poems). 48 Poems retails for about $65.00, and $40.00 or less from AuthorHouse, and whole sellers. First Impression Book Store on Amazon has a limited supply of brand new copies for $26.00 and free shipping. Hudson has a MFA in Performing Arts Management, a BA in Theatre (Brooklyn College), and is the founder/artistic director of Poor Penny Productions, Inc. He’s written numerous stage plays (all produced off-Broadway) For lectures, workshops, and signings contact www.poorpennyproductions.com or 917 446 3022 Photos: https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ End
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