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September 27, 2013

Poetry Friday--Poems By Heart

Last week I read a School Library Journal article about poetry apps for an iPhone or iPad. The article recommended watching a short video for the Penguin Classics book Poems By Heart. I watched the video, and have posted it below in case you haven't seen it.



Since the app is free, and since I have an iPad, I downloaded it. It comes with two poems; if you wish to learn more, additional ones can be purchased.

First off, the app is very colorful and inviting. However, I wish there had been a short introduction to explain what was expected. It was easy enough to figure out that I had to pick out missing words, but, I didn't realize I was going to be timed and scored. I also didn't realize that an app could be so impatient! Hey, app! Give me a break--I'm slow! Or rather, I like to take my time! [Note: I've always found the Penguin colophon to be delightful, so, I really liked the 2-second animated penguin that appears as the app opens!]

The user is challenged to fill-in-the-blanks with missing words, which are provided within a police line-up of likely words. By doing the exercise over and over again, the poem is almost effortlessly memorized. I could see it working with the poem I tried! The day after, though, I couldn't even remember the first line, oh well.

What I would really like to do is to record poems on my own, which I could add to the app, so that I could learn what I want to learn! I'd love to memorize some of my poems, but, I'm really horrible at memorization and could use some help--like, for instance, a bossy app!

Visit The Poem Farm today where Amy is hosting this week's Round-Up.

Sunday is our annual excursion to The Big E, which is always good for poetic inspiration! An exhibit from a prior year was written about here, and maybe next week, I'll have something new to share.

12 comments:

  1. Interesting app! Thanks for the heads up, Diane,

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  2. It definitely has possibilities, Jama!

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  3. Diane, if you have an IPad, you could set it up on a solid surface and set your camera to "video" and record yourself reading it - the whole poem first, then record several more times, with leaving out certain words. I might try that, actually. I'm terrible at memorizing poems, but I love it once it's done. There must be some way to take what that app does and do it yourself!

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  4. Thanks for the suggestion, Julie! That might be doable.

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  5. This is really interesting. I think kids would enjoy the game aspect, but I am like you - I want to be able to take poetry slow. Adding our own to the app would be great.

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  6. Sounds like fun... wish I had an iPad or an iPhone!

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  7. Sounds like something to explore, especially if one can record. Perhaps there's another one similar out there. Thanks for sharing about this one.

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    1. I'd be interested to learn about more poetry apps, so please share if you find any good ones.

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  8. Poetry apps...this would be a great thing for someone to do something with. Thank you for getting this conversation going - I will check this one out. Memorization changes us in so many good ways - I, too, would like to know more poems by heart. Our children know so many as they recite in school.... Happy Poetry Sunday!

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  9. Memorization is a skill I never mastered. I'm always in awe of Shakespearean stage actors--how do they do it?

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