February 2010
TEACHER'S COMMENTS: From Emily Dickinson to the creatures of the Chesapeake Bay...poetry workshops with Ms. Zannino are engaging opportunities for students to access their imaginations and creativity! With strong curriculum connections, and use of sensory imagery, these workshops are an asset to our school program. Students gain confidence in themselves and enjoy writing and sharing their work. Invite Ms. Zannino to your school today!--Mrs. Pyle,
4th grade teacher, Annapolis Elementary
Author, educator, and photographer MiMi Zannino has been a poet-in-residence with the Maryland State Arts Council since 1989.
Her writing workshops include “Emily Dickinson, Live!” an historical portrayal of the “Mother of American Poetry.”
Her books include “Keeping Memories Alive,” an easy-to-use interactive resource for families, grief camp counselors, and school professionals who are helping a child through the emotions surrounding the death of a loved one. There are places to write memories, draw pictures, add photographs, and color with crayon, pastels, or pencils--for ages 4-adult.
Other books for children include:
"The Day Sara's Sneakers Sneaked Away"-- a romping mystery during which brother and sister explore the universe while searching for lost sneakers--for ages 5-10.
"Poetry Rings" -- interactive writing books in which students co-author alongside writing prompts--
for ages 7-adult.
"Princess Menace"-- a first book for young readers with rhyming couplets, images to color, and an opportunity to talk about baby sister or brother--for ages 2-7.
"Butterfly Surprise" -- a photographic book with a story about friendship-- for ages 4-adult.
phone: 443-528-6464
email: mimimsac@yahoo.com.
TEACHER'S COMMENTS: From Emily Dickinson to the creatures of the Chesapeake Bay...poetry workshops with Ms. Zannino are engaging opportunities for students to access their imaginations and creativity! With strong curriculum connections, and use of sensory imagery, these workshops are an asset to our school program. Students gain confidence in themselves and enjoy writing and sharing their work. Invite Ms. Zannino to your school today!--Mrs. Pyle,
4th grade teacher, Annapolis Elementary
Author, educator, and photographer MiMi Zannino has been a poet-in-residence with the Maryland State Arts Council since 1989.
Her writing workshops include “Emily Dickinson, Live!” an historical portrayal of the “Mother of American Poetry.”
Her books include “Keeping Memories Alive,” an easy-to-use interactive resource for families, grief camp counselors, and school professionals who are helping a child through the emotions surrounding the death of a loved one. There are places to write memories, draw pictures, add photographs, and color with crayon, pastels, or pencils--for ages 4-adult.
Other books for children include:
"The Day Sara's Sneakers Sneaked Away"-- a romping mystery during which brother and sister explore the universe while searching for lost sneakers--for ages 5-10.
"Poetry Rings" -- interactive writing books in which students co-author alongside writing prompts--
for ages 7-adult.
"Princess Menace"-- a first book for young readers with rhyming couplets, images to color, and an opportunity to talk about baby sister or brother--for ages 2-7.
"Butterfly Surprise" -- a photographic book with a story about friendship-- for ages 4-adult.
phone: 443-528-6464
email: mimimsac@yahoo.com.
Dear MiMi,
Thank you so much for coming to share your poetry with us. The children really enjoyed the sessions, and you gave them so many powerful insights to appreciating and writing vivid sensory experiences. What you did fit so well with the State curriculum standards too.
Thanks also for taking their writings and giving them encouraging feedback. Please come again!
--Carol Lee,
Reading Teacher, October 1, 2009
Comments by Media Specialist,
Kim Spanos-Telsing:
...We used the Voluntary State Curriculum for Language Arts, Theatre, and Library Media...
Ms. Zannino re-created the life of Emily Dickinson and connected her nature poetry with our school's theme of the Chesapeake Bay and Environmental Studies for our Integrated Arts Program. We realized that the students could write poetry using images of the flora and fauna of the Bay...
A graduate of the Teaching Artist Institute (TAI), Johns Hopkins University (B.S.), and Towson University (M.A.), MiMi Zannino co-designs poetry residencies with classroom teachers to support learning in Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.
TEACHER FEEDBACK:
My fifth grade students witnessed Ms. Zannino, on different days, as both a contemporary poet and as the 19th century American poet, Emily Dickinson, during her historical portrayal. Ms. Zannino’s program was interactive in many ways, for example her activity for having the children recite a poem in groups using different voices really had them moving as well as discussing several key elements of recitation and poetry. They asked many questions when analyzing poems and worked well together thanks to Ms.Zannino’s guidance.
My students were especially engaged when Ms. Zannino dressed up and took on the persona of Emily Dickinson. I have never seen a class so engrossed in what an adult was saying when learning something new and challenging. Her love and knowledge of the poet as well as the time period was amazing and very useful to the students. She also did a terrific recitation of her poem “By the Sea” to introduce her lesson and immediately had the students’ attention.
Ms. Zannino demonstrated her instructional ability by creating activities that were appropriate while teaching a new concept. She stopped to ask as well as answer questions and modeled everything she asked of them. She was confident and competent.
--Amber Foster, 5th grade teacher, September 2009.
