What Hath Poetry to Do with Natural Science?

What hath poetry to do with natural science? Probably quite a lot, but in this post I want to reflect upon only one feature. Much poetic analysis and teaching makes the same mistake as most teaching of the natural sciences. I’ll get to the answer in a moment. If I were to ask a student to learn about a frog, how might they go about … Continue reading What Hath Poetry to Do with Natural Science?

Poetry as Pedagogy

Earlier this week I shared a summary and handout from my ACCS presentation on June 20 entitled, “Theological Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts.” On June 21, I also had the opportunity at the ACCS Repairing the Ruins conference to present on “Poetry as Pedagogy.” My goal in that presentation was to convince attendees that poetry is not simply content to be taught, but in fact … Continue reading Poetry as Pedagogy

You Should Teach Poetry: Science Demonstrates It

By Albert Cheng, Guest Author Albert Cheng is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Reform in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches courses in education policy and philosophy. He is the director of the Classical Education Research Lab, where he conducts research on the effects of classical education on character formation. He is a Senior Fellow at … Continue reading You Should Teach Poetry: Science Demonstrates It

In Assigning Seniors Somber Sonnets

In his collection of poetry on loss and lament, Poet-Priest Malcolm Guite offers the following comparison of the use of a Drone in some forms of music to the experience of Loss in our lives. He says, “[“Drone” is] the word that describes that continuous repetitive sound we hear in some early forms of music, especially the Gaelic lament. The drone of the bagpipe grounds … Continue reading In Assigning Seniors Somber Sonnets

The Promised King Has Come

Merry Christmas from The Classical Thistle! We pray that you will enjoy this season with your family and friends and remember that God has become flesh and that our Savior will come again. I wanted to share with you a Christmas poem that I performed for our church’s Christmas Eve services. The goal of the poem is to put the Christmas story in a whole … Continue reading The Promised King Has Come

Teaching Poetry

By Christine Norvell   Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words.  —Paul EnglePaul  The more we read poetry, the more we appreciate what we read. Whether we read poetry for ourselves or teach it in any grade or subject, reading, appreciating, and understanding it is a skill that grows with experience. Over the … Continue reading Teaching Poetry