Dahlstrom celebrates poetry through the work of Billy Collins

At yesterday's installment of Literary Lunches, retired Grand Forks Central English teacher Carol Dahlstrom read poetry by former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who instituted the Poetry 180 Project at the Library of Congress.

Dahlstrom explained that she choose to read poetry because, as a teacher, she found poetry challenging to teach because students had a hard time understanding ir. She read Collins' work (Nostalgia; You, Reader; Genius and The Names) because his work is accessible and also because he is reading at Moorhead State University, Moorhead September 23, 2010. The Names was commissioned by the United States Congress to commemorate 9/11. Collins has stated he will never publish the poem in a collection nor read it aloud again. (He read it to Congress September 6, 2002)

Dahlstrom shared the following advice to students writing poems or compositions: "Write about something everyday...it doesn't have to be momentous."

Today's reader is Brady Mallory of WDAZ News.

Do you have the cash for this tome?

Billed as the world's most expensive book, a rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America is scheduled to go on sale at Sotheby's this December, according to a BBC News report. Only 119 copies exist of the 19-century book, which contains 1,000 life-sized illustrations of almost 500 breeds of birds, and most copies are owned by museums and libraries. A separate edition of this book sold for a record-breaking price of $8.8 million a decade ago. (from the International Reading Association website)

On an unrelated note: Today's Literary Lunches reader is retired Grand Forks Central English teacher Carol Dahlstrom.

Marilyn Hagerty: 'Reading and writing go hand in hand'

Grand Forks Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty demonstrated just that yesterday at Literary Lunches when she read the writing of her son as well as her own work. She shared emails from her son Bob Hagerty, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, in which he described the penchant he had as a youth for Mad Magazine, something he didn't necessarily have for some of the literature in school. Yet he wrote his mother that, "Parents should not worry so much about what their kids are reading, just [so] they are reading."

Hagerty emphasized the importance for students in their busy lives "to stop and think about literature.....that will enrich our lives." Before reading her own work, she recommended Ernie Pyle's War, for its description of war like no other, and Jon Hassler's The Dean's List.  

Hagerty read from her own work Echoes, a collection of her Herald columns. She read about a man who mistook tulip bulbs for onions as well as about a gathering of Donna's. When Hagerty asked students if they knew anyone named Donna, senior Justin Fischer replied, "I know a Prima donna."

To keep up with the Literary Lunches schedule, click on the Literary Lunches tab at the top of the blog. Biographies for readers are being added to the schedule. A special thanks to Katie DeLong's Grand Forks Central Interventions students, who are helping create those biographies.

Literary Lunches kick-off: a young football star

Not only did UND football co-captain and Grand Forks Central graduate Ryan Kasowski kick off Literary Lunches yesterday by reading an aptly chosen book, A Football Alphabet: T is for Touchdown by Brad Herzog, he also talked about balancing the demands of being a student and an athlete. He told that audience of GFC students and teachers that he, like all the players on the football team, is a student before he's an athlete.

Kasowski fielded questions about the differences between high school and college sports and academics, as well as the demands of his schedule. He stressed that, with determination, he's able to keep up and that it's all worth the work when he gets out on the field to play football in front of fans. And he spoke of books that are important to him, recommending Tony Dungy's books, in particular Quiet Strength, The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life.

Today's Literary Lunch celebrity reader is Marilyn Hagerty, columnist for the Grand Forks Herald.

We are LIVE today

The Grand Forks Central Literacy Committee members welcome you to our blog, officially LIVE today. The committee is working hard with teachers, administration, staff, and students to help students at Grand Forks Central High School become more literate.

We've got programs up and running as well as works in progress. One of our programs, Literary Lunches, begins today. Students will have the chance to eat lunch and listen to area celebrities read selections from works they've chosen.  Today's reader, Ryan Kasowski, is a co-captain of the University of North Dakota's football team and a Grand Forks Central graduate. The schedule of each week's readers is in this blog's sidebar.

Since the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, we've had a word of the week. Each week's word is showcased in a Wordle poster; those posters are displayed in the building. Again, check out the sidebar. You'll find there a slideshow of our words.

Another Wordle update

Grand Forks Central's word of the week for September 7-10, 2010 is RESPONSIBILITY, one of the Character Education words that are part of the Grand Forks Public School District's Character Education program.

FYI: Wordles for words of the week will appear in a slideshow on the sidebar of this blog.

Watch for Wordles

To increase student awareness of vocabulary and to have fun, Grand Forks Central is featuring a word a week. This words will appear with some of their synonyms on posters throughout the school.

The word for the week of August 30 to September 6, 2010 was INFER. (Check out the Wordle above)

If you want to know more about Wordle, click here.