Poetry+180


 * Poetry 180- http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ **
 * Sponsoring Organization: The Library of Congress **
 * Date of Last Update: 9/06/2007 **


 * Authority: This authorship of this website is attributed to many individuals: The Library of Congress (a government entity that sponsors the site), Billy Collins (the creator of the Poetry 180 program and former Poet Laureate of the United States), and the many poets who wrote the 180 poems listed on the site (permission for posting the poems is given under the legal notices section of the website). **


 * Content: This website is the homepage for the Poetry 180 program initiated by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins. On the website, Collins explains how to use the program in the high school setting and provides a copy of all 180 poems. Other resources include a link to The Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center and tips on how to read poetry out loud. **
 * Currency: The last update to this site was in 2007, when new poems were posted.  **


 * Purpose: The purpose of the Poetry 180 program is to bring poetry to life for secondary students. The program provides 180 poems (one for each day of the school year) to be read out loud to the student body. This website, then, is a resource for this program by providing the poems and support (tips) for reading them. **

 
 * Organization of Information, Design and Navigation: This website does not have many pages, so navigation is very simple. The design is very engaging and well thought out. **
 * Strengths: The poems chosen for this program with high school students in mind, so the content is both appropriate and accessible. ** 
 * Weaknesses: A weakness to this page is that there isn’t any author information provided for the poems. **


 * Instructional Uses:**** I don’t see myself or my school implementing the Poetry 180 program into our school; however, I can find other instructional uses for this website. During our poetry unit, students must find a poem that we did not study in class to analyze on their own and then read to the class. Instead of googling “poems”, which bring up too many choices for students, this site will be a perfect place to direct them to. **


 * Benefits to Students:** **The word //poetry// is often accompanied with groans from 9th grade students. The purpose of this site is to promote a turning back (180 degrees) to poetry appreciation. The fun, unique and engaging poems available on this site will benefit students’ perceptions of poetry. **