Dear Parents/Guardians, I have just started a poetry unit with your young-adults!

The purpose in this unit to answer the following three questions: 1) How do we distinguish poetry from other art forms (What is Poetry)? 2) Why/How do we read poetry? 3) Why/How do we write poetry? To fully answer these questions, we are looking at a wide-range of topics through a wide-variety of lenses. I chose to do this to fully incorporate the Common Core, specifically Speaking and Listening Standards 1, 2, 3, 5- Writing Standards 1, 2, 4, 9, 10- and Reading Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10. If you would like to look at these standards please go to the following website: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-artsstandards/science-technical/grades-6-8/ I also wanted to make sure that this unit aligns with the Norwalk Community School District Learning Goals. While most of these goals are accomplished through activities in a lesson, I decided to select content that would align with goal 4.2-"I can respect myself and other people, knowing that everyone is different and that it is acceptable." To achieve goal 4.2, I selected many poems that probably stretch beyond the students' concept of normal. The students have been reminded constantly that I am not trying to press any of the values/beliefs in the poetry on them, rather I am just trying to show the students that those views exist. Some of these poems may also seem to be above age-level, but I want to stress that the tasks your students are doing with these poems align with the Common Core standards and district learning goals and are very much age appropriate. If these poems were rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, most would PG, with a couple being potentially PG 13. Please go to this site for definitions: http://movies.about.com/od/miscellanous/f/film-ratings.htm Because these are poems that you might not know, please feel free to ask your students to see their packet with the poetry selections. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any of the poems or the unit, please feel free to contact me so that we can set up an alternative for your student. Best wishes, Ben Hoffman