Hello Educators!

My name is Brian Hannon, and I am an English teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. I just wanted to pass along a new resource that I’ve been working on this summer, the LMS Voice Curriculum Database. 

The LMS Voice Curriculum Database is a searchable collection of writing and analytical workshops that focus on poems by a diverse array of socially-engaged artists. Our intent with the creation of this resource – along with providing free poetry materials to educators – was to make space for voices from all communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized or consistently excluded from mainstream curriculums; we hope that the site will give you easier access to these voices and provide you with the tools to make them a more prominent part of your classroom.

The database is searchable by four distinct categories: poet, theme, lesson focus, and “literary” tags. You have the ability to toggle filters on/off and sort results by cross filtering. For example, if I am looking for a poem by Rasheed Copeland, I would simply click on his name. If I was looking for a poem by Rasheed Copeland that touches upon the theme of “history,” then I would click on those two different tags.

Once you’ve selected a poem, you will find:

1.    A full-length writing workshop which uses the poem of choice as a mentor text.

2.    A full-length analytical lesson that focuses on a specific poetic technique (or a variety of them). These lessons also include brief introductory lessons to the targeted area of focus and a Google document that your students can copy and use to complete the assignment.

3.    An “AP” style essay prompt.

4.    An exemplar essay.

5.    A link to the poem itself.

6.    A link to the poet’s personal page or bio.

7.    A link to the historical context behind the poem.

Please know that this site is actually a part of a larger project that is still in development. When we launch at the end of October, the LMS Voice site will not only feature the Curriculum Database, but video workshops, professional development opportunities, teaching seminars led by professional poets, and more. As much as we wanted to release all of these resources in one fell swoop, we thought having these online materials at your disposal as soon as possible would benefit you the most as we all attempt to navigate our way around the challenges of this new, unprecedented virtual landscape. 

As stated on our homepage, it is our goal to always keep this resource free to anyone that believes it to be of benefit. Our only request is that you share it far and wide and let us know how it can become a more useful tool.

Without further ado, we are humbled to offer you the LMS Voice Curriculum Database.

Sincerely,

Brian James Hannon – Director of Education

Joseph Green – CEO

Note: if you want to contribute to this project and have a lesson that you would like to share, please click on the following LINK. And if you need to reach us, you may contact us at brian@lmsvoice.com or joseph@lmsvoice.com.