New York, NY (August 19, 2019)— The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that poet and teacher Ansley Moon will be serving as the organization’s Curriculum Consultant for Teach This Poem, its award-winning series that enables K-12 educators to easily incorporate poetry into their classrooms. The series, now utilized by 32,000+ teachers across the U.S. each week, is a key offering in the organization’s suite of free educational resources. Moon will be producing Common Core-aligned classroom lessons and activities to accompany a timely poem, related primary source, and other helpful content. The Academy’s Educator in Residence, Dr. Madeleine Fuchs Holzer, will continue to provide oversight and guidance for the series.
Moon received an MFA in poetry from The New School and an MA in English education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the author of the poetry collection How to Bury the Dead (Black Coffee Press, 2011) and the recipient of awards and fellowships from Kundiman and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, among others. Moon currently teaches English at a public high school and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
“Last year, Teach This Poem received the Innovations in Reading Prize from the National Book Foundation, and earlier this year we received a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program to support the series. As we look to build on this momentum, we're thrilled to have Ansley join us; her commitment to and understanding of both poetry and teaching make her perfectly suited for this new role," said Jennifer Benka, executive director.
To receive Teach This Poem and access other free poetry materials for the classroom, visit www.poets.org/materials-teachers.
About Teach This Poem
Teach This Poem is a weekly digital package that features one topical poem accompanied by a primary source and related classroom lessons and activities. It’s available to teachers for free by email and archived on Poets.org. Designed to help teachers quickly and easily bring poetry into the classroom, the series received the 2018 Innovations in Reading Prize from the National Book Foundation. Teach This Poem and the Academy’s other K-12 resources are overseen by Educator in Residence Dr. Madeleine Fuchs Holzer and championed by the Academy’s Education Ambassador Richard Blanco.
About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is our nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with members in all fifty states. Founded in 1934, the organization produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly-funded website for poets and poetry; National Poetry Month; the popular Poem-a-Day series; American Poets magazine; Teach This Poem and other award-winning resources for K-12 educators; an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and awards more funds to poets than any other organization. It also coordinates and supports the work of a national Poetry Coalition, an alliance of more than twenty poetry organizations working to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.