Poetry can serve as a form of therapy, self-expression, and a means to explore personal and cultural identity. In this episode of Extra Credit, Brooke and Ari visit the Poetry Out Loud state competition in Lansing, Michigan; Lansing Poet Laureate Masaki Takahashi shares how his non-profit, The Poetry Room, aims to create space for writers of color; Flint Public Art Project and Flint Mural Poems combine visual art and poetry to spark important conversations and inspire positive change; Brooke shares her experience meeting Nandi Comer, Michigan’s history-making Poet Laureate; Leah checks in from Chassell, MI with a poem inspired by nature; and Brooke and Paige learn about Ypsilanti’s Youth Poet Laureate program with award-winning poet, Ciatta Tucker.

Learn more about the people and organizations featured in this episode:

Related Lessons

  • Lesson 121

    Wimee and friends sing a rhyming song about a great big bear; Wimee writes a story about a chipmunk's forest adventure and Nia creates a Wimage for it; Ms. Stephanie teaches us how to say our key story words in ASL; Wimee's friend Rose Johnson tells us a Native American story from Michigan about a bear and his tail

  • Lesson 122

    Moby tells us about kindness chemicals in our brain; Wimee and friends write a story. about a leaf-filled popcorn container; Brody makes a cool Wimage for the story

  • Lesson 123

    Wimee makes a peanut puppet friend and Moby becomes a puppeteer; Wimee and his peanut get scared by a ghost in their story, and Michael makes a Wimage of it; the key words from the story are translated by Ms. Sara into Spanish; Wimee's friend Matt McGee shows us how to make a robot puppet out of recycled materials.