Poemhunter: Poems from Angeluo, Frost, Neruda and many other poets. Poems about love, family, dream, summer etc.

PoemHunter is a searchable database of poetry. After launching the app, users must navigate its content with the directional buttons at the bottom of the screen. The “Random Poem” button loads a new poem daily. The “Poets” button presents users with a featured poet and then a list of popular poets. Users can tap a poet’s name, and the app will load his/her biography. Under the biography, users are presented with an alphabetized sampling of the poet’s works, and users can tap a poet’s title to access it. The “Poems” button presents users with a Poem of the Day and then a list of the top 500 poems. Users can tap the title of a poem to read its full text. The “Poems About” button shows users an alphabetized list of topics and users can tap a topic. The app will then load poems that relate to that topic. To read a poem, users must tap its title. The “Search” button lets users enter a keyword and the app will identify poets and poems that match the keyword. Users can then tap the poet or poem to access the information.

Please Note: The poems in this app can be shared via social media and email.

Instructional Ideas

1. Teachers can use a poem found in this app for a close read. Teachers can have students summarize, analyze, and/or critique the poem as part of the close read. Students can compose their responses to the poem using an Office app.
2. Teachers can present a poem to students from this app and have them choose their favorite line. Next, students can write their rationale for why they selected the line and what the line means to them. Students can compose their responses using an Office app.
3. Teachers can assign students a poet to study. Students will have to find the poet in this app and read selections of his/her poetry. Next, students can write a poetic analysis of the works they read that identifies attributes such as: (1) common themes, (2) writing style, and/or (3) subject material. Students must explain how one or more of those attributes appears across the poet’s work. Students can use an Office app for writing their analysis.
4. As a bellringer activity, teachers can project the Poem of the Day and have students journal a response to it. Teachers can prompt student writing by asking: (1) What did you like or not like about the poem?, (2) What does the poem mean to you?, (3) How would you explain this poem to someone else?, and (4) If you could speak to the poet who wrote this poem, what would you say? Students can journal their responses using an Office app.
5. After students have read multiple works by a poet in this app and have discussed the poet’s style and poems’ meaning, teachers can have students compose a poem that models the poet’s work.

Screenshots