Poetry Navigators

We have made positive progress toward our stated outcomes thus far. We've held 5 Poetry Navigators Field Trips thus far with first and second grade classes from throughout the Twin Cities. As of now, we've received surveys from 3 out of 5 of our partner teachers, 100% of whom reported that they wanted to partner with 826 again for this program and that their students were highly engaged. 100% also reported that the program supported their curriculum and instructional goals and that 826 is a valuable resource for teachers. In terms of students, 100% of those who participated became published. To promote even greater inclusion, we also sent extra anthologies for any students who were absent the day of the field trip, that way they can still read the published works of their classmates and try some of the poetry on their own.

In terms of activities, all students write 3 or 4 poems each. We use a station model, with different prompts and model texts at different tables. Students work in small groups to promote collaboration and learning about themselves and others. To promote identity exploration, students are writing about what they like, their family members, what makes them feel loved, etc. (A sample anthology is included as an attachment to this report.) Students share their writing with their peers by reading (some or all of) their favorite piece. Students' work is then compiled into an anthology which we publish in-house; students can take this real bookhome with them to share with their families.; For the pilot year of this program, 826 MSP is happy with the progress we've made. In total, we facilitated Poetry Navigators Field Trips for 1st and 2nd grade classes from across the Twin Cities metro area. We received completed surveys from 5 teachers. Key findings are summarized below:
- 100% of teachers surveyed reported that their students were highly engaged.
- 100% of teachers surveyed reported that they would like to partner with 826 MSP again.
- 100% of teachers surveyed reported that the 826 MSP team respected their students' cultural backgrounds and identities.
- 100% of teachers surveyed agreed that 826 MSP is a valuable resource for teachers.
- 100% of teachers surveyed agreed that the program supported their curriculum and instructional goals.
- 100% of teachers surveyed reported that they would share about this experience and lesson ideas with other teachers.

Though we did not get written feedback from every teacher who participated, we had positive interactions and conversations with all involved. This coupled with our very strong written feedback makes us confident in having met our outcome related to teacher satisfaction. We exceeded our other proposed outcome related to publication - 100% of students who attended became published as a result of the Field Trip. (We also sent extra anthologies for students who were absent the day of the Field Trip.) The poetry created by these young writers demonstrates high engagement with the experience and the material. Additionally, the joy on students' faces when they heard feedback from The Captain'' on their writing was wonderful. (We will include a few photos of this as attachments within this report.) Sara Moulton, a 2nd grade teacher from Maxfield Elementary commented, The entire experience was amazing! I especially loved having each child called up front and having a portion of their poem read aloud for everyone...they LOVED that part!

In terms of activities, all students wrote 3 or 4 poems each. We used a station model, with different prompts and model texts at different tables. Students worked in small groups to promote collaboration and learning about themselves and others. One adjustment we made throughout the school year was to create activity options for students who finished at their stations before their table-mates. This included a Heart Mappingwriting spark from our network's resource database, 826 Digital, (an activity where students draw and write about what's closest to their hearts) as well as an activity where students could cheer upthe sad octopus cartoon (in fitting with our ocean theme) that was projected on our whiteboard. Students were invited to draw pictures, write jokes or compliments on Post It notes and deliver them by posting on the tentacles on-screen. In terms of content area, to promote identity exploration, students wrote what they like, their family members, what makes them feel loved, etc. (A sample anthology is included as an attachment to this report.) Mentor texts by BIPOC poets Nikki Giovanni and Pat Mora. Students shared their writing with their peers by reading (some or all of) their favorite piece. Students' work was compiled into an anthology which we published in-house; students were able to take this real bookhome with them to share with their families.

This was our pilot year offering Poetry Navigators, and the main growth area we have is related to sign-ups. We did not meet our revised interim report goal of hosting 15 field trips across the school year. (We would have hosted 10 total, but 2 classes canceled at the last minute, leaving us unable to fill their spots.) This shows us that our original proposed goal of facilitating 25 field trips was simply too high. (In total, across both our Field Trip offerings - Poetry Navigators and Storytelling and Bookmaking for third and fourth graders, we completed 20 Field Trips total this school year.)

The most important piece of feedback we got related to low sign-ups is that schools' did not have funding for transportation. Both bus availability and funding to pay for buses is the primary reason teachers we reached out to shared for not being able to attend. This shows us we need to strategize on additional funding in order for transportation to not be a barrier in the future. More details on our thoughts for future success and overcoming these barriers are included later in this report.