Daily News Lesson

SHOW ALL

April 20, 2022, 7:44 a.m.

Citizen poets share details of their pandemic lives in ‘Dear Vaccine’

Summary

A new poetry anthology called “Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic” illuminates how people around the world have experienced COVID-19. Jeffrey Brown sits down with Naomi Shihab Nye, an author, editor and current Young People’s Poet Laureate, to talk about shaping the book and the outpouring of interest from people who don’t necessarily identify as poets.

Five Facts

  • Who contributed to this collection?
  • Where are the contributors based?
  • What form does each poem take in this collection?
  • Why did the editors choose to solicit poems from people who aren't professional poets?
  • How do people submit poems to this project?

Focus Questions

Why do you think the editors of this collection intentionally chose work from people who don't necessarily consider themselves poets? Media literacy: Why did the editors choose to have all contributors follow the same model of poem, involving addressing the vaccine itself? What does this rule add to the collection as a whole?

For More

  • To learn more about the Global Vaccine Poem and watch recordings of contributors reading their poems, click here . If there's time, you can write and contribute your own poem!
  • Also check out our Pandemic Poetry lesson featuring poet Jasmine Gardosi. You can watch her recite her poem from a roller-coaster below:

Fill out this form to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources. Sign up for NewsHour Classroom’s ready-to-go Daily News Lessons delivered to your inbox each morning.

Links

TRANSCRIPT

Recent Daily News Lessons

prwatercrisis-e1786134357821

Daily News Lesson

Drought and aging infrastructure plunge Puerto Rico into a water crisis

Learn about the ways Puerto Rico is managing a severe drought

vote

Daily News Lesson

Monitoring the Midterms: What El-Sayed's primary win means for Democrats in November

A progressive epidemiologist from the suburbs of Detroit, El-Sayed will take on Republican Mike Rogers in November's general election

Wildfires burn in Washington state

Daily News Lesson

How AI cameras are detecting wildfires before they get out of control

Learn about the dangerous wildfire smoke blanketing wide regions of the U.S.

Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III poses with his President's Award backstage at the 48th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena

Daily News Lesson

Lonnie Bunch on how the Smithsonian can help America understand its identity

Learn about how the Smithsonian's director uses history for future learning

SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:

PBS News Hour Classroom

Copyright © 2025 News Hour Production LLC. All Rights Reserved

Illustrations by Annamaria Ward