Poetry

When I was in 8th grade I started writing poetry. I've posted it here. I loved being able to put my thoughts on paper (because in 8th grade I didn't have a computer to use). Getting to express myself was important to me. Allowing myself to pour everything out gave me a sense of freedom. I now write poetry every once in a while, but I still enjoy going through my old poetry and seeing how far I've come.

It makes me think that this should be something we do with our students. We should allow them to be creative. Yes, they need to practice writing for certain purposes, but we should also give them time to write from their hearts.

Writing should also be collaborative. There should be students discussing ideas with each other. Let them write for a few minutes to get some ideas down and then have them turn and talk to share ideas. There should be a rubric to their writing, yes, but the content could also be open to interpretation. When marking student writing, build them up while showing them how to improve. Criticism should be constructive. It should give them an area of needed improvement, but also highlight the strengths and applaud effort and ideas.

I love that poetry can be abstract as well as concrete. Challenge students to create two poems. One with an abstract view of a subject and one with a concrete view of the subject. You can have students switch the abstract papers and see if they can figure it out or have them recite it to the class and have the class guess. Then, they can read the more concrete view and see if the students were correct in their assumptions.

The poetry can show us what they have learned and give them ownership of the material. They can also see how writing can be fun. With this poem I wanted to challenge my students to figure out what the subject of the poem was. Can you figure it out?

Runaways

We couldn’t stay any longer.

We were being hunted by them.

All we had to do was get into the field.

Sounds so simple.

It’s not that simple.

It’s never that simple.

The light was baring down on us.

So focused. So intense.

Everyone was moving so frantically.

Except for them.

They picked us off one by one.

They got my friend and I got side-tracked.

They saw me and moved closer.

I’m almost home.

Please give me more ti…….

Elizabeth Seibel – October 8, 2011

*Can anyone tell me who/what the runaways are?*

If we really want to show growth in our students, have them create a portfolio of all their writing and compare it. This could go from early elementary and follow them through their school careers. How well they write in 10th grade should be better than how they write in 5th grade and with the portfolio they can see how far they have come or see how far they still need to go if they have stopped trying.

What ways do you use poetry in your class?