Comprehensive Writing Instruction
Improve student writing with:
Genre studies & lessons
Animations & web tools
Professional development
Teachers sometimes ask, “Why teach poetry?“ particularly at the middle school level when there are so many English Language Arts requirements to attain in order to prepare students for high school. There are several answers to that question.
Students are intrigued by poetry. It is the language of the songs that interest them and the spoken word they try to emulate. In fact, poetry is all around them. Addressing the relationships, self-awareness and change that is so fundamental to their being, poetry is often more familiar and relevant than other writing genres.
On the practical side, poetry is frequently shorter to write and read than prose. Many young teens, particularly those who struggle in school, have an immediate sense that this genre is not overwhelming to approach. Students can get through a poem and quickly feel a sense of accomplishment. Within that context, they learn how to generate ideas, draft, revise and prepare for publishing. Studying poetry creates an exceptional opportunity for literary analysis, language study and attention to detail so necessary for writers to be successful in any genre.
Most importantly, poetry provides a vehicle for making sense of this uncertain world. At a time in adolescents’ lives when they are exploring who they are, writing can be part of a natural process that starts from within and grows – from exposure to ideas written in the poems and lyrics of others, to expression of unique and personal thoughts and feelings.
Georgia Heard is an acclaimed poet and writer of five books on teaching writing including: Climbing Inside Poetry: Poems and Lessons for Every Day (Firsthand, Heinemann, forthcoming 2007), Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School (Heinemann, 1998), a best-selling book for teachers on how to teach poetry, The Revision Toolbox (Heinemann, 2000) a practical guide on teaching revision, Writing Toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way (Heinemann, 1997), and For the Good of the Earth and Sun (Heinemann,1989). Ms. Heard received her M.F.A. in poetry writing from Columbia University. She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York City where she has worked with teachers and students in NYC public schools for 8 years. Ms. Heard speaks to thousands of people each year about her love of poetry and writing. Currently, she is working with schools around the United States, preparing teachers to adopt her innovative teaching strategies.
The unit offers four weeks of instruction and is suitable for a wide range of middle school classrooms.
Step 1: Be a Poet
This beginning stage focuses on developing students’ interest and ideas for writing a self-portrait poem using poetic devices. At the end of this step, students complete the first poem of four that will reside in their &ldquoPoetry Portfolio.“
Lesson 1.1: Write a Self-Portrait Reflection
Students read a selection of poems to find one that is a reflection of him or herself. Students copy a portion of that poem in their writers’ notebooks and reflect on why the poem they chose represents them.
Lesson 1.2: Write a Self-Portrait Poem
Students are introduced to the concept of simile and metaphor in the context of self-portrait poems written by adult and student poets. Using a set of metaphors and similes they generate to describe themselves, students write a self-portrait poem.
Lesson 1.3: Craft Your Self-portrait Poem
Students craft their self-portrait poems by taking advantage of mentor texts and expanding upon the list of metaphors and similes they developed in the last lesson. After getting feedback on some of these metaphors and similes, students improve their poems.
Step 2: Draft Poems
By now, students have produced a poem that relates closely to their interests and concerns. Building on this foundation, students use this week to create three additional poems that use a variety of forms and poetic conventions – a “poetry hides“ list poem, a memory poem using a six-room drafting guide and a city haiku.
Lesson 2.1: Write a Poetry Hides List Poem
After reading and analyzing a mentor text that speaks about the various places where one can find inspiration for writing poetry, students write a list poem that specifies where they find poetry in their lives.
Lesson 2.2: Write a Six-Room Memory Poem
Students create poems about specific childhood memories using a “six-room“ format. The rooms help students explore the memory from multiple perspectives, which in turn enables them to gain insight and tap into vivid imagery to be incorporated into their poems.
Lesson 2.3: Write a City Haiku
Students learn what haikus are and how they differ from the free verse poetry they have been writing. Students write a haiku about the city, focusing on something they observed on the street or another place in New York City.
Lesson 2.4: Use the Computer to Draft Your Poems
Students make the best use of word processing software to prepare drafts of their poems for revision and publishing.
Step 3: Craft & Revise
Students work independently, as well as with peers and the teacher, to ensure that their poems convey the meaning and emotions they wish to communicate. Students revise their drafts for line and stanza breaks, word choice and clarity of meaning and musicality. By the end of this step, they will have created the full set of poems that will comprise their portfolios.
Lesson 3.1: Revise for Line-breaks and Stanza Breaks
After learning how line-breaks and stanza breaks change the pace, rhythm and meaning of a poem, students revise three of their poems accordingly.
Lesson 3.2: Revise for Word Clarity and Choice
Students learn how to sharpen the meaning and feeling of their poems by applying three strategies related to word clarity and choice. Students revise all four of their poems accordingly.
Lesson 3.3: The Music of Poetry
Students learn how to sharpen the meaning of their poems by applying four musical tools: rhyme, repetition, alliteration and onomatopoeia. Students revise all four of their poems accordingly.
Lesson 3.4: Review Poems Using a Rubric (Supplementary)
Teacher and students use the Poetry Rubric to rate and revise their poems. The rubric will serve as a guide as students prepare to edit and publish their portfolio of poems.
Step 4: Edit & Publish
During this final step in the unit, students proofread and edit their poems for accuracy of grammar and spelling. They also experiment with the look of their poems explore elements of performance. At the end of this step, they celebrate their accomplishments by publishing their completed work in the class Writing the City e-zine and perform for peers and/or the school community.
Lesson 4.1: Edit for Grammar and Punctuation
Students learn how poets adjust the conventions of grammar and punctuation to make a stylistic or philosophical statement. Students work with a peer to edit the grammar and punctuation of their poems.
Lesson 4.2: Gather a Portfolio of Poems
Students review their poems and prepare them for publication. With the guidance of the teacher, students use the Writing the City tool to publish their poems online.
Lesson 4.3: Read and Perform Poetry
Students learn fundamental strategies for performing their poems and implement those strategies as they read their work to their peers. They use the Poetry Rubric to learn how their performance will be judged at the culminating Teaching Matters Spoken Word Event. Advanced performance strategies are addressed in (Supplementary) Lesson 4.5: Rhythm and Motion.
Lesson 4.4: Record Your Poems (Supplementary)
Students learn strategies for performing a fluid and engaging reading of their poems. They make use of the written cues for pausing, pacing and emphasis (line and stanza breaks, commas).
Lesson 4.5: Rhythm and Motion (Supplementary)
Students learn strategies for performing poetry for an audience, focusing on ways to use rhythm and movement in delivering a compelling reading.
References for Teachers
Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle. New Understanding About Writing, Reading and Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2005.
Calkins, Lucy. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994.
Carlson, Lori, et al. Cool Salsa. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett (reprint edition), 1995.
Heard, Georgia. Awakening the Heart. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999.
Heard, Georgia. The Revision Toolbox. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Salting the Ocean. NY: HarperCollins, 2000.
Slier, Debby (Editor). Make a Joyful Sound: Poems for Children by African-American Poets. NY: Scholastic, 1996.
New York City Learning Standards
The lessons in this project support the New York City ELA Middle School Performance Descriptions for writing. According to ELA Standard E2:
Writing is a process through which a writer shapes language to communicate effectively. Writing often develops through a series of initial plans and multiple drafts and through access to informed feedback and response. Purpose, audience, and context contribute to the form and substance of writing as well as to its style, tone, and stance.
Writing Poetry addresses the following NYC ELA Standards:
E3c. The student prepares and delivers an individual presentation in which the student:
E4a. The student demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. The student demonstrates control of:
E4b. The student analyzes and subsequently revises work to clarify it or make it more effective in communicating the intended message or thought. The student’s revisions should be made in light of the purposes, audiences, and contexts that apply to the work. Strategies for revising include:
E5b. The student produces work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.
Examples of literary genres include: A personal essay.4a, 4b A short story. 2c, 4a, 4b A short play. 4a, 4b A poem. 4a, 4b A vignette. 4a, 4b
New York State English Language Arts Learning Standards
ELA 1.1. Relate new information to prior knowledge and experience.
ELA 2.1. Read aloud with expression, conveying the meaning and mood of a work. Write stories, poems, literary essays, and plays that observe the conventions of the genre and contain interesting and effective language and voice. Use Standard English effectively.
ELA 3.1. Evaluate their own and other’s work, based on a variety of criteria (e.g., logic, clarity, comprehensiveness, conciseness, originality, conventionality) and recognize the varying effectiveness of different approaches. Monitor and adjust their own oral and written presentations according to the standards for a particular genre.
ELA 4.1. Express ideas and concerns clearly and respectfully in conversations and group discussions.
