Poems Experiment Follow-Up

Our experiment with "found poetry" went incredibly well. The students showed they have keen eyes for vivid, poetic language, even when it's hidden in unexpected places.

Just a reminder--the assignment was to find one or two sentences from a magazine or newspaper or book and rewrite it into a poem. They had to use the exact words in the exact order. I thought everyone did a terrific job. I find it fun to watch them experiment with words and lines.

Choosing four to share was, again, difficult, so I will try to feature a few different poets than I did last time...

Found Poem #18 from National Geographic

Arranged by Joshua Jewell

Take me fishing,

so we can

be together

just you

and me.

Take me fishing,

and we'll call

it a date.

Take me fishing,

and we'll have

the boat all to

ourselves.

Take me fishing

and make

me feel

sixteen

Again!!!

------------------

Found Poem #III from National Geographic

Arranged by Alexander Moore

Today I visited an official

"Sculpture Studio"

where I found

Saddam Hussein

riding a horse straight

out of Arabian Nights.

-------------------

Omarion from The Book of Chris Brown

Arranged by Troi Sparks

Our boy Omarion

May be a superstar

But he does not mind

Sharing the stage with

Other

Superstars. As you know

He just toure and did the

Face off CD. We can't wait

To see whatcha do next, Big O!

------------------

The Real Story from National Geographic

Arranged by Noah Ward

Discovery of a

rare diamond in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo sparked

high-

level intrigue.

Then the stone

vanished,

only to resurface

in New York City.

Tracking the gem revealed

the world of diamonds--

a labyrinth

linking multi-million dollar

mines, bloody

wars, and timeless beauty

A Poetry Revolution

As many of you know, I spent five weeks in Chicago this summer at DePaul University. I participated in a conference called "Say Something Wonderful: Teaching the Pleasures of Poetry." Poetry was not something I knew much about prior to this summer. But I learned a lot and am trying to implement as much as I can. I'm not exactly sure how this is going to happen, but we're off to a good start.

Yesterday, we read a silly poem by Dennis Lee called "Alligator Pie." The kids liked this one a lot. We spent a few minutes discussing it and then I asked students to write their own version. They've done well with this, although a number of them have yet to turn them in.

Today, we read one of my favorite poems, "Dreams," by one of my favorite poets, Langston Hughes. If you aren't familiar with it, here it is:

Dreams

By Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

After reading it, I asked some questions such as:

• How many stanzas does this poem have?
• What are the metaphors?
• What parts are repeated? Does the repeated part change in any way?
• What words don't you know?
• Do any words have more than one possible meaning?

The students responded to this activity very enthusiastically. Some even noticed things about the poem that I hadn't noticed before!

My goal is to use poems regularly to teach analytic thinking, grammar, vocabulary, and other important comprehension skills. As we come across great poems, I'll pass them along through the blog so the discussion can continue at home.