The Uses of Poetry in the Classroom

Lesson Plan I

I will ask the students to make a connection between art and poetry. I will ask them to respond to the following questions:

• How can there be a connection between a picture or photograph and a poem?
• What do these two art forms have to do with each other?

Once we have discussed possible connections, I will show them a picture and ask them to respond to it by writing a free verse poem. This part of the unit will focus on the category: becoming the voice. I am planning on using a drawing by Jan Komski, a Holocaust survivor and artist. I will show them a painting entitled "Ecce Homo," which means, "Behold the Man." The painting depicts a man who is being released from a prison hospital and is considered fit to work, yet he is so famished that the observer can see the man's skeleton poking through his skin.

I will have some of the students share their poems and then I will ask them to take on the persona of the man in the painting and write a poem that gives him a voice. I might phrase it like this: "If the man in the painting could speak, what would he say?"

Once the students have completed their poems, I will allow them to share. I will then ask them to write a response to the following question and prompts:

• What words or phrases did I use in my poem to convey to the reader that the speaker of the poem is the man in Komski's painting?
• Explain how these words or phrases convey voice.
• If applicable, identify the poetic device you used to convey voice.

I will ask the students to write their response using a three-column reader/writer response format. On the left side of the sheet the student would copy the words or phrases. Then in the middle the student would respond to the aforementioned prompt. Finally, in the right hand column I would ask the students to identify the words or phrases they copied in relation to poetic devices. It might look like this:

(table 05.01.08.01 available in print form)

Using the three column note format helps the students organize their thoughts as well as write a self-assessment of their use of language. The above example shows that format and the italized writing shows what a model response would look like. I would actually model this for my students to give them a starting point. If the students cannot fill in the third column, I would then ask the question:

- How could you turn the words and/ or phrase into a figure of language?

Once we have discussed our answers, I would repeat this lesson using a photograph of a lynching from the Jim Crow Era, and ask the students to write a poem from the victim's point of view. I would have the student follow the above procedure.

As the unit continues, I would have the student write several free verse poems based on several different images, using some scenes from the Holocaust and some from the Jim Crow Era. There are many images available on the Internet. This activity allows the students to take on the persona of the oppressed person that is seen in the photograph or picture. If the students are allowed to write and analyze their own poems first, they will have gained knowledge and tools that will allow them to analyze poems written from survivors of these two eras. The following is a list of URL's where useable images may be found:

• Holocaust Images
• www.remember.org
• www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
• Images from the Jim Crow Era
• www.photo.net
• www.crmvet.com

Next, I will focus on analyzing poetry written by victims from both eras as well as having students write ecphrastic poetry. This part of the unit will focus on hearing the voice of the victim. I want the students to uncover that people use poetry as a vessel for voice. This part of the unit will focus on free verse poems written by victims of the Holocaust and victims of segregation during the Jim Crow Era.