Poetry and Public Life

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.03.10

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Background/Rationale
  4. Strategies
  5. Classroom Activities
  6. Common Core State Standards for Pennsylvania
  7. Bibliography
  8. Appendix
  9. Endnotes

Philadelphia, Do you See What I See?

Terry Anne Wildman

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Appendix

Worksheet for “A Map of the Town” adapted from Terry Hermsen’s Poetry of Place

Name ___________________________________________  Date _________________

A MAP TO THE TOWN (A POETRY GAME)

A Way to Make a Poem Without Trying to Make a Poem

Directions: For each spot, do what the directions say, and then write two lines or so as if they were part of a poem you were making.

1. Start somewhere no one else is (where you are far from another student).

  • Jot down ten nouns from your what you see – each with a strong beginning sound such as B, D, G, K, P, or T.
  • Then write two strong lines of poetry using two of those words in each line.

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2. Cross the school yard and find a new place to sit. Jot down four unusual pairs of opposites.  For example, window-sky, steps-gutters.  Write two lines using those opposites.  For example, “The steps are high and cracked, difficult for little kids to climb.  The gutters allow the rain from the roof to flow to the ground.”

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3. From the same spot or find a place no more than 10 steps away, find something small around you – smaller than a breadbox or smaller than your hand. Look at it for at least five minutes noticing little things about it.  Write two or four “impossible questions” about it – thinking of it as if it were human or had a point of view and feelings of its own.  For example, if the object was a traffic sign that was painted over, “How did it feel to be covered by spray paint?  Do you wonder what would happen to you if you were struck by lightning?” 

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4. Walk to another spot in the schoolyard. Stop and look around.  Think of a number in your head from 1 to 6.  Look in the direction the number below gives you:

1 = up  2 = down  3 = in front of you  4 = behind you 

5 = to the right  6 = to the left

Take something you see and write two lines that begin,

“Everybody knows . . .”

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5. Walk somewhere zigzag from where you are. Stop and look around. Find something around you that is the same color as something you have on.  Using that color (and/or that thing) as a starting place, write two lines that begin, “I never…” or,  “I once…”

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6. Write two lines that are a “creative lie.” For example, “The cats get together each night on the blue porch and dance.”

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7. Without turning your head, from the side of your eye, find a source of light. Look at it, or walk closely up to it.  Write two to four lines that begin, “The light is like…” or “The light is…”

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Using your poetry notebook, create a poem about your neighborhood.  You can add or subtract lines or words as needed. 

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