Poetry and Public Life

Strategies

The majority of the students are Native Americans, as mentioned in the demographics, and for the most part their Native language is their first language.  Hence the students have limited vocabulary development when it comes reading literature and text features. Students do not get the vocabulary development at home in normal daily conversation. Therefore, students will be exposed to lessons encouraging vocabulary development. This will be done through providing activities that will increase their ability to describe poetry.  Students will have visual aids, incorporate technology in the classroom, and be exposed to poems that they are able to grasp through prior knowledge.

There will be discussion among students, so the arrangements of desk will be in groups of four, or set up in pairs. Graphic organizer is another way students will be able to obtain new vocabulary that will sustain them for future reference.  Such graphic organizers as the four corners method or strategies based on Robert Marzano and Debra J Pickering’s reference book, Building Academic Vocabulary Teacher’s Manual²¹ is one way to teach vocabulary.

The strategies to teach analyzing and interpreting poems will go forward through collaboration. For the most part, the lesson will begin with the teacher modeling strategies followed by the gradual release method.  The lessons will involve activities through highlighting, general discussing, and drawing pictures. I believe that through the use of these strategies the students will be able to return to them when it comes to analyzing poems.  In doing so, the students will be able to better answer their questions about central message, theme or purpose of the poem.

The last strategy that will be incorporated is the use of writing. This writing will also be used as assessment of the unit. An anthology of poems will be collected and bound as a resource.  Students will show by writing themselves what it is that they have learned about the parts of poetry and comprehending the poems. All these strategies will be aimed at igniting writers.  The students will be involved in creating their own poems as a means of learning how poems are created and written. As an incentive, I hope to have students write their poems to music or bind a collection of poems in a big book.  As another rewarding incentive, I hope to invite our local poet, “Orlando White,“ into the classroom and have him actually read to the students.  I believe this will motivate the students and increase their interest when it comes to the modern poems that they will be required to read for their assessment.