Poetry and Public Life

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.03.07

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Content Objectives
  3. Demographics
  4. Rationale
  5. Content
  6. Teaching Strategies
  7. Classroom Activities
  8. Bibliography/Teacher and Student Resources
  9. Appendix 1: Assessment Worksheets for Students
  10. Appendix [2]:  Common Core State Standards for Pennsylvania
  11. Endnotes

A Private Moment in Public View: Analysis of Muslim Poets and Political Activists from the 20th Century to Today

Kathleen Radebaugh

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Classroom Activities

The following classroom activities focus on the writing component of this unit. In my content section, I shared my analysis of two poems within the canon. Through the use of close reading, further biographical and historical research about the poets and the time of publication of the poems, I thoroughly enjoyed developing and writing the content section of this unit. I do not want to dwell on close reading in this section, because I truly value the writing portfolio. Some of my favorite classes in high school and college were my writing classes, and I really enjoyed writing prose and poetry. Recently, I read Rose, Where Did You Get That Red by Kenneth Koch for additional research for pedagogy, and I truly love this book. Koch’s style of writing is very inviting, and he really values the poetry written by his students. He uses the phrase “poetry ideas”16 in order to explain how he connects the poems read to the development of student writing. Some theme of stylistic element-but mainly theme-is adopted by the student. “When we read Stevens’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” I asked them to write a poem in which they talked about the same thing in many different ways.”17 Koch shares these poems in the book, and they are incredible! There are several poems within this unit with very relatable universal themes, and I think my students will be able to write a meaningful poem using Koch’s process. “The problem in teaching adult poetry is that for them [students] it often seems difficult and remote; the poetry ideas…brought it closer and made it more accessible to them. The excitement of writing carried over to the reading; and the excitement of the poem they read inspired them in their writing.”18 I see my students as poets, and they will have several opportunities to work with their peers and me to write and digitally record profound poetry.

Peer editing

Teachers arrange students in a cooperative pair based on reading level and skill ability. After students brainstorm and write the first draft of their poems, their assigned cooperative pair will read the poem two to three times and provide mechanical and content feedback. Peer editing is valuable and fosters a professional tone amongst the students, but a teacher should model the editing process several times and give specific instructions for the peer editor. This classroom activity can last for 15 minutes. In addition, peer editors will use editing conventions outlined in several different templates, APA, MLA, and Chicago Style.19  These conventions are universal, and students will use these markings while editing their peer’s poems. Students can also peruse the Purdue University Online Writing Lab and read through the various resources in the General Writing Resources category20 as a classroom activity to help them communicate criticism and feedback. Writing is very personal; writing poetry is even more personal. The use of standard correction symbols in editing can eliminate hurt feelings or misunderstandings, and students can revise for a better poem.

Individual Writing Conferences

When the students are peer editing their cooperative pairs’ poems, the teacher can meet one-on-one with a student. This will give the teacher time to check the student’s writing progress, review their peer edits, and offer feedback and guidance. Individual conferences are brief, three to four minutes. I often complete my conferences at my guided reading table, which is in the back of the room. I would recommend that teachers randomly select students for conferencing, and use the feedback worksheet in the appendix. All rough drafts with peer edits and feedback worksheets should be collected and placed in the student’s writing folder. My eighth grade students keep their folders in a bin in my cabinet for safe keeping.

Recording poems

At Henry C. Lea Elementary, our students use Google Chromebooks in the classroom. Several teachers, especially the Middle Years teachers, have 15 Chromebooks per classroom. Google Chromebooks are not ideal for recording poems. They are limited in their applications. For this reason, I would need to create a schedule for students to record on a MacBook Pro, which has QuickTime Player. We have a computer lab with 30 MacBook Pro Desktop computers. If our teaching schedules align, I would share this unit with our Technology teacher, Mr. Stephen Mazzeo. He has two microphones for student use. The students could record their poems on the computer, then upload the file to Google Classroom, and this will give us a digital record of their poems. I do not want my students using iMovie or Garage Band for recording, because I want them to concentrate on their voices, diction, and recording proficiency rather than adding other media like images or music. This classroom activity could take a couple days to complete, because I would send only one or two cooperative pairs to the computer lab at a time.

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