Introduction
In most schools across the country, students are in the environment of testing because standardized testing has become the norm; but those who teach the students have serious concerns that students are being over tested. Teaching in a district that corresponds to this description, I submitted a proposal to be part of Yale National Initiative for teachers in the hopes that I’d find an angle to a better approach test-oriented teaching. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to be part of this initiative for teachers. Initially, my main goal was to get my students interested in reading poetry, and secondly to use poems to reconnect them to their Native American language and heritage. I wanted to interest my students in such a way that they could realize that through creativity and interpretation of art and poems, they could fortify their spirit and academic growth. In a sense, poems and art would be the catalyst to induce them to take an interest in reading and writing. The seminar that I’m in is “Poems about Works of Art, Featuring Women and Other Marginalized Writers”. Ekphrastic poetry involves writing poems that are interpretations of objects of art. Introducing ekphrastic poetry to high school freshmen is challenging enough considering how hard it is to get them to read anything; hence using an approach that is not threatening or overwhelming is the best way to go. Familiar images of art, such as famous paintings by popular artists will be appealing. For instance, Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” and an ekphrastic poem about it by Anne Sexton of the same title (Ardagh) would work well. Other initial projects could be to view three dimensional objects of art, such as baskets, jewelry, or pottery. These objects are considered art in the present day; however, with Native Americans these items were functional in times past. I found Honor Moorman’s article in the English Journal where she gives several examples of how she worked with high school students. The idea that resonated with me was working in pairs throughout the unit (EJ 96.1). Starting the ekphrastic writing unit with paintings will entice my students since they are visual learners, and some are natural artists.
Demographics
My students are 9th graders in a rural reservation public school. The school district serves half a dozen small Navajo communities. Students are bussed in daily and most involve an hour or more bus ride one way. Due to unpaved bus routes for most reservation roads, it’s not unusual to delay the start of a school day or call school off entirely during inclement weather. These are some obstacles our students face before getting into the classroom. Our school serves predominantly Native American students from various socio-economic classes, but mainly low-income and single-parent families. Our students are exposed to community problems such as: poverty, crime, and drug addiction which are obstacles to be overcome. Partly due to these issues, most of my students have a tendency to undervalue their education by truancy, behavioral issues, and reluctance in performing to their best ability in school work. To capture my students’ attention and concentrate on learning, I will introduce ekphrastic poetry.
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