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2019 Post #11-- A Stack of Similes

by Michael Salinger and Sara Holbrook

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve been a longtime fan of Michael and Sara’s work, and I am thrilled to present a poem they have written (based on an experience in Ghana!) and a lesson plan from their latest professional book, From Striving to Thriving: Strategies to Jump-start Writing, which I highly recommend. Enjoy! -- Brett

Bats!

Nocturnal
as a lightning bug.
Hanging like a tree fruit.
Beeping like a
smoke detector
Fuzzy as a hamster.
Face like a freeze-dried dog.
Tracking like a sonar.
Flapping like a novice in the deep end.
Megabat is me.

© 2019 Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger, Dreaming BIG and Small, Streamline Press. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

First, read poem "Bats!" and note it’s made up of a stack of similes, plus a last line that identifies the theme of the poem. Together, co-construct a list of action verbs to describe your classroom. Ask: What do you do (seventh) graders? Answers may include: read, text, chat, watch, dribble, run, laze, eat, etc.

Begin your co-construct by stating a theme: something like Room 206 is us, or eighth grader is me. Turn your action verbs into similes, adhering to the theme.

Label this Version 1. Remind writers that poets tell the truth; however, we also want to be a bit surprising. If a cliché turns up in the Version 1, indicate that we will want to revise that in Version 2.
Next, ask students to come up with a theme for their own writing: Creative is me, an athlete is me, funny is me, etc.

Students can divide their papers like so for a pre-write:

Ask students to first make a list of actions that pertain to their theme. Invite writers to make a stack of similes from their action verbs. Remind students to try and be surprising. "Fast as a cheetah," may be okay for Version 1, but we will want to be more original in our next version!

Ask students to transition to an electronic device or their writer’s notebooks to rearrange their simile stack into a poem.

© 2018 Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger, From Striving to Thriving Writers, Strategies to Jump-start Writing, Scholastic.

2018 Poem #30 -- Mythology Goes To the Hairdresser

by Kate Baker

Jehanne Dubrow’s “Penelope Considers a New Do,” published in her compilation Stateside, is one of my favorite poems to read with students who are studying Homer’s Odyssey as it puts a modern and alternative perspective on the mythology of circumspect Penelope, Odysseus’ long enduring wife. Dubrow’s poem is rich in symbolism and allusion as she channels Penelope’s tale, weaving it into her own story of being a military wife who is home while the husband is deployed overseas. There is even an audio version available, read by the poet.

Students can begin by close reading the poem, identifying the modern and mythical allusions, enjambed and end-stopped lines, and examples of alliteration as they discuss the implications of trying to change one’s hairstyle in attempt to better one’s life: how does one’s appearances dictate one’s mindset and perspective on life? Can cutting one’s hair really result in an improved outlook? Will magazines and hairstylists realistically offer solutions to one’s plights in life? Students can consider how Penelope has coped with Odysseus’ absence and compare/contrast her coping strategies to their own understandings of waiting and identity.

But the beauty of Dubrow’s poem is found in the structure: four stanzas of four lines each with each line indented so as to give the poem its shape -- anyone who has cut his/her bangs will recognize that the stanzas look like sections of hair that have been snipped on an angle. To extend the lesson, students can work in groups or individually to write or find other poems that are written in basic block format and rearrange the text so as to give it a symbolic shape or visual design. The rearranged and original poems can be presented to the class and students can discuss the artistic choices made in the arrangement.

2018 Post #24 -- Line by Line

by Allison Marchetti

There are poems that resonate deeply, and then there are poems that literally take the breath inside of us away. One such poem is “The Portrait” by Stanley Kunitz, about a mother who cannot bring herself to talk to her son about his dead father.

One thing that gives this poem its emotional power is the line breaks. Take, first instance, the first line:

My mother never forgave my father

The enjambed line begs the question, for what? For leaving her? Infidelity? Money problems?

The first time I ever read this poem (in high school) I could almost feel my heart stop when I came to the second line:

for killing himself.

When I first introduce my students to this poem, I let them know that it explores very emotionally sensitive material, and I give them the option to leave the room during our examination of it. Then I turn off the lights and let the poem “play,” -- that is, I run a PowerPoint into which I’ve typed up the poem, one line per slide. I put a timer on so each slide advances after 2 to 3 seconds. The poem unfolds slowly and painfully, and the surprise that originally registers on my students’ faces turns to horror.

The students are eager and shy to discuss this poem. We start with something technical -- the line breaks -- to ease our way in. What is the effect of breaking the first line after the word “father”? What is the significance of ending lines on words like “spring” and “born”? How do the line breaks in lines three through six affect the story? What else do you notice about the line breaks?

To expand this idea into a writer's workshop lesson, invite students to work in their notebooks. We write new lines or borrow old ones and play around with enjambment to create lines that shock or surprise.

Students love to type up their lines, print them, cut them up and arrange them in different ways on their desks. They use their phones to snap photos of the different stanzas and read them aloud to each other for feedback.

I love watching their faces light up and shift and change as they listen to the different versions of one another’s poems.

Further Reading:

Allison Marchetti is coauthor—with Rebekah O'Dell—of Writing with Mentors and Beyond Literary Analysis. Their popular blog Moving Writers focuses on writing instruction in middle and high school classrooms with an emphasis on voice and authenticity.

2018 Poem #13 -- Wait, Rappers Are Poets?

by Zachary Sibel

This year I wanted to try something new when it came to teaching poetry, so I made a strange connection. I thought about what I like to eat when I go out. I realized that most the time my favorite items to order are appetizers; they are smaller portions, you get a variety of choices, and when you put the right combination together, you are rewarded with an experience that is filling.

I decided to present poetry from various classes and movements to my students in the same way. I used three to five poems from the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary eras of poetry. I found that my students were more engaged when they got to read through and pick the one that stood out to them, rather than sit down and talk about them all.

One poem that really topped them all when it came to student engagement was Tupac’s "A Rose That Grew From Concrete." I present this poem with no context of who Tupac was (or still is, that is up for debate) and just focus on language and the use of metaphor. After reading the poem aloud twice, I ask students to dig into the imagery and symbolism of this poem. The beauty of this poem is it impacts students of all backgrounds and upbringings.

This year I had a number of students connect with it, one of whom discussed the idea that, “the only person who needs to believe in you is you, " a rather sophisticated reflection for a middle school student to have. I let the students carry the discussion, and when I see it fit, I end with providing a little background as to who Tupac was, the idea of West Coast rap, and how language can be used to examine various social issues.

Additional fun: I focus a lot on the questions, “Is all music poetry? Is all poetry musical?" With Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for literature, the question begs to be answered or at least discussed. After showing students "A Rose That Grew From Concrete," we play a little Kahoot game that requires students to read a line of verse/lyric and determine if it is poetry or hip-hop. Students find themselves recognizing some of the lyrics but not all. They realize that the distinction between hip-hop and poetry is more complex than we may originally think.

Further Reading:

Zachary Sibel is a hip-hop fan and an eighth-grade English teacher at Tohickon Middle School in Bucks County, PA.

Go Poem #30 -- Song Lyrics Mash-up

by Penny Kittle

Some students resist writing poetry because they struggle to find words to contain their ideas. Poetry feels Important, Serious, and Literary. It is. But it is also simple, playful, and found in the everyday. In fact, that is its Superpower.

To help my students learn to play, I spend days on found poetry. We use words we find in an editorial, news article, school hallway, book, or in this case, songs to compose our own poems. The rules are simple: you can't add your own words; you use what you find. This takes pressure off and opens possibility.

My writer's notebook was open and under the document camera at the start of class one day. I had strips of lyrics to three songs from the Lumineers piled on two empty pages. I placed one line, then another, searched for phrases to repeat, and then added those between emerging stanzas. The beauty was in the clean, efficient revising: I lifted lines from my emerging draft and returned them to the word pile or cut a phrase into smaller parts and played with the power of line breaks to slow down my reading. I searched for consonants to repeat and unlikely combinations that led my poem to new ideas.

“Can we get started?” students asked.

Yes, please.

Penny Kittle is a high school English teacher and writer from North Conway, New Hampshire. You can follow her work on Twitter @pennykittle.

Go Poem #10 -- Rhythm That Runs Downhill

by Michelle Ambrosini

"Afternoon on a Hill"

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
   With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
   And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
   Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
   And then start down!

I project the poem onto the board, and first each student reads the poem independently. Next, I ask students to notice what word or phrase stands out to them as I read the poem aloud.

Students turn and talk to their table partners and share their standout words or phrases and explain their reasoning: “Why did that word or phrase stand out to you?” I ask.

Students volunteer their standout words or phrases, which I underline on the board. Their responses typically include “hundred flowers,” “cliffs and clouds,” “quiet eyes,” “grass rise,” and “lights begin to show.” The reasoning most students share for these words or phrases is these simple images are ones that they can easily visualize.

We discuss how the writer does NOT describe each image with an abundance of figurative language. I ask students to think about how the poet creates the sensation of standing at the top of the hill without this abundance of imagery.

Now I re-read the poem aloud, asking students to notice the sound of the poem. Students typically begin by noting the rhyme pattern (2nd and 4th lines of each stanza).

Students notice the poet’s use of repetition of “I will.” Repetition or pattern is a style choice that we have discussed throughout the year, specifically how writers can create rhythm through repetition as well as rhyme. Students comment on the poet’s pattern in each stanza (longer line of 7 or more syllables, shorter line of 4 syllables). We discuss how this pattern, too, creates rhythm.

I then read the poem aloud a final time, asking students to close their eyes and to visualize themselves at the top of a hill. When I finish reading aloud, I ask the students to share what happened in their visualization when they “started down!” Most comment that they run or roll down the hill at a fast pace. I note that the poet created a rhythm using rhyme, repetition, and punctuation (students notice the exclamation points too) that propels them forward down the hill.

Michelle Ambrosini teaches seventh-grade English at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA.

Go Poem #8 -- A Poem in Two Languages

by Brett Vogelsinger

I must confess, I am a little partial to the poem "Revenge" by Taha Muhammad Ali because I was present for its English-language debut at the Dodge Poetry Festival in 2006. To hear a poem spoken first in Arabic, meaningless to a primarily English-speaking audience, reminded me first of the marvels of language; what is without meaning to one person is deeply, profoundly impactful to another. And when I heard this poem repeated, the second time in English, the power of Ali's words brought the entire audience to our feet, for here was a poem entitled "Revenge," crafted in one of the most conflict-striken regions of the world, that is actually about the power of choosing peace.

If you choose to share this entire video of the poem with your students, it will take a little more time than some of our Go Poem activities, but I think you will find it to be worth it. I share photocopies of the poem with my students, turned face-down until after the video has finished playing.

Part of what makes this poem so impactful is its structure. What we may refer to as a "plot twist" in a novel or a movie we refer to as a "turn" in a poem. Where does this poem take a surprising turn? What is the nature of that turn? By surprising us with these unforeseen turns, what do you think the poet wants us to leave the poem thinking about, wondering about, or believing? (That last question digs at the question of theme, but isn't it so much more interesting than asking "What is the theme of this poem?")

Brett Vogelsinger teaches freshman English students at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA where he starts class with a poem each day. Follow his work on Twitter @theVogelman.

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