Gateway Poet

Three of my English sections are selecting and studying poetry.  My seventh grade and Practical English course that includes twelfth and eleventh graders.  

I came across the poem, "Digging" by Seamus Heaney along with an example essay based on the poem.  Even though there was not a specific assessment that went along with the poem the kids could start to have an idea on what to write about when writing about poetry.  How can a poem inspire 500 words?

I asked my students how do 500 words inspire one tweet.  They followed along and read the poem with me and saw how to point out poetic devices and personal connections within the poetry.

Earlier in the month, I went back to Poetryoutloud.org.  And even though, I'm not sure if we'll be ready for a competition.  I gave these students the instructions of finding a poem that finds them.  They all laughed at how corny it was - some of the kids picked the usual "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost - and really?  What's so bad about that poem?  They probably think they're being lazy - silly kids.

One of the titles I found interesting was "Fishing" by A. E. Stallings,   I can't wait to read this guy's paper - this guy is an excellent writer -  Of course, I had the usual Emily Dickinson - which I pointed out to one young girl "I'm so glad you like poetry."

She laughed "I only like Emily Dickinson."

I laughed; "You know she's a gateway poet, don't you?"

A Poem..

My Dream

My Dream by Ogden Nash

This is my dream,

It is my own dream,

I dreamt it.

I dreamt that my hair was kempt.

Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it

Ogden Nash

Very nice indeed.

The Cremation of Sam McGee

I made this from Johnny Cash's recitation of Sam McGee.

:)

Fireflies

The day before Thanksgiving, my seventh graders had a quiz on Love That Dog.. When they were done, they asked me if I would play Owl City's Fireflies for them. I did. I'm glad I did. Imagine a dark room full of thirty twelve and thirteen year olds. Most of them have been together since preschool. They have squabbles with each other. Crushes back and forth. There's bullies, weirdos, brainiacs, book worms, and beauty queens. Some of them probably have horrible home lives. Some of them probably have magical home lives. And for five minutes they are together in my class singing a

sweet song

.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost


Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


As you know, we are reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.

I shared this recording by Uregelt from youtube. This guy has such an amazing voice.

Everyday before class. We read the poem. Kids complain about how they don't get the poem. We read about Creech's Jack. The kids laugh because he had many of the same reactions they did. And then, they write a poem or a reaction to the poem.

At the beginning, the seventh graders loved loved loved the book from the get go, but the eight graders? They were sort of mad that they were doing the same thing as the seventh graders. And asked "Why do we have to read this dumb book?" Ouch.

Every day... I hear less of that. And I can't wait to get all of their writings on my wall just like Miss Stretchberry did in Love That Dog!

Shel Silverstein

My wordle

Again, I love wordles.  I can't get enough of word clouds.  I
 love how this wordle has a big POEM in it. 
How awesome is that?