A couple of weeks ago I finally taught my own unit. My CT is awesome and extremely easy to work with, so when I approached him about a possible unit topic he basically let me pick whatever I thought sounded best.
Over the past couple of years I have come to absolutely love poetry, which surprises me because I thought I despised poetry in high school. Analyzing every line for symbolism, meter, rhyme, and the many other poetic devices left me weary, and instead of appreciating the poems we read, I hated them for being so confusing! I recently read an article by C. K. Williams who said, "When I was in school, we began our study of poetry with boring technical
matters, then read a few mostly unfathomable poems. Poetry was
presented as an artifact from the distant past, and by the time I
graduated, I, like everyone I knew, despised it. I didn't start writing
poems until I'd finished my last required English course in college."1 Yea, I can definitely relate to that.
While I do believe that students do need to learn about the poetic elements, as they are important, I don't think that poetry units should become so focused on analyzing for important devices. Instead, I think students need to be introduced to the beauty of poetry, and shown a wide variety of styles. We so often see Shakespeare's Sonnets and other classic poems presented in the classroom, but there are thousands of great modern poems out there that speak to the human experience. Students should also have the chance to practice creating poetry on their own, as writing poetry can be an excellent form of self-expression. Writing poetry allows students to practice writing in other genres, instead of constantly writing essays.
I explain my feelings about poetry because it is something I am passionate about, which is exactly why I decided to take on a poetry unit. As I designed the unit I knew I wanted the students to do a lot of writing, so I decided to center many lessons on student creation. There were a couple days that I showed PowerPoints explaining poetic elements, and we identified the use of these elements in a few different poems. However, the majority of the unit was spent writing. I had students write poems following several guides, and I wrote each type of poem as well. This way, I was able to explain my thought process as I wrote. At the end of the unit, we had a "Poetry Cafe" in the library, where the students got to have snacks and present their poetry.
My teacher, Dr. Mason, attended the Poetry Cafe for my unit observation, so I was definitely a little nervous about how everything would go. However, I have a class full of wonderful students, and I was mainly just excited to hear what they had written. Things started off a little slowly, as no one ever wants to be the first to volunteer, but as more people presented the level of anxiety seemed to decrease a little. Students were reluctant to be chosen to present during the required portion, which is funny because when told them anyone who wanted to could share another poem, they all started volunteering to read again. High-schoolers are awesome.
The poems my students created were fantastic, and I was more than pleased with the way everything turned out. We had a great time at our Poetry Cafe, and I think the students really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the poems their peers had written. I know I did!
1 www.edutopia.org/redemption
