October 17, 2010

By: Justin J. from New Orlens, LA
Comments: 23

Posted By: Justin Jones
On: 3/23/2009 10:10:11 AM

I just finished a project with my classes. My students had to pick a poem from a long list of poems. They then had to analyze the poem they chose. After analyzing the poem my students then made a concrete design for the poem they chose and rewrote the poem in concrete form. My students really enjoyed this project and I received many creative designs. I thought since it worked so well in my class this could be an exercise others may want to try.

Posted By: caroline vanek
On: 3/23/2009 10:56:47 AM

What a great idea! This is also a cross-curricular project that allows the students to pair English with art. Can't wait to see the finished project.

Posted By: Christopher Parizo
On: 4/10/2009 10:53:57 AM

Good idea... engaging students to enjoy poetry may be the most difficult portion of my semester. How do you assess a student with this project?

Posted By: cheri Bedard
On: 4/16/2009 3:26:28 PM

That sounds like a great idea to get kids into poetry. I know my students are not big fans of poetry and, at times, find poetry hard to understand. This sounds like a great project to do that would make the poetry hands on, which is always a good way to get kids into things and, for many, makes things easier to understand. What grade do you teach?

Posted By: J.P. McCaskey High School
On: 4/20/2009 10:47:55 AM

I love doing poetry with my students, but unfortunately my students do not really love doing poetry with me. :) I love having the students create pictoral representations of the poetry, compare the poems to other things they have seen and read and so much more. I really wish we offered electives here because I would genuinely love to teach a class that allows me to really have the kids get creative with poetry and design.

Posted By: Ken Foster
On: 4/24/2009 6:53:10 PM

So much of poetry is in the use of imagery, it might be fun to make a game of it for them, and have them look through old magazines to find images that work with the poem. For older students, you might have them pick their own favorite poem--something they've written--and create an illustrated book for the poem. This could also be done by pairing the students with art students for a collaboration.

Posted By: Cassandra Jones
On: 4/24/2009 6:54:34 PM

Hey! I am ALWAYS into making a game to aid in the learning process! Love it!

Posted By: Justin Jones
On: 4/25/2009 8:14:20 PM

I teach 9th grade english. I assess them on this project by how well they use symbolism in their design of the concrete poem. If the design has nothing to do with the poem their grade will reflect that.

Posted By: cheri Bedard
On: 4/27/2009 3:31:02 PM

J.P., I love the idea of using pictoral representations for poetry. I am curious to know what else you do with poetry? Infact, i would like any input from anyone on how to make poetry more enjoyable to my students. I would love to hear cheers instead of jeers when we get to the poetry sections of our lessons.

Posted By: Nancy Eason
On: 4/28/2009 7:35:52 PM

Our first graders recently wrote poems, and as an art integrated activity, the P.E. teacher helped them develop movement and dances to express the poetry with their bodies.

Posted By: cheri Bedard
On: 4/30/2009 3:59:42 PM

I love the idea of having the students develop dance movements for poetry. I can just imagine how fun it will be for them to get up and move with poetry.

Posted By: Ken Foster
On: 4/30/2009 8:58:47 PM

Our high school students collaborate with Jazz students to set their words to music. (Admittedly not everyone is lucky enough to have a jazz department, but there are other, endless possibilities of collaborating and elaborating on poetry.)

Posted By: Emily Gula
On: 4/30/2009 10:37:14 PM

Creating a tableau inspired by a line from a poem could also be interesting. Students could first explore some different types of sculpture and discuss what types of emotions they feel are conveyed. Then they could create a scene with their classmates depicting a favorite line from a poem.

Posted By: Vicki Dalton
On: 7/25/2009 9:26:20 PM

I love all of these ideas! Justin, do you have a list of the poems you used?

Posted By: Miriam Kelsey
On: 7/27/2009 5:39:24 PM

I am replying to Cheri Bedard's comment about using poetry with 1st graders. I love your idea of collaborating with the P.E. teacher and integrating movement with the students' poetry. Could you elaborate about how you implemented the poetry writing lesson with your first graders?