Student Poets

 

  We have been attempting to write our first original poetry this week.  I love Georgia Heard's ideas in Awakening the Heart.  I like to begin with something pretty structured to scaffold those kids who don't like poetry or have a fear of the blank page.  The Six-room Image-poem fits well here.  Students divide their paper into six boxes or rooms, each containing a specific quality.  Students fill in each box and then use this graphic organizer to write their poem.  My students always surprise me with some of the lines they come up with and how poetic they can be!  Some of them will tell me they can't write poetry or they hate poetry, but decide they might give it a chance after they complete this piece of writing.
     Today, I was conferring with several students during each block about their rough draft of their Six-room Image-poem.  I lifted a few lines from some of their poetry to share with you.
   
     "With your dark cold eyes, I see you stare."  and in another line later in the poem--
 
     "You stay when the whistling wind blows." --Sam T.


     "My name being yelled...twice
      Once from my mother telling me to come in,
      Once from the waves, telling me
      Just one more!
      Just one more!  --Steven S.


     "Soft white sand kissing your feet." --Pooja T.

     "Behind the barn, the mountains rise
      with an ocean of trees trying to hold in the sunlight" --Dalton P.


     I love that some of these students are not considered to be the brightest stars in seventh grade, but they show through their poetry they have flair and imagination and deserve to be heard!  Poetry levels the playing field for my students that might not excel in other areas.  We talk about writers being hard working-- searching for that "just right" word, phrase, or line.  I am so proud of their efforts in trying to create their best work!