More and more I am starting to feel comfortable teaching. I am not as nervous as I first was and I feel as though I am learning a lot. My CT is very supportive and always provides helpful suggestions to guide me along my way. Technology is something that my CT always incorporates into her lessons which has influenced me to use more technology. Now I am using the smart board for almost every lesson which has been a big success; the students enjoy the interactive activities.
We just finished our unit on creative writing which to my amazement went rather smoothly. I personally had never done much creative writing so I was extremely nervous about this unit. Catching the students’ attention on a daily basis is always a struggle so I knew that I needed an activity to start with that would be exciting, or at least interesting. Therefore, I decided to open with creative writing circles. The students were split into two groups and each person within the circle got a different prompt. Students had around three minutes to read the prompt and then begin to create a story based off of the prompt. When time was up the students passed their papers to the left. We followed the same procedure for all nine prompts. Each time a paper was passed to the left the student had to add their own take on the story. We shared the stories that the groups believed to be the best. The students were really able to get creative and construct some fabulous stories. Most importantly they wrote for a solid hour. Something I am sure several of them have never done. After this class period we spent time discussing how to develop plot, character, and suspense. I made it a point to really break down these elements into examples that the students could understand and relate to. I used pictures, movies, and books to help students relate to the different concepts. Sometimes I feel like teachers just tell us to write but don’t actually teach us how to write; therefore, I am doing my best to teach writing.
In April I will be starting my unit on poetry…ahhh! This is where I need help from my classmates. Poetry is by far my biggest weakness; I am extremely nervous. I will have approximately two weeks to teach my unit and the one area I feel semi-comfortable with is the Harlem Renaissance Era. However, I am not for sure how to teach poetry. What activities can you incorporate into a poetry lesson? Just simply reading poems for two weeks is not something I want nor do I suspect the kids would want. So how can I teach a variety of poems but make it more interactive and interesting? Any ideas or suggestions would be awesome!
Creative writing circles, what a great idea! Ohh, and I'll have "Mrs. Miller" give you her poetry book assignment. It incorporates writing poetry, analyzing poetry, and finding figurative language in poems. And they get to color.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! That would be great:)
DeleteHeidi,
ReplyDeleteI am excited to hear that creative writing has gone well. Creative writing circles are a fun way to get students writing.
As for your poetry unit... Are you familiar with the SOAPSTone strategy? It is a common tool for breaking down poetry. S= Speaker, O= Occasion, A= Audience, P= Purpose, S= Subject, Tone= tone/mood. I have found that it helps students to think more critically as they read poetry and it helps them to understand/break down poetry. I have a PowerPoint that Ms. Harvey created over the strategy and a Word template for it. Let me know if you are interested and I will e-mail them to you.
I also recommend focusing on imagery, using all five sense. I have found that this helps students to recognize and appreciate how powerful poetic imagery is. It also helps them to connect more deeply with a piece.
Poetry is fun. Don't be scared. I have no doubt that you will do well and enjoy the unit. :)
- Mercedes Spears
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteYAY FOR WRITING CIRCLES!!!!! I am so happy for you that your creative writing strategy worked so well (and a little jealous...I'd LOVE for my students to write for a solid hour!).
Here are my suggestions for teaching poetry:
*Start with the basics, unless your students are SUPER familiar with them: meter, rhyme scheme, stanza length, sonnet structure, free verse, enjambement, etc. And if you do go through the basics, use many examples and model those examples for them. Then have them work with the examples!
*Before you ask them to dissect anything on their own, show them an uber-vast array of poetry in all of its glorious, creative forms. Students will better understand what you need them to understand if they comprehend that poetry equals complete freedom from any type of restraints--personal, religious, political, social, etc.
*Have students analyze poetry individually, then in small groups, or in small groups, then by themselves. This will help them to appreciate multiple points of view and ideas.
*At least once, have them construct a poem by themselves (Again, you could model this for them first.). They could draw popsicle sticks or straws to determine what type of poetry frame they'll be working within. Fun!
Here are some other resources:
http://www.poetryclass.net/resource.htm
http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/poetry.htm
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/24667-teaching-poetry-strategies/
I hope this helps! Best of luck--you'll be great!
Thank you for the great resources! I really appreciate the support!
DeleteHeidi, don't forget to just have students enjoy reading/listening to poetry.
DeleteTry a poem a day from Poetry 180: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ or The Writer's Almanac: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/.
You could have your students pick a poem and then create and publish a digital story that represents the poem using images, audio, and the poem's text.
Have fun!!