Welcome to #TeachWriting, our bi-weekly chat about writing instruction! Tonight's chat will be about teaching, reading, and writing POETRY for #NationalPoetryMonth! Our moderator is @bkuhl2you! Please take a minute and introduce yourself! Couplets, haikus, limericks?
Tonight's chat will follow the traditional Q1/A1 format. Questions will be shared from this account and will begin with Q1, Q2, etc. Please begin your answer with A1, A2, etc. #TeachWriting
As usual, at the end of the chat, @bkuhl2you will share a link to our archive, a collection of tonight's tweets that you can look through to see if you missed something cool. The archive has moved, though, since Storify is doomed, to Wakelet. Details to follow. #TeachWriting
I’m Kelly. From TX. Love teaching teachers, offering PD, and excited to share poetry soon with a Books in Verse wkshop. Looking forward to this chat! #TeachWriting
#teachwriting There once was a teacher in Georgia
Who sometimes felt like a poem forger
The words she did share
By paper and air
Signed, Michelle, did naught but annoy ya.
A1: I avoid explaining. To start poetry, I put Ss on a padlet with some Rudy Francisco, Maia Mayor, Neil Hilborn, Sarah Kay, and other slam poets. https://t.co/j43RptxAMe#teachwriting
Hi, #TeachWriting. Jim from NJ. Teach HS theatre & am theatre education researcher. Also background teaching #youngplaywrights. Not a lot of experience with poetry.
A1 - I had a prof say that poetry is "dense language." I found out that it wasn't his original definition the other day . . . I like that in some ways, but I don't think kids would get that. I think it's more and less than that. #TeachWriting
A1 - I think it's more like "word art." But not just shapes and colors and decorations. Word art that uses meaning, and structure, and music, and more than just your eyes. #TeachWriting
A1: I explain that since we studied rules for grammar and writing all year, poetry is our chance to communicate while breaking all of said rules, if desired. #teachwriting
A1: Expressing feelings, thoughts and ideas through writing with rhythm. Doesn't always have to rhyme, comes from the heart and can ALWAYS can be revised in the future #TeachWriting
A1 #teachwriting told Ss 2day: poets describ feelingtidea w specially chosn words. Fewer than normal. Words they like bc of meaning, sound, or even how they look on page
I like the word "savor."
Maybe a story would work:
"Imagine your parents only let you have one piece of candy a night. Now imagine eating that candy. Everything about the candy and how you eat it matters all of a sudden. Poetry is kinda like that." #TeachWriting
Q2 - If you currently teach poetry, where do you start? What time of year, what types of poems, what kinds of tasks do you ask your student poets to perform? Why? #TeachWriting
A2: I use poetry to support themes in fiction, many times, to show students that ideas and techniques cross genres. The love seeing the connectivity. #TeachWriting
A2 - I try to work in poetry when and where I can as a science/social studies teacher, but it's tough. When I taught ELA, I tried to start with it and use it a lot. I pushed it pretty hard during workshop - it's often more accessible than longer prose pieces. #TeachWriting
A2: ideally, poetry would be used throughout the year using variety of forms. Ss could write poems in journals, create one as part of a novel study or present as part of a larger project. Doesn’t need to be a stand alone unit. #teachwriting
A2: I like to introduce poetry with an immersion into different forms, using print and performance, so writers can feel their way around and find the poems that they love most. #teachwriting
A2 - I think it makes sense to use it as a review or summarizing tool. Haiku is pretty simple - it's a fun challenge to summarize in haiku form. Thinking about trying that this week . . . #TeachWriting
A2 - We've talked about limericks here, too, as a way to add a level of challenge to writing poetry, within reason. Maybe a sonnet would be the next step. #TeachWriting
#TeachWriting Meng Li, ESL teacher in middle school. Q1: Poetry sometimes is the secret special conversation between kids and the world. Sometimes, poetry can be the story kids written for their silent “friends”. #TCOMP
A2: Not currently teaching poetry but I remember in 7th grade our teacher taught us metaphors with the poem "The Rose That Grew From Concrete" by Tupac Shakur. When she brought up an artist that we all respected and how he wrote poetry, she really hooked us in #TeachWriting
I like the word "savor."
Maybe a story would work:
"Imagine your parents only let you have one piece of candy a night. Now imagine eating that candy. Everything about the candy and how you eat it matters all of a sudden. Poetry is kinda like that." #TeachWriting
A2. Poetry in my classes comes in the form of Shakespearean sonnets somewhere around the end of MP1. Ss interpret poem into a modern scene using only the words on page. This is intro to other classical drama, which is written in similar style and/or language. #TeachWriting
A2: I like to begin class with a poem each day of the year so reading poetry, thinking about it, and leading writing with it is the norm in the classroom. Some favorite poems and ideas on my blog https://t.co/YMW8CDvP6d#TeachWriting
A2: @bkuhl2you entry for SS are historical poems, poetry written in a specific time period to demonstrate how language morphs over time. What time periods do you cover? #teachwriting
A2b: I remember when I learned about how song lyrics were poetry in middle school...and suddenly I could analyze my favorite band's lyrics for a school assignment? Poetry was a lot more appealing after that realization #TeachWriting
Q3 - What kinds of skills or concepts (or standards) do you use poetry to address? Is it part of a workshop format, or do you use it to teach figurative language or some other standard? #TeachWriting
A2: I like to begin class with a poem each day of the year so reading poetry, thinking about it, and leading writing with it is the norm in the classroom. Some favorite poems and ideas on my blog https://t.co/YMW8CDvP6d#TeachWriting
A2: We do a little March Madness. I tell students to find the BEST POEM EVER and write a recommendation letter for it. Then we set up brackets and other classes judge the poems in groups. By the end, they've been exposed to lots of poems #teachwriting
Q2 - If you currently teach poetry, where do you start? What time of year, what types of poems, what kinds of tasks do you ask your student poets to perform? Why? #TeachWriting
A2: given the success of @HamiltonMusical, @ChanceFrom79th and other artists, Ss may connect with poetry in a less formal way. Shakespeare and the like can intimidate. Also hard to see relevance from Ss POV #teachwriting
I love found poetry! I sometimes have my seniors do that in their final days...it's one type of writing that they're still willing to do a few days before graduation! :) #teachwriting
A3: Free form poetry can be a great remedy for writers block or the classic "I don't know what to write" response. Write what comes to your head, even if it "doesn't make sense" and revise it later to create a poem.
#teachwriting
Have you seen this? I used to use it when I taught 8th grade English collaboratively with our SS teacher. It's beautiful. https://t.co/IaA7QPLAWc#teachwriting
Thanks! Plus poetic elements, literary critique, group communication...covers lots of standards. It's crazy how much ownership they take over their selected poems during the "tournament" #teachwriting
A3: depending on age of Ss, I’d be thrilled if Ss we’re willing to simply write and share. Once confident, more refined skills can be covered #teachwriting
This works really well with older kids, but they often need a spark or a starter. Sometimes I just look around for something to inspire - a poster, something on the board. Do you have a go-to starting point for these struggling poets? #TeachWriting
I see the impact both have had on my aspiring artistic 15 year old sign. He’s a writer/composer/rapper who wants to express so much through his work. #teachwriting
In reply to
@bkuhl2you, @HamiltonMusical, @ChanceFrom79th
Poetry writing helps writers reach standards organically. No need to be heavy handed there. I love to introduce poems with the purpose to inspire perspective taking--diverse perspective taking. #teachwriting
Poetry writing helps writers reach standards organically. No need to be heavy handed there. I love to introduce poems with the purpose to inspire perspective taking--diverse perspective taking. #teachwriting
A2: I just read about using Blackout Poetry as a summarizing tool in Intention by @WickedDecent and @amyburvall...I never thought of using blackout poetry in that way before. Great for cross-curricular! #TeachWriting
In reply to
@bkuhl2you, @WickedDecent, @amyburvall
#TeachWriting Q2-Kids are born poets. I’d like to invite them to write poetry about themselves with metaphors first. To know them from their perspectives is more accurate and interesting than from our assumptions. #TCOMP
Soon we shall have question four
Then only three more.
Our chat is well begun
Indeed, it's more than half done.
So delve deep inside your head
And share your richest bread
This chat doth age toward death,
Enjoy its last transient breath.
#TeachWriting
A4: We use poetry as springboard for arts integration as well. Choose a VISUAL artist, put on music of same time period, and have Ss respond to a painting/sculpture by that artist. #teachwriting
I think this is beautiful: Kids are born poets.
So many of them lose this confidence when they get older and more self-conscious. Any teacher who can prevent or reverse this is worth their weight in gold.
#teachwriting
#TeachWriting Q2-Kids are born poets. I’d like to invite them to write poetry about themselves with metaphors first. To know them from their perspectives is more accurate and interesting than from our assumptions. #TCOMP
A4: poetry can be used as a means for Ss to express themselves cross-curricularly, socially or just creatively. My son created a math rap and his teacher loved it! #teachwriting
A4 - I like haiku - simple, short, can be strung together into a longer poem. It's also not about rhyme but about syllables. It helps you think more about shape, rhythm, and meaning. Heck, I might try to tweet in haiku soon . . .
#TeachWriting
A4. As w/sonnet example I mentioned, poems can be unique prompt for scene work. Poetry engages imagination in a more abstract way than narrative might. More analysis & development of character and plot are required. #TeachWriting
A4: It can be used to coach mindfulness. How many times have you just sat with a poem, because discussing it wasn't necessary or even useful? How many times has poetry left you speechless? That's a good kind of quiet. #teachwriting
A4: Any curricular area. POV poems from the POV of historical figures, chemicals on the periodical table, a layer in the atmosphere, geometric shapes. #TeachWriting
I'm feeling guilty that I haven't brought up Shel Silverstein yet. Poetry is ALL about that guy until like 4th grade, right? Or it was for me. #TeachWriting
#TeachWriting Q2-Kids are born poets. I’d like to invite them to write poetry about themselves with metaphors first. To know them from their perspectives is more accurate and interesting than from our assumptions. #TCOMP
You can use poetry to paint the picture of landscapes and culture. I remember in high school I learned about the culture and landscape of the country of Chile through the works of the poet Pablo Neruda. #TeachWriting
Bingo! He's the other rock star that I love to talk about! His odes are fantastic - for reading, or teaching. Nancie Atwell does a big thing on this. #TeachWriting
Q5 - Who are some of your favorite poets, in and out of the classroom? What are some of your favorite poems - to read, to share with students, etc.? (Poem in your pocket day is just around the corner!) #TeachWriting
#TeachWriting Q4: poetry can be the most romantic words to our loved ones. It can also be the evidence to testify that we have lived in and loved this world. #TCOMP
A4: Two voice poems can help writers and readers/listeners appreciate different sides of an issue. Especially powerful when research informs. #teachwriting
A5 - Don't forget about POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY! It sounds dorky, but it's kind of cool. "Here's a poem that is worth carrying around and sharing with people. Maybe re-reading a few times, instead of staring at my phone a little more." #TeachWriting
A4: Two voice poems can help writers and readers/listeners appreciate different sides of an issue. Especially powerful when research informs. #teachwriting
A5. Favorite poem is likely The Road Not Taken by Frost. I've brought it into the classroom during a monologue unit as a way to compare the two formats. #TeachWriting
Here's a lesson and some examples for anyone who isn't familiar - https://t.co/7PhTBAjYqx - great way to get kids thinking about the performative nature of poetry - "Writing that wants to be read aloud." #TeachWriting
A5 - I like Whitman A LOT. I use him whenever I can. Emily Dickinson has a lot of strange, short poems that can be used in creative ways. Gary Soto is really good, too. As is Neruda, like we said already. . . #TeachWriting
Q5: Also, FYI, https://t.co/QUdVEM5Yky we use this site, 25 lines or less for our required recitation (memorized!) day we call Verses on the Green. #teachwriting
Q6 - How do you (or how might you) pair poetry with tech or other media, i.e. illustration or music, in a way that helps kids engage with the art and structure of poetry? #TeachWriting
A6: Create a quotation graphic...choose a powerful line and then use Canva or another app to create a graphic of it. Then Ss can share it on their social media #teachwriting
Q6 - How do you (or how might you) pair poetry with tech or other media, i.e. illustration or music, in a way that helps kids engage with the art and structure of poetry? #TeachWriting
A6 - Teach song lyrics. Share a video, talk about the words, ask kids about the words and the meaning brought to them by the music and pictures. I used this with the Moana song, and kids were really into it. #TeachWriting
A6: Definitely could put instrumental music behind recorded poetry on a program like GarageBand. Just would need to download the MP3 and have the student record the poem on a separate track. Ex: you could put some "scary" instrumental music behind a horror poem #teachwriting
Q6 - How do you (or how might you) pair poetry with tech or other media, i.e. illustration or music, in a way that helps kids engage with the art and structure of poetry? #TeachWriting
Tomorrow is the start of the #NationalPoetryMonth#FPCreads Living Poetry Tournament! Who's ready to find out FPC's favorite poem?
Check on twitter, or Pride Park for the current matchups, and check back to @FPCSGA to vote on your favorite poem, starting tomorrow.
I watched this thing about science poets from @BrainPickings called The Universe in Verse - it's a little political and quite long, but it's full of cool science-related poetry. https://t.co/ItZCcBNxac#TeachWriting
Q7 - How might you branch out into other poets or find new poetry to read and share with your students? How do you find new authors or poems? #TeachWriting
I had a college professor that told me to look up the definition of every word in a poem to understand that each word has a specific purpose. Combine that with what you said, and just watch all the 💡 go off and engagement go up!
A7 - I check out awards. The Pulitzer and the National Book Awards do poetry. I browse the poetry section at the library. But I'm also trying to find rappers that I like. I've become a little bit of an Eminem and Kendrick Lamar fan. #TeachWriting
A7: Great question...excited to see the responses! https://t.co/M8wdH4YzIx is a great place to be turned on to new poets. Pretty small but cool community. #TeachWriting
A7 - I think the #NationalPoetryMonth is a big help, too. Lots of cool stuff on that hashtag - that's how I found the Universe in Verse thing. #TeachWriting
Sorry - missed Q7 while trying to find this, which I consider to be poetry of science. I never tire of watching it. https://t.co/lEnFwj33VV#teachwriting
I also used "Cats in the Cradle" one time. (I talked about this once during a chat.) Made a kid cry, thinking about his dad. Really moving. #TeachWriting
A7 - I think the #NationalPoetryMonth is a big help, too. Lots of cool stuff on that hashtag - that's how I found the Universe in Verse thing. #TeachWriting
Thank you so much for joining us this evening! I hope you enjoyed our chat, and I hope it was also useful! We do this every two weeks, and we'd love to see you join us again in two weeks! Thank you so much, and see you again soon! #TeachWriting
Wow, #TeachWriting. Best chat we've had in a while. Maybe it was the topic - or maybe it was all of you! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for taking the time to be here! See you in two weeks! #TeachWriting
