Hello everyone! I wanted to share an experiment I did with my kids on Friday in case anyone would want to modify it for a lesson they do. For the most part, the students said they liked it and would enjoy trying it again some time in the future.
We have been studying the theme of "regret" for "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket," so what I came up with was a way for them to work together, explore the idea of regret, and create poetry all at once.
I started by researching the "Top 6 Regrets of the Dying," and made six stations spread throughout my room. I wrote one regret at the top of a large sheet of paper, and taped it to the wall. My expectation for them was to move around the room in groups, and contribute one line of poetry per person, per sheet of paper, so ideally when we were finished, I would have six poems that the entire class helped to create. I love when students are given the chance to be creative because they almost always surprise me with the amazing things they have to say, but writing poetry isn't for everyone. This activity makes the idea of writing poetry a little less daunting to those students who dislike creative writing.
For example, I wrote "I wish I had saved more money" on one sheet, and I wanted my students to use that as a guide for an idea, to think about why they might regret that when they are older, and try to create a line of poetry to help express something they feel about it. The next person was to read the line (or lines) written before them, and add another line of their own.
After doing this activity, here are my thoughts:
Pros: The students had fun, and thought up some interesting lines of poetry. They also mentioned that they enjoyed doing something other than sitting and reading a story together. Next time we do this, however, I will make sure to more adequately prepare them in terms of what "poetry" should look like. For example, I might require them to use a different kind of figurative language on each poem they contribute to (metaphor on one, imagery on the next, etc).
Cons: They got off task easily, and mixed groups when I wasn't looking. Many of them blew off this activity as a "free day," and my 3rd period was so chaotic that I ended up having to stop the activity because they wouldn't take it seriously at all. I have a small classroom with 30+ kids moving around from station to station, so I would have to develop a different strategy for moving them around the room if I did this again.
Overall, I think that tweaking this activity and trying it again will definitely be something we do :)
We have been studying the theme of "regret" for "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket," so what I came up with was a way for them to work together, explore the idea of regret, and create poetry all at once.
I started by researching the "Top 6 Regrets of the Dying," and made six stations spread throughout my room. I wrote one regret at the top of a large sheet of paper, and taped it to the wall. My expectation for them was to move around the room in groups, and contribute one line of poetry per person, per sheet of paper, so ideally when we were finished, I would have six poems that the entire class helped to create. I love when students are given the chance to be creative because they almost always surprise me with the amazing things they have to say, but writing poetry isn't for everyone. This activity makes the idea of writing poetry a little less daunting to those students who dislike creative writing.
For example, I wrote "I wish I had saved more money" on one sheet, and I wanted my students to use that as a guide for an idea, to think about why they might regret that when they are older, and try to create a line of poetry to help express something they feel about it. The next person was to read the line (or lines) written before them, and add another line of their own.
After doing this activity, here are my thoughts:
Pros: The students had fun, and thought up some interesting lines of poetry. They also mentioned that they enjoyed doing something other than sitting and reading a story together. Next time we do this, however, I will make sure to more adequately prepare them in terms of what "poetry" should look like. For example, I might require them to use a different kind of figurative language on each poem they contribute to (metaphor on one, imagery on the next, etc).
Cons: They got off task easily, and mixed groups when I wasn't looking. Many of them blew off this activity as a "free day," and my 3rd period was so chaotic that I ended up having to stop the activity because they wouldn't take it seriously at all. I have a small classroom with 30+ kids moving around from station to station, so I would have to develop a different strategy for moving them around the room if I did this again.
Overall, I think that tweaking this activity and trying it again will definitely be something we do :)
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