Poetry Craft Lesson

Into Poetry

The Poetry Flood Lesson

Works:
Various

Teachable Terms
Various
Purpose
This lesson is adapted from an approach originally devised by Anne Morin, longtime
English teacher at Wilson High School. It efficiently exposes students to a large
number of poets and involves a combination of silent reading, writing, individual and
group critiquing, and discussing a range of poetry. It can be carried out in a single
block period and usually belongs toward the beginning of the school year, as an
introduction to the fabulous diversity of voices and styles available in this mode of
literary expression.

Procedure
Step One: In preparation for the lesson, the teacher reproduces (in large type, so
that the poems can be read from a distance) and posts around the four walls of the
room about 40 poems. (We have included a list of 40 possible titles and poets,
including where the poems can be found, as an appendix to this lesson.) Obviously,
this selection is a matter of personal preference. The criteria are that the poems
need to be fairly short so that students can read a goodly number in a reasonable
amount of time; and, they need to represent a variety of styles and distinctive voices,
so that when students gravitate toward an alternative they gain an insight into their
current preferences.

Step Two: Using a poetry shopping list form, students walk around the room and
read at least 20 of the posted poems. As they read the poems, students record the
title and author on their shopping list and rate the poem on a 1-10 scale, 1 being “I
couldn’t stand this @#*%” and 10 being “This is great!” If the student really likes a
poem and thinks s/he might like to “buy” it, put a star to the right of the poet’s name
on the shopping list.

Step Three: After students record and rate the 20 poems on their shopping list,
they go back and “buy” their favorite poem by copying it out on the back of their
shopping list.

Step Four: Students in their journals answer the following questions about the
poem they have selected. 1) What quality attracted you to this poem? What do you
like about it? 2) What do you think the poem is trying to do? What impact on the
reader is it trying to have? 3) Does this poem remind you of any situation in your life
Poetry Craft Lesson
Into Poetry
or in the life of someone you know? If so, what? 4) Does this poem (a) resemble
other poems you have read or (b) is it unique? If your answer is (a), what does it
resemble; if (b), what is so different about it?

Step Five: Arrange students in small groups (4-5 students, depending on class
size) and have them share out their favorite poem with an explanation of what they
liked about it.

After sharing, ask students to look for patterns. What kinds of poems did members
of the group find most interesting and engaging? What qualities set the favored
poems apart from the lower ranking ones? (This is an opportunity to introduce the
old Latin saw, “De gustibus, non est disputandum” – “About matters of taste, there is
no debate.” In other words, when it comes to personal preferences in poetry or any
other art form, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. However, one should
be able to articulate one’s preferences which today’s class invites you to do.)

Step Six: In the whole class setting, have groups report out their findings. See
what patterns emerge in terms of the kinds of poetry that students spontaneously
like. Record these “preferences” as a kind of baseline that you and the class can
revisit later in the year. You might conclude the lesson by noting that preferences
evolve over time – dare we say mature? – and that poems that seem puzzling or
irrelevant at one point in your life might very well become compelling to you later on.