What's all this?

I call this, "Notes from ModPo, or English Teachers Can't Help But Geek Out"

Tomorrow we're jumping into poetry! I designed this module around a field trip to Western State on Tuesday for their annual Slam Poetry day and am using the week as an excuse to introduce students to some non-traditional poetry. 

Each day, we'll focus on a different type of poetry. I'll give students the option to try out some structure poetry like sonnets and limericks, but most of the week will explore more modern, free-form poetry: randomized poems, "abcedery" poems, and found poems.

I dabbled with these forms a few years ago through a Coursera class called Modern and Contemporary Poetry. It's a fun class - check it out. It's free. :) The class was a great way to get some exposure to modern poets and play with these non-traditional forms, and I've been looking for an opportunity to design a module around them at CCHS. And voila! the time has come.

We're starting out with found poetry on Monday. This poetry can take an unlimited number of forms, but for our purposes, we'll be working with lines pulled from books or news articles. I love found poems because they can take you in all sorts of directions, and that because you aren't under the pressure of writing from scratch, this form of poetry can feel much more accessible to students.

One of my favorite end-of-year assignments is to have students re-read their notes and freewrites from throughout the year and choose some of their favorite lines to re-construct into a found poem. It's a great way to re-visit earlier writing and to pull fun, random, new meaning out of context.

The example I will share with the students is one I wrote during my ModPo class, where I wrote down and then re-arranged the first lines from some favorite picture books. Here is the finished product: 

What’s all this?
 
There’s a bear
near the top
he hasn’t eaten
Harold decided to
 
this is Henrietta
Peter woke up
an armored armadillo
Miss Cora Lee
 
this is Olivia
the time of
swords and periwigs
first trip alone
 
filled with love
there is no
Windy Edge Farmhouse
for a walk
 
cat called Mog
great green room
a small world
sunny days in
 
the Wump World
the best bakeshop
every Who down
what’s all this

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