MGP 1

         11/18/11

            I’ve often wondered what it could take for students to be actively involved in writing poetry, not only for teachers as myself to grade, but for them to enjoy.  In my experience, students that I have taught seem to despise the infamous poetry unit.  They view the lessons as pointless, confusing, and generally put limited effort, if any, to understanding the poems.

            After conferring with some of my fellow colleagues, I have gotten a few ideas as to what might make them excited about poetry and get more involved.  One option that seemed popular was to create a class poem, with each member of the class writing their own line.  This would be a way to make sure each student would have a specific say into what goes in the poem, as well as being more entertaining to see what each other comes up with.  Another idea which was suggested to me was having one student in the class read a poem allowed each day.  It must be a poem that has a special meaning to them and explain why it is so.  This would captivate the class, and make them more interested into hearing about their classmates prospective on poetry.  Lastly, a more “hands on” activity would be to assign the class into groups and have them record a short play while making sure to use every line from a poem of their choice, in the script.

            I am thankful for my colleague’s help in this aspect and am becoming eager to test these ideas out with my classes. 

( http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/85)