So I was pleasantly surprised this year to not get the typical 7th grade response to poetry which involves muffled moans and groans and looks of despair. If anyone was cringing inwardly, they have quickly proved that they are poets, they just didn't know it! Once students' inner poets are set free, they usually find that writing poetry is not so bad or even difficult. As time goes forth and poems unfurl from their pencil points, most even find that they want to write poems--maybe even more than what I ask them to write. They begin to know the hunger of life without poetic language, without the sounds, images, emotions, humor and revelations that can feed their minds and spirits.
This week, students will conference their poems with a partner to gain the benefit of fresh eyes and ears to help them revise. They will also pool their creative genius in small groups by turning "bad poems" into good ones. As they delve deeper into descriptive language, they will use their skills and creativity to write group poems about an unseen object. The goal is to describe the object so well that others in the class can guess what it is by hearing the poem.
Homework:
Monday: Final drafts of mood/memory poem and acrostic poem due tomorrow.
Tuesday: Find a poem (in a book, online) to read aloud to someone at home. After reading it, point out to your listener the descriptive words and devices that help convey imagery and the subject of the poem.
