What is this road? you might ask. Poetry, of course! Poetry is the perfect writing genre in which to play with language: to learn (or coin!) new words; experiment with literary devices; play with punctuation (with purpose, of course); to shape words on a page unlike any essay ever written. Best of all, poets can freely express their deepest thoughts and emotions, their humor, and observations of the world or life. Topics can range from the sublime to the ridiculous; forms can encompass free verse to limerick, rhyme to concrete. Individuality is the key, as each poem a student writes expresses their own ideas, thoughts, and emotions in their own unique way.
We'll read poems, too, peeling back layers and trying to unlock the mysteries they hold. Students will come to understand that they may have to retrace their route with a poem, drive back over it, discover things they hadn't seen the first time down that road. They will come to appreciate the deeply layered beauty of a poem--layers of meaning, layers of language--like the petals of a rose that smells ever more fragrant as as you pluck away petals to reach the inner bud. They will chuckle at the rhymes of Jack Prelutsky, and maybe turn a bit introspective after reading "The Giving Tree". They will become expert drivers as they navigate the language of poetry, identifying devices, form and structure and analyzing their purpose and effect. Their reading and observation of poems will inform their own poetry writing, always with the goal of trying a new device or style, of traveling down a road less traveled to take readers of their poems on an exciting new journey.
Homework:
Monday: Prepare for book group tomorrow; vocab quiz Thursday (play quizlet!)
Tuesday: Read for book group Friday; vocab quiz Thursday (quizlet!)
Wednesday: Vocab quiz tomorrow
Thursday: prepare for book group tomorrow; work on poem
Friday: Finish your "beautiful words" poem; prepare as a final draft to turn in Tuesday 3/27
Beautiful Words Poem
Beautiful Words Poem
