Song Poetry

Approaching songs as a genre of poetry offers students an enjoyable entry into poetry while introducing them to critical inquiry, expanding worldviews, and personal relevance within the scope of poetry. Allowing this to be an intuitive experience will facilitate a creative exploration and connection to poetry in a natural way. Students enter the classroom already equipped with life experiences that inform their views of the world and of themselves. Week 1 is designed to engage with their existing experiences while expanding their views of the people and circumstances around them and in society. Throughout this week's study, students will engage with a song as a mentor text to discover how writers confront challenges and propose solutions through poetry. From Day 1, students will employ the recursive process of experiencing, analyzing, inquiring, reflecting, and creating poetry. Each day is built around student relevance as they explore questions and discussions that place them at the center of the poetry study. By Day 5, students will have the opportunity to share their song poetry both in class and beyond the classroom walls.

Helpful features:

• Use the Poetry Process Planner to help students keep track of their work. This checklist doubles as a rubric for their writing process. While the grading process is up to each teacher, I encourage a credit/no credit approach for the assignments and activities. This will allow students to take risks in their writing and analysis activities and it will open them up to more creative avenues of thinking.

• The Critical Inquiry Tools and Exploration will help students dig deeper into the messages and learn how poetry is used as a vehicle for change in society. The Worldview Tools and Exploration will help students discover to value of expanding their worldview and celebrating multicultural diversity within society.

• Peer Feedback Guidelines are provided to help students learn how to give positive, meaningful feedback and ask clarifying questions that aid fellow student-poets in their writing process.

• A Student Self Evaluation is provided each week to offer students meta-cognitive writing and voice into their grade for their published work. This evaluation helps students learn how to assess their work constructively and gives them a chance to share their challenges and victories with you.