Tena - thanks for sharing! I was wondering about that unit of yours... Cathy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tena Linsbeck-Perron" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 7:35 PM Subject: Re: [LIT] Poetry workshop?
> Absolutely, look for the SLAM this upcoming school year. It is > awesome. Additionally, one of the most worthwhile poetry projects that > my class did was around the book, > Love that Dog. I wrote about it extensively earlier. If you've already > read about it...skip the next part! > > Would you like to do an awesome poetry and literature > project with your students? Let me tell you about > ours! > > Thought I 'd give you a run down on the lessons and > activities I have developed with "Love that Dog" by > Sharon Creech. Creech wrote a wonderful short novel > told in free verse about a young boy named Jack and > his initial aversion to writing poetry. As Jack is > introduced to various poets and their work he begins > his own writing journey. Through his work Jack finally > comes to terms with his sadness about a tragic event > in his life. He also meets author and poet, Mr. Walter > Dean Myers. > > My students and I developed a script and we "put on" a play from > "Love that Dog" for parents. For every poem Miss Stretchbeery > introduced I developed a lesson and writing activity. The students > were more motivated than I had ever seen them. > > In my multi-age class that year I had a large number of 6th grade > boys. Soooooo...I had them all play Jack. They interchanged the part > through an initial reading, a blended voices portion and then the > trade off to the new Jack. My tech savvy student created > an electronic slideshow as a backdrop. One of my 8th grade girls was > Miss Stretchbeery and one of my 8th grade boys played Walter Dean > Myers. He also > researched a bio and came up with dialogue to introduce this > important character. > > All kids read their own poetry as they fulfilled the roles of Jack'and > his classmates. They also are recited the poems highlighted in the > book. For instance, the > kids created pieces from what I call "Shades of William Carlos > Williams." They wrote their own poems based on the "Red Wheelbarrow" > as Jack did in the story. They learned about tricky rhyming schemes > with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening." They > tried their hand at writing their own pieces that using the same > rhyming sequence as Frost. We talked about "Where the Wild Things Are" > and every kids love of wild things. Then we read poetry about the > topic before reading William Blake's "Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright." > Students illustrated a picture of their > favorite "Wild Thing" in full color and then using Blake's technique > created a poem about their own "wild thing". > > We read Robert Frost's "Pasture" and kids came up with a poem that > included the invitation "You come too" at the end of their 4 line > stanzas (like Frost's poem) > but they chose to write about a place they loved and would like to > share with friends. When reading Valerie Worth's "Dog" poem we talked > about how she slowed the > world to create a little (or in her words small) poem that held so > much within a moment's time. Her very real descriptions of a Dog led > to a "Doggone Poem" > activity to write about a pet, and in absence of a pet, a squirrel, > bird, or they could go to the web site and watch the live Eagle Cam > for inspiration. > Rhyming was discouraged and words that "show not tell" were encouraged. > > I used the poem from the book's title and featured the main characters > "inspired by" poem. WDM's "Love that Boy" inspired Jack's "Love that > Dog" poem. My kids > own "Love that ___" poem was the final piece. > When my students performed their play for parents it was incredible. > Interspersed through out the play, students recited their own original > poetry based on their lives > and the connections they made from poetry and storyline of the book. > We finalized the performance with each student sharing their own "Love > that _____" poem. They all chose to write about someone in their > family. I was touched, as were the parents and > caregivers in the audience. There was nary a dry eye!. > > > Love those kids > like Ms. P loves to teach! > I said I love those kids, > like this teacher loves to teach! > Love to call them to the classroom > Love to call them, "Hey there kids!" > > Inspired by Walter Dean Myers and Jack > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
