Poetic Lessons

This semester in AP Lit, I tried out Station Rotation for some work with poetry.  In brief, here was the focus at each station:

1.  share notes from previous night's homework (on imagery)

2.  Read My Papa's Waltz.  Make a T chart of positive or negative imagery.  Make determination of Woo Hoo or Boo Hoo for the poem.

3.  Read Those Winter Sundays.  Determine Woo Hoo or Boo Hoo.  Write brief paragraph explaining decision.

4.  Read poems on poetryfoundation.org.  Select a few lines from a poem of your choosing that would be suitable for hanging on a poster in our school.

5.  Read Blackberry Picking.  Then, listen to Seamus Heaney read it.  Annotate the poem to show what you noticed about it based on hearing the poet read his own work.


I wanted to share some of the results of my students' work on #4.  I thought they had great ideas about how to inspire others through poetry (and even gave pointers about where to hang the hypothetical posters!).

Here are some of their selections:

• Books are door shaped portals carrying me across oceans and centuries, helping me feel less alone.  —Margarita Engle

• We need you and your stories and questions that like a fresh path will take us to new vistas.  —Pat Mora

• You had my back.  We fought the fight.  And though our score was less last night, we’re walking tall.  Our team came through and stuck together like crazy glue. I’m proud to say I lost with you. —Sara Holbrook

• The windows of a classroom always open to the future. —Yehuda Amichai

Warm Reads for Cold Winter Days

With the freedom to read what they wanted over Winter Break, my senior AP Lit students hit the stacks.

Here's a sampling of the books they read:

Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini

Psychopathy of Everyday Life by Freud

River’s End by Nora Roberts

Brain on Fire

Al Franken books

Great Tales of Horror

A Purpose Driven Life

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah Maas

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Everyday

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

P.S. I Still Love You

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Blood Oath

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Hollow City

Library of Souls

Everybody, Always by Bob Goff

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The Scythe

Talk Like Ted

Emergency Contact

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Wizard’s First Rule

Supersystem by Doyle Brunson

The Wrath and the Dawn

Dune

Streets for People

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

If you are looking for a new book, maybe consider one of these.  They come highly recommended.  Happy reading!