My students are choosing more and more to use poetry to express themselves during free writing and, even more so, as a method to show what they know for presentations during Units of Inquiry. |   |
One all time favorite is the Haiku Poem. Another we have recently introduced is the Verb Poem. Rewriting lyrics to a song is also very popular and effective. These text types provide structure to scaffold student’s expression. In other words student’s don’t have to think about the format. They are free to only think about what they need to express.
Yesterday, via Twitter, I found another great idea for Poetry, Book Spine Poetry, by Travis Jonker (twitter @100scopenotes and website: http://100scopenotes.com).
This morning I decided to try it out myself so I made a rare visit to my school Library (Leigh Ann would be so proud) and began playing with book spines. Also, I find it challenging to help students understand and support synthesis but today I think I discovered synthesis thinking in action. I was literally taking title ideas and creating my own poem; a new idea!
Yesterday, via Twitter, I found another great idea for Poetry, Book Spine Poetry, by Travis Jonker (twitter @100scopenotes and website: http://100scopenotes.com).
This morning I decided to try it out myself so I made a rare visit to my school Library (Leigh Ann would be so proud) and began playing with book spines. Also, I find it challenging to help students understand and support synthesis but today I think I discovered synthesis thinking in action. I was literally taking title ideas and creating my own poem; a new idea!
What actually happened?
How could this apply to you?
- I set foot into the library
- I read
- I wandered around the library hunting for spine inspiration, going into areas I may never normally visit if at all
- I thought of creative ways to combine titles to make meaning from others ideas
- Images popped into my head as I read titles
- I noticed books that grabbed my interest and even considered reading some (shock!)
- I felt a sense of achievement for composing a Spine Poem along with dash of amusement
- I captured the poems on my trusty iPhone (maybe I could have filmed it while reading the titles)
How could this apply to you?
- composing poetry
- a practical activity to demonstrate and explain synthesis
- describe the thinking used to select and compose a Spine Poem
- poetry for ESL, as students can compose using other’s words
- for young children, compile titles of books read or going to read
- responding using The Arts (visual, dance, music or drama) to ideas that come from titles or Spine Poems
- taking a title or a Spine Poem to then write a story (great for the Ideas Writing Trait)
- for those challenged by handwriting, take a picture of the Spine Poem
- video the Spine Poem while reading the titles out loud
- explore your library
- find a book to read that you may not have been aware of
- distinguish fiction from non-fiction by asking students to compose a poem in each section
- writing the Spine Poem for handwriting or typing practice (including using various fonts to enhance meaning)
RSS Feed