The Storm that Was

Here's one of Sara Holbrook's poems that I particularly like, not only for the content, but also for how the poem itself is like the building up and dwindling away of a storm.

The Storm that Was
By Sara Holbrook
From: I Never Said I Wasn’t Difficult

Me?
I rolled in like a storm,
darkening the room,
ominously rumbling,
then erupting with a BOOM!

I HATE PEOPLE.
I HATE SCHOOL.
I HATE WHAT’S HOT.
I HATE WHAT’S COOL.
I CAN’T STAND RIDING BUSES.
ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MEAN.
THE WORLD IS GUACAMOLE
AND
I HATE THE COLOR GREEN.

And you?
You didn’t run for cover
or have that much to say.
You listened to my cloudburst.

And the storm?
It blew away.


What I like:
-Use of capital letters to illustrate the storm
-Shorter, fewer lines a the end, like a storm dwindling away
-Presence of onomatopoeia “Boom”
-The use of rhyming isn’t forced, but is effective when used
-I love the line: “The world is Guacamole and I hate the color green”
-The poem is something my students can relate to, just feeling so mad and then once they’ve had their chance to speak out, they settle down

Using this poem to teach:
-How lines and letters can be manipulated to illustrate an event, in this case, a storm building and then dying away
-The capital letters are like the height of the storm, they look angry, all big and shouty. We, as writers can make our poems do things that illustrate an event.
-Rhyming can be used when it fits but doesn't have to be used throughout a poem.

So I like Sara Holbrook, not in an Edgar Allen Poe sort of way but she's cool

Sara Holbrock
Poetry Books by this author include:
I never said I wasn’t Difficult
Am I Naturally this Crazy?
By Definition
Walking on the Boundaries of Change
The Dog Ate my Homework
Wham, It’s a Poetry Jam, Discovering Performance Poetry
More than Friends: Love
Sara Holbrook has also written and co-authored other books for younger children.

What I appreciate about Sara Holbrook’s work is that the middle school students are able to relate to the poems she is writing. Her poems capture the identity crises that students feel in middle school, the plight of fitting in, falling into “like” with someone, feeling alone, developmental changes, fights with friends, and feeling confused. Students can find respite and sometimes even humor in the words of her poetry. Her work is so different from the more traditional works of the poets so often taught in middle school. Students “get it” and I this is something I appreciate the most about Sara’s work. It isn’t so fluffy and silly that the students think that they are being patronized and being spoken down to like the work of Jack Prelutsky (for example, though I do LOVE his work too for younger children). It is just very “real to life”.

Sara Holbrook began writing poetry as a child and as she states on her blog, writes poems for the not-so-bad, kids, not unlike the kind of child that she considered herself to be when she was growing up, a little grumpy at times, but all and all, good kids. I believe this type of writing appeals to most pre-teens and teens because most of them are “not-so-bad” kids caught up in a tough time developmentally As a teacher of 12-13 year olds, I read these poems and I can “see” certain students living out these poems. I’ve thought to myself, “this poem totally describes Matt or Lexie”. The kids appreciate the writing too and they seem almost surprised that Sara Hobrook is able to capture their experiences in a poem.

Sara Holbrook not only writes poems but she also performs them, something we’ve been recently addressing in class. She writes that, “a poem doesn’t really come alive until it is read aloud.” This ties in well with our discussion last week on performance poetry. There is something about listening to a poem being read aloud that makes it different somehow, more alive, more real. I have read poems many times but when I’ve heard them read to me, listened to someone else breathe life into the meaning of the poem, I’ve enjoyed it so much more. Ms. Holbrook does have one video on YouTube during which she is sharing a poem. Though it isn’t my favorite poetry performance (by far), but she still uses pauses, rate and emotion to add something to what otherwise might have been just a “quick read” kind of poem. This performance, found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ff0Mdd-mdQ wouldn’t be one that I’d show my students, it still gave me a better sense of the voice behind the writer of these teen-focused poems. I liked the line where she says with a LONG pause, “my hair brown, hers…… purple” (very drawn out) because I have thought this, and I am sure kids and parents and teachers have often had this kind of reaction as well when meeting someone with unique features. Her poems are real. I like that.

Learn more about Sara Holbrook at her blog: http://saraholbrook.blogspot.com/ or read some samples of her work at: http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/sara%20holbrook%20poems.pdf

Spoken Word Video and reflection

Every teacher needs to check out this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU
I've read this poem in an email that gets forwarded around our district about once a year but hearing it, seeing it preformed was SO much more effective and I had this urge to forwarded this video link to everyone I've ever met that has commented on teachers having to work only 9 months, having plenty of vacations, being overpaid, undereducated, and about a thousand other ignorant ways to describe how easy teachers have got it made.

what's no so good?
how is it a 'poem' as well as a performance?


This video, "What Teachers Make" works because it takes just a poem, that, as I said, I've read several times before, and puts passion behind the words. It was like he was in my face reminding me of what I do everyday that I don't realize. It was intense. There is an energy there that I didn't feel when I just read it. Additionally as this poem was preformed it was very much reminiscent of bits of conversations I've had over the years regarding teaching, about that kid that worked hard and finally got a C (amazing), or about making kids work harder than even they realized they could. It is about those parent phone calls, math problems proofreading, all of the stuff of teaching wrapped up in a concise package. He nailed it! I liked also the use of repetition to emulate the practice that goes into spelling, over and over and over to get it right, it was like it was happening, right there in the poem. The shifts in volume and in emphasis given to certain phrases, rushing through some parts and slowing down for others, phenomenal.

This performance contains elements that I consider to be very poetic. As I mentioned, the phrases are concise and descriptive, effectively capturing the message that I believe the author is trying to convey. Additionally there is some repetition of phrases that are used to illustrate something (for example, practicing and practicing spelling). There is also a rhythm about the piece that drives the reading, something I definitely associate with poetry.

I found the piece fabulous. I may not connect with this as much if I were not a teacher so in that way the intended audience might be limited somewhat to teachers. Regardless, I appreciated the content and the presentation.

Lesson for 02-15-2010: Poetry Slam

Poetry Slam
Lesson Plan

Objective: Students will prepare and perform poetry to a live audience

Materials: Poems written during previous class periods, white boards/score cards

Time allotment: One class period for performance after other class periods have been devoted to poetry instruction and writing

Grade Levels: 6-12

Procedure:
1. Begin by explaining the concept of a poetry slam to the students. Ask if students have attended a poetry slam and ask them to share experiences. Poetry slam explanations and examples can be found online at YouTube or at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june00/poetryboxfreestyling.html
Discuss with students proper performance etiquette, listening when someone is reading, reading loudly and with feeling. Encourage students to look up from their poem as much as possible. If students are prepped ahead of time they could be encouraged to have poems memorized but students may need the poems with them for comfort. Also discuss with students what the job of a judge is to critique the poem, not the person. Listen to the poem for elements of poetry that have been discussed during previous lessons.

2. Divide the class into three groups (or four depending on number of students). Group one students will read their poems first while group two students will serve as judges. Group two presents and group three students judge, etc.

3. Hold the poetry slam. Record scores awarded to students during each round. After all students have read, the top poets from each round will compete for the title of Class Poet. They can read the same, or a different poem in the final round.

Assessment:
Teacher will informally evaluate students’ poems. I often use a half piece of paper to write notes to students about their expression while reading, eye contact, and presentation and give the sheet to the students after they have read.

Spoken word- 02-15-10

Yikes, is all I have to say about this piece. I have a newfound respect for writers and performers of spoken word because, 3 days for 30 lines that I'm not even sure about... this was tough!

That’s how it is

It is the sympathetic stares
Of doting do-gooders
That marvel at the miracle
That I can dress myself.
That’s right, dress myself at age 30.

Don’t you dress yourself?
I want to say with a sneer
But turn away to hide the tear
How many blind people
Do you know that walk around naked?

It is the Equal Opportunity employer
Soaking up the notoriety
For hiring the Blind anomaly
While whispering, wondering
Waiting for That One Mistake that I can’t make

Oops, that’s right
Blindness is my bad
The trait to blame for everything
It is only white, sighted
Middle class “ables” that get a screw-up allowance

It is the feature in the weekend news
Highlighting my abilities
In spite of a disability
USA Today celebrating diversity
Success in the face of adversity, applauding me

Oppression, no, can’t be
I mean, God, look at me!
Celebrity in the face of a tragedy
These pet projects putting people on paper pedestals
Nothing more than society patting itself on the back

A second lesson plan 02-09-10

Lesson number 2
02-09-10

A poetic response
Just as people can respond to one another through dialogue, poems can also be used to respond to one another. In this exercise students will work as partners to write a series of two poems, one that, in some way, responds to the other.

Objective: Students work together to write effective poems that respond to themes and references made in other students’ poems.

Class periods: 1-2

Procedure:
1. Begin with a discussion of dialogue. What is the purpose?
2. Ask two students to dialogue about something in class for 15-20 seconds. Record the dialogue on the board. Point out that when we dialogue, we use what others are saying to determine how we respond. We often restate what people say or reference their comments.
3. Explain that this can be done in poetry as well. Poems can be written in response to other poems, to events, to pieces of art, or for many other reasons.
4. Share an example of two poems written as a response to one another. Point out how one poem might include references from the other poem, and visa versa.
5. Students will be given the class period, and possibly a second period if necessary to write the poems and type them if assigned to do so.

02-08-10 Lesson Plan

A Lesson in Imagery Development

All too often I find that my students do not think beyond an object, color, etc to develop the idea. For this poem activity I require students to think about colors in ways that they normally might not consider in order for them to push themselves into thinking more abstractly and developing vivid images.

Color Poem

Objective: Students will develop their abilities to write vivid images related to colors.
Time required: One class period
Grade level: Middle School

This lesson would fit well within a larger poetry unit, around a time in the unit when there is a need to develop visual imagery.

1. Students will be writing a color poem. Start by asking students to choose a color. Perhaps they will choose a color that is one of their favorites, or one that matches a mood that they are in on that particular day. Now, ask students to brainstorm a list of images using the following prompts.
What sounds does your color make you think of?
What smells does your color make you think of?
What tastes does your color make you think of?
What textures are related to your color?
What objects come to mind when you think of your color?
What mood do you think about when you think of your color?

Using these prompts hopefully the students will come up with an extensive list of images and ideas. Now, the next step is to develop these ideas into a poem that will better capture the color in a non-traditional way. I encourage kids to choose a mood for the poem before going forward because, for example, the color red can evoke feelings of love and sweetness (like at Valentine's day) or anger and hate. White could be innocence or emptiness.

Next, students choose some of the senses or images from their brainstorming and transform these into a poem format of two stanzas with five lines each. Use the following poem as a starting point.

Pink
Have you heard the color pink?
The quiet cry of a newborn baby girl
The sigh of a flower as it opens its petals to welcome the sun
The whispered dreams of little girls planning fairy tale weddings
That is the sound of pink.

Have you felt the terror of black?
Shadows lurking on a starless night
Swirling angry clouds banking in the west
A man with a mask at your front door
That is the terror of black.

Students go on to write their own color imagery poems. Poems can then be printed on the corresponding color and displayed or read aloud in class. The color poems that my students have written in the past become part of a poetry anthology that they create.

02-08-10, A poem or something like that

So, here's a poem that I'm totally not loving but I gave it a shot nonetheless. The challenge I tackled on this one was especially hard because I couldn't quite find the language I wanted. What do you think?

Untitled

Before it happened I knew the world to be one of sounds and textures
I felt my words, heard my locations and made friends with voices, not faces

The way it happened was sudden, one day lost in a deep, dense, unrelenting fog
The next, light screaming into my eyes, burning, reaching, filling them with the world

When It happened I lost the words to name what I’d known for years
Yearning to feel, to hear, but encouraged to see, I had to learn to know with my eyes

After it happened she was there, the voice I knew to belong to my mother
My fingers ached to know her, my eyes confused by this face? Smile?

As it happened I became an infant in a grown-up world, swaddled in wonder
Force-fed a formula of colors, faces, letters, places until the words dribbled from my mouth

Suddenly it happened. The cold cylinder on the bottom left shelf in the refrigerator
became the aluminum silver can branded by black and red letters, Diet Coke

Then it happened. The doorbell rang and, who was this He at my doorstep?
The man I’d known by voice stood before me and I didn’t know how to see him.

It still happens. I search for words I do not have to name things I do not know
Still an infant in a grown up world, still learning, everyday, to see.

List Poem 02.01: Things I've wanted to say

Things I’ve wanted to say to those parents

Our meeting today helps explain everything about your daughter
If Brittany spent as much time doing homework as she does making excuses, she’d have that A
Would you like me to sit around waiting for your next email or teach your child?
Yep, I deliberately seek out students like your son and lose his assignments on purpose.
Oh, I’m sure your son searched for “hot pussy” totally by mistake.
I realize your daughter has a great body but some people can’t tear their eyes away from her breasts long enough to learn.
I’ll admit it. Your daughter is my favorite, but in her class the competition is pretty weak.
Why didn’t I think of that? Of course canning pickles trumps writing a speech.
I’m sorry your aunt died. Was it easier to handle being this is the second time this year?
No, I’m not married, and I understand why your ex-wife is no longer married to you either.
While I’m at it, would you like me to hold your daughter’s hand while she goes pee?
He acts up only for people he likes? Well then what can I do to make him hate me?
Now did your printer break before or after your daughter left the paper in her locker, I mean, on the bus, or was that at her friend’s house?
Sorry about your son’s Traumatic Brain Injury; have you considered getting yourself evaluated?
My mistake, I must have gotten Jake confused with the other hornet-shooting, potty-mouth dumb ass in the back row.
I’m all for hands-on learning but Willi and his willy take things a little too far.
If I become an alcoholic, I’ll have your child to thank.

A lesson in Editing poetry

Just Edit:
Exercise in Editing Poems

Objective: Students will practice editing a poem

Procedure:
-Discuss with students general suggestions for good poetry. This would include the following suggestions:
-Rhyming is not always good, especially if it traps you into writing something that doesn’t really fit the poem
-Use words that make sense in our current language
-Be sure that the words included in the poem have a purpose. Avoid the use of lots of “fluffy” words.
-Notice the line breaks. Do they happen in places that make sense, or do they seem awkward?

Before we practice this with our own poems, let us practice this with a poem that doesn’t belong to anyone in our class. Read the poem “The Great Cosmic Birthday Bash”. Pay attention to what the poem says to you. Thinking about the suggestions for a good poem, highlight and underline parts of this poem that you feel could use some work. Students can work together in groups to identify weak areas of the poem.

After students have identified parts of the poem that do not make sense or need additional work, ask students to rework the poem, changing words or rewriting lines if necessary to improve it. Students do this independently at first. This may need to be done as a homework assignment to give students ample time to rework the poem.

Students come back together in groups and share what they’ve written. Each group then selects one poem to read aloud to the entire class from each group. As a large group, invite the class to make general suggestions comparing and contrasting the original poem with the poems written by the students.

This lesson will prepare students for the task of examining the work of their peers and providing feedback in future lessons.

The Great Cosmic Birthday Bash
by Brennan
Today is my birthday, the day of my birth,
The day when my soul reunited with Earth.
It flew through the galaxy, past Jupiter and Mars.
It passed a few asteroids and millions of stars.
Coming from Heaven as it surely has done,
It shot past some angels all aglow in the sun.
And now it is home in my innermost child,
Which is why on my birthday I danced and I smiled.
Poem courtesy of: http://home.swbell.net/moonshad/poetry.html