The other day, I was so excited. I had an awesome activity planned. Students were going to be moving around and wholly engaged. This was going to be the best lesson ever. Except it wasn't. Why is it that teenagers can suck the fun out of everything? Here I was putting all of this creativity and work into this activity, and several of them would have been perfectly content just taking notes instead.
The more I reflect on the activity I created, the more apparent my faux pas. I, as many of us do, tend to think that all students feel like me. That we all have the same likes and dislikes, the same learning styles, but that just simply isn't true. Learning styles vary from student to student, and as much as I enjoy getting up, running around, and interacting with others, some of my students not only dread those activities, but they don't even learn in that environment.
Lately, I've heard a lot of talk about the enneagram and strength-finders, and it has drawn my attention to the different learning styles of my classroom. I need to adjust my mindset and efforts beyond my interests and style; instead, focusing on the varied learning styles of my students. That is why I am dedicating this particular post to that exact topic. I am taking one of my key, annual units, poetry, and I am viewing it through the lenses of the different learning styles.
The various activities mentioned in this post (with the same learning targets) can be individual assessments in my classroom, or I can offer them as a menu. If I use it as a menu, it becomes a differentiated student choice assessment (which we all know is quickly becoming one of my favorite things). For more about my journey into choice assessments, check out this blog post!
Without further ado, let's break down some poetry activities by learning style!
Blackout Poetry for Visual Learners
I know I've mentioned this activity before, but I am always amazed at not only how creative some of my students are, but which students really enjoy Blackout Poetry. Their artistic talent is inspiring.
You can check out my full post on Blackout Poetry here, but the gist is that students start with a poem (either provided or chosen). Ideally, this poem has a theme that is easily accessible to teens. If it is a poem I chose, I begin by giving them a copy of the poem, and I ask them to do a close read. When they finish with the close read, I provide a second copy of the same text. (Note: If the students choose their poem, I would ask them to print two copies of the poem, but turn one into me before the close read for safekeeping. Papers seem to disappear in student binders magically.)
On the second copy, students will box out words. When choosing which words to box out, students have a few options. They can box out words to create a sentence or personal message that aligns with the poem, or they can box out terms that illicit the tone or mood of the poem. Either way works depending on the goal of the assessment and learning target.
Once the students have boxed out the words of their choice, they create and color a picture over the top of the poem to match either the mood they feel when reading or the message they are telling through their word choice. I love the options with this activity, and the visual learners in my class attacked it with a vengeance. Take it from someone who has been there. The students who will respond to this activity may amaze you.
Poetry in Music for Auditory Learners
Music and poetry go hand-in-hand, and when your students are auditory learners, music is a great go-to for almost any activity.
One lesson I like to use for this learning style is to give students a page of lyrics, not telling them they are lyrics. I ask the students to do a close read of the lyrics/poem and determine a mood and tone, identify poetic devices, etc. Once they have completed their close read, I give them a fresh copy, and I have them to listen to the song. Now, if students did not realize the poem was a song to begin with, this may be a super awesome surprise for some of them (especially the auditory learners). I tell them I am going to play through the song twice. The first time, I want them to listen and feel for the message in the song. After listening, I ask them to reflect on how hearing the song changed their understanding and interpretation of the poem. The reflection is often an individual activity, but sometimes, I let them discuss it with a shoulder partner. After reflecting, I play the song again. This time they do a "close listen," analyzing the way the lyrics are delivered writing down their thoughts on the poem just as they did earlier with their close read.
Following the "close listen" (since the focus is on auditory learners), I follow this lesson up with a discussion where we focus on how hearing the "poem" changed the message for us, and how artists use their music to tell a story. I like to guide students to focus on the frequency of poetic devices in songs (Do you think musicians and lyricists use specific poetic devices more than others? Why?). I encourage them to use other songs as examples during this discussion as well. It's good practice for citing textual evidence!
To step this activity up even more, I also have the option of playing the same song covered and adapted by several artists. Taking a song that originated in the fifties, then playing the original in addition to several modern interpretations, can make for a fascinating discussion about why/how the message has changed over time as the world has changed.
Classroom Poetry Slam for Kinesthetic Learners
Poetry slams are all about interpreting poems through performance, and that is why I think they rock for kinesthetic learners.
If you are unfamiliar with a poetry slam, it is an activity (often a public performance) where poets are encouraged to perform their poetry with an emphasis on gestures, enthusiasm, tone, and mood. Typically, with public poetry slams, an audience judges the poem and performance (usually with a rating system); however, I don't always find that type of competition in the classroom necessary to get solid slam poetry performances out of my students.
I like poetry slams because I have the option of having students perform their own poems or the poems of someone else. Sometimes both! For kinesthetic learners, they can get up and move, and they can spend time honing their performance with feedback from peers. Depending on the learning targets, the way students approach the poems can be adapted to show different proficiencies.
A classroom poetry slam can be competitive or just for fun, but the engagement (especially with those kinesthetic learners) is real!
Poetry Mashup for Reading/Writing Learners
A poetry mashup is an exciting way to have students dig into some of the classic poets and their work.
Without the internet, a poetry mashup could be a little difficult to set-up, but with the world-wide-web at our fingertips, a poetry mashup is not only easy; it is prep free.
Begin by giving students two numbers. One number represents the number of poems they have to integrate into their new poem (we'll use the number 5), and the second number is the number of lines their new poem must have (15). If you want to adjust the requirements for advanced students, you can also provide a poem type, rhyme scheme, etc. Once the students have their numbers, they can get on a computer and get to work. The student's objective: create a new 15 line poem with a message they (the student) can relate to using the work of five other poets.
Personally, I like to make the rules a little more restrictive because I think it invites more creativity and problem-solving. One restriction I would give is that students have to take full lines from poems, but can't use two lines in a row from the same poem or song, that the poem has to follow a particular rhyming pattern, or that the students have to use specific poetic devices in the final mashed-up poem.
For students who are reading/writing learners, they get an opportunity to see and hear a lot of examples, interact with the poems on paper/documents, and show their proficiency through reading and writing, but this activity also pulls at my teacher heartstrings because students frequently pull pieces from classic poets and find new ways to interact with poems I've heard many times before.
Bonus Option: Want a super-advanced version of this activity? Limit students to only using Shakespearean sonnets and stay honest to both the iambic pentameter and the rhyming scheme WITHOUT using more than two lines from any single sonnet. Believe me, it is possible, but it is not for the faint of heart.
Whether you are just using one of these activities or taking on the challenge of creating a poetic menu for students to choose from, make sure to consider all of the learning styles of your students-highlight their strengths!
Related Articles:
Related Resources:
