A few years ago, I had a truly game-changing ‘aha’ moment I had several struggling students in my class. The ones that never seemed interested in my content. They often missed assignments and needed re-direction, after school sessions, the concerned phone calls home… you’ve been there. I tried everything I could to engage their interest. I opened up book choice, forgoing a whole class novel. I let them write an argument on any topic of their choice, played interactive grammar games, but my bag of tricks didn’t work with this particular group of students. Then, one day I introduced blackout poetry.
I walked by this group of friends, sitting together as they worked on their poems, pausing quickly to check on their status just like any other day. I stopped dead in my tracks. I was floored. My mouth agape. Their work could have been displayed in an art museum instead of the cement walls of my classroom it was destined for.
This group of struggling English students were gifted artists, but I had not yet tapped into their intelligence area. They were so proud of their work, so proud to excel in an English assignment. Since that day, my ‘aha’ game-changing moment, I have worked to make sure that I allow for creative expression like this in my lessons and assignments as often as I can. One of my favorites is my Tone and Mood Blackout Poetry assessment. So, I will finally get to the point…
Tone and Mood Blackout Poetry Assessment
After students have learned about tone and mood as well as connotation in my complete tone and mood unit, I introduce this creative assessment.
Students are given a poem. The two poems I love to use for this activity are “My Father Teaches Me to Dream” by Jan Beatty (1996) and “The Facebook Sonnet” by Sherman Alexie (2011). They are both fairly accessible to students with messages that they can resonate with and relate to. My goal for this activity is to assess their ability to navigate tone and mood, so, for this particular assessment, I avoided the convoluted or complex pieces. I have also use the short story “Cemetery Path” by Leo Rosten for this assessment. I just make sure to print the story so that it fits entirely on one page.
Then, I ask students to close read the piece of literature they (or you) selected. I want them to use all of those great annotation strategies I have already taught and write all over the page! I ask them to identify the tone and mood of this piece right on this page.
When students are finished with their close read, I provide them with a fresh copy of that same text.
To complete the blackout poem, I ask students to complete a second read of the piece. This time, they box out the words and phrases (based on our connotation lesson) that illicit the tone the author expresses. Finally, students will draw a picture of the mood they felt while reading the piece over the top of the remaining words – leaving the boxed words visible.
Students will turn in both copies of the text when finished. These works of art will reflect their understanding of tone, mood, and connotation while providing a creative outlet for students. Plus, they make a phenomenal bulletin board! For a complete lesson plan of this activity, with a bonus extension activity, click here!
To learn more about my tone and mood unit or my close reading strategies units, click below!
