The Poetry of a Place

You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone. -John Ciardi

 

Objective

Through free-writing and discussion, students will create detailed descriptions of unnoticed places in their familiar environment. Using these descriptions as inspiration, students will explore the different forms and elements of descriptive poetry and create a colorful poem of their own.

How does this activity relate to Kidspace?

Like a poet, Susan Leopold closely observes, interprets, and recreates the world she lives in. While in Kidspace, your students will explore the intricacies of Leopold's miniature spaces and examine the visual language she uses to express her ideas. This post-visit activity will enable your students to reconsider their immediate environment on an intimate scale and further develop their skills of observation, interpretation, and expression through writing and/or drawing activities.

Activity

There are three parts to this activity. In Part A, your students will listen to or read a descriptive poem. In Part B, they will gather data about an undiscovered place that will later be used as inspiration for a poem of their own. Part C will allow you to focus on a specific format of poetry and ask your students to create their poems in that style.

Part A

Read a poem to your students at the start of the day, making sure to read slowly. Allow them a moment afterwards to consider it, and then read it again. Explain that you would like them to listen carefully and try to form their own interpretation of what the poem is about. Help your students to enjoy the words individually and the ideas that they form. After the second reading (or third!) simply put the poem away and move on to Part B. Below is a list of selected poems and poets who have put into words their interpretation of places and things. We have also listed a few websites where you can find complete poems.

Poets, poems, and poetry collections

  • Poetry 180 , this website is wonderful! It is maintained by Billy Collins, the Library of Congress appointed Poet Laureate of the United States for 2003. Everyday he posts a favorite poem, many of which may be appropriate for your students. Below are a few we recommend:
    • Galway Kinnell, Daybreak (oo6)
    • Carol Snow, Tour (023)
    • Jody Gladding, Blue Willow (146)

Other poets you may like to investigate:

  • Robert Frost, http://www.ketzle.com/frost/
  • Shel Silverstein
  • Ogden Nash, rhyming humorous descriptions of animals
  • John Ciardi
  • David McCord, word-play
  • T.S. Elliot, we suggest poems from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
  • Edgar Allen Poe
  • Billy Collins
  • Robert Louis Stevenson

The following poems (as well as others) can be found on the links that follow:

Part B

1. Ask your students to find a place in their classroom that they have never really noticed before (i.e. under a desk, a closet, behind a poster). Give them five minutes to describe that place in writing. Encourage them to note its size, color, smell, texture, and how they interact with it (as in the Familiar Spaces activity). Afterwards, ask your students to share what they wrote; emphasizing that each person's description is their personal interpretation of that place.

2. Next, explain that they will have 30 minutes to write descriptions of 10 other "undiscovered" places around their school. Explain that since they are under a time limit, they must chose places quickly and create concise descriptions. Again, ask your students, as in the Pre-Visit Activities, to use their senses to explore the spaces.

3. Back in the classroom, ask a few of your students to each share one or two of their descriptions.

This project could also be done at home, over a greater period of time, with more or less descriptions, or as a sketching activity.

 

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