Using I Poems to Teach Poetry, Literacy, and a Sense of Place to English Language Learners

http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/prodlearn/prodlearn/summer_2007/Faulkner_Bobbi/art3.html

Using I Poems to Teach Poetry, Literacy, and a Sense of Place to English Language Learners

Context

Then: This unit was created as partial fulfillment for RE 5130, Teaching the  Language Arts, with Dr. Beth Frye as I worked towards my masters in Reading Education K-12 at Appalachian State University.  With this project, we were introduced to the idea of using poetry to explore other content areas.  I am a lover of poetry, so I was enthused by this novel way of integrating poetry into content.  The focus of my communication skills class, a locally required class for 10th graders, is writing, mainly informational and research writing.  As soon as I was given this assignment, I began to think of ays to integrate the two types of writing we had been studying into the poetry unit.  The informational writing component of the course id geared to the NC 10th Grade Writing Test.  In order to make this type of writing more appealing, I had tried to make it more personal to the students.  When learning about writing definition papers, the overarching theme was "Define Yourselves."  This approach proved very effective as was evidenced by students' attentiveness in class and their writing samples.  Dr. Frye's assignment was to integrate a poetry unit in our classroom that used poetry as a vehicle for learning about other content areas.  Thus, I designed this unit using the I-poem.  Because students were researching the country in which they were born, this unit fit well with the "Define Yourself" theme and allowed me to broach the topic of research writing in a much less painful manner.
Now:  I have since used the research(ed) poem in all of my classes as a way for students to learn and practice research skills.  Stay tuned for more posts detailing how I implemented these poems and providing resources for you educators out there!

I Poem Poetry Unit

Learning Context:  This unit was developed for and implemented in my tenth grade communications skills class, comprised entirely of Hispanic ELL students.  The focus of this course is writing, both for the tenth grade writing test as well as learning other modes of writing, including research writing.

Plan: 

• On day one, I began this unit by introducing the I-Poem format and by reading a poem about myself that I had written using this format.
• Then, I invited students to write their own poems about themselves in the same manner.  Students followed up by sharing their poems.
• The next day, we evaluated literary models of this format. First, I read Atlantic by  G.B. Karas.  
• I introduced students to the idea that the I Poem is a way to tell information about all kinds of things.
•  I conducted a mini-lesson on figurative language:  personification, metaphor, and simile. 
• The students were placed into groups to evaluate other literary models:   Sierra, Heartland, and Mojave by Diane Siebert.
• Then, students had to choose a topic to research.  I invited them to research the country of their birth and gave them a checklist of facts to search for.
•   I also shared with them several other examples of the I Poem, including mine on Kerr Lake.
•   I conducted a mini-lesson on how to express factual information in the format of an I Poem.
•  We also discussed the fact that students needed to cite the sources they used to find information.
• Students read their research and write their poems, highlighting information they would like to include in their writing.
• Then, using the rubric and peer editing, students revised and edited their poems.
• Finally, they presented their poems to several classes, in English and in Spanish.

Teacher Model Using the I Poem as a Research(ed) Poem:

I am the red-eyed tree frog,

Agalychnis Callidryas.

My scientific name sings like a song.

From Greek, it means “beautiful tree nymph.”

I live in the forest

screeching with life:

birds squawk, monkeys chatter, snakes slither, frogs croak.

Warm air, heavy with moisture.

 Leaves on bushes & trees sag with the weight of water droplets.

I am the red-eyed tree frog.

Up in the tree, I sit, legs ready to climb.

Look high, look hard—

You won’t see me.

My skin matches the brilliant green leaves perfectly.

I am nocturnal—

And like a vampire, the night belongs to me.

I sleep in the bright sunlight, my blood warming.

I am an amphibian.

I sleep in the broad daylight, but I am not vulnerable.

I have my sly defenses you see.

If my camouflage green fails,

I pop my red eyes open.

I unfurl my bright legs.

my would-be tormentor (snake, bat, spider, or bird)

 is confused momentarily,

and I leap away.

I am Agalychnis Callidryas,

born a squirmy tadpole swimming in water.

But, like magic, I change into what I was destined to be.

I leave the water and climb up trees.

Metamorphosis.

Some call me the red-eyed leaf frog.

I live on all continents except Antarctica—brrr.

I especially like the rainforests of Central and South America.

I have as many homes as a rich retiree.

I am the beautiful tree nymph—

my blue inner thighs are disorienting,

My big red eyes bewitching,

my orange or red feet

beguiling, especially to the insects I eat.

Yum.  The cricket is my favorite.

Crunch, crunch.  Ahh.

I am a carnivore

from the family Hylidae.

I am the red-eyed tree frog

Agalychnis Callidryas.

My scientific name sings like a song.

From Greek, it means “beautiful tree nymph.”

                                                                                                            Bobbi Faulkner

Student Research(ed) Poem Work Sample A:

   I am Puerto Rico          

I am Puerto Rico, tropical, bonito                                                                                             

I wonder what happened to the first church, San Jose.

I hear that people here are the best rappers.

I see people dancing reggaeton

I want to win the BSN game, Los Turistas de cabo rojo 

I am Puerto Rico, tropical, bonito

I pretend that I am hot

I feel coborrojeno famouse of cabo Rojo lighthouse

I touch the Punta Real Beach,

I worry about the Mata con hacha (“those who kill with axes”)

I cry when my people immigrate to USA

I am the number uno “Puerto Rico”

I understand why all the people love “Puerto Rico”

I say that I am the beautiful one in Puerto Rico-- “Cabo Rojo”

I dream to have more land

I try too much to be so hot

I hope that I can win the BSN game Los toristas de cabo rojo

I am the number one “Puerto Rico”

by Oscar

Student Research(ed) Poem Work Sample B

I am beautiful Guatemala, only Totonicapán.

I wonder what happened to the ancient Mayans.

I hear the marimba, the drum of the chirimía.  

I see the beautiful dances of the pascarines. 

I want to work on tying jasper for my food.

I am beautiful Guatemala, only Totonicapán.

I pretend to be a good place but some one don’t understand me.

I feel happy and sometimes I feel sad.

I touch my heart but I don’t feel; I think it’s broken.

I worry about my people because of too much violence.

I cry when the people kill each life.

I am beautiful Guatemala, only Totonicapán.

I understand when the people don’t love me.

I say I don’t care when I’m despised just for being poor.

I dream for more work and more peace for each people.

I try to change people to love Totonicapán.

I hope each of the trees don’t cry any more.

I am beautiful Guatemala, only Totonicapán.   

By Maria

Oral Presentation Rubric:  I Poem Presentation

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Preparedness	Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed.	Student seems prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals.	The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.	Student does not seem at all prepared to present.
Speaks Clearly	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (95%-100%) of the time and mispronounces no words.	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (95%-100%) the time, but mispronounces one word.	Speaks clearly and distinctly most (85%-94%) of the time.  Mispronounces no more than one word.	Often mumbles or can not be understood OR mispronounces more than one word.
Content	Shows a full understanding of the topic.	Shows a good understanding of the topic.	Shows a good understanding of part of the topic.	Does not seem to understand the topic very well.
Posture and Eye Contact	Stands up straight, looks relaxed and confident.  Establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the presentation.	Stands up straight and establishes eye contact during the presentation.	Sometimes stands up straight and establishes eye contact.	Slouches and/or does not look at the audience during the presentation.
Volume	Volume is loud enough to be heard by all audience members throughout the presentation.	Volume is loud enough to be heard by all audience members at least 90% of the time.	Volume is loud enough to be heard by all audience members at least 80% of the time.	Volume often too soft to be heard by all audience members.
Listens to Other Presentations	Listens intently.  Does not make distracting noises or movements.	Listens intently but has one distracting noise or movement.	Sometimes does not appear to be listening but is not distracting.	Sometimes does not appear to be listening and has several distracting noises or movements.

I Am Poem Rubric:  Written Work

CATEGORY	5	4	3	2	SCORE
Historical/factual accuracy	All historical/factual information appears to be accurate.	Almost all historical/factual information appears to be accurate.	Most of the historical/factual information is accurate.	Very little of the historical/factual information is accurate.
Voice	Point-of-view, details, and personification consistently in character.	Point-of-view, details, and personification often in character.	Point-of-view, details, and personification sometimes in character.	Point-of-view, details, and personification rarely in character.
Required Elements	Student included more information than was required.	Student included all information that was required.	Student included most information that was required.	Student included less information than was required.
Extras—pictures, shaped poems, etc.
Sources	Students properly cited at least 3 sources.	3 sources used but not properly documented.	2 sources used and/or not properly documented.	No resources page—sources not documented.

rubric made using rubistar

                                              Reflections:

Reflection:  Mini-lesson

            The students had a harder time than I imagined with these concepts.  So, I told them to think of insults they use with each other.  For instance, one student said, “You look like a dog.”  It’s not a nice comment—but it is a simile!  This conversation really helped them to catch on to the concept of simile.  Metaphor was a bit harder, but I gave a few examples that illustrated the concept.  The class liked and connected to the examples I gave because they centered on other students in the class.  One example was about a student, Oscar.  He’s always bragging about how strong he is and showing off his muscles.  So I asked the students what we could compare Oscar to that would illustrate the quality of strength.  They responded, “A rock!”  So our metaphor was, “Oscar is a rock.”  Once we had this conversation, my students grasped more fully the concept of metaphor.

            We practiced writing personification.  We reviewed what we had learned about personification from the literary models of I Poems.  At this stage, the literary models are the poems that were written in our class:  Ms. Beverly’s, my poem about the frog, and my poem about Vance County.  They wrote their own examples of personification and did well.  I chose personification as a device to focus on because it seems to be the main vehicle of this type of poem—after all, the poem is told from the perspective of something nonhuman.

            One student said, “So this is like the poem we wrote the other day about ourselves, only we have to write about our country?”

            Success!  I dread getting into MLA, though.  I think I will change that requirement for now.  I know MLA is something I will have to teach, but for now, I am just going to require a resources page where the students list the URLs of the websites used for research and the date accessed.  This type of citation, though informal, will plant the seed that sources must be cited.

Reflection:  Group Analysis of Literary Models:

            The students were really serious and engaged in their group work.  It’s really the first time this semester (and next week is the end of the first nine weeks) that they were totally engaged and couldn’t believe class was over when it was.  My two newest ELL students struggled more with this analysis, even after we reviewed the concepts of personification, simile, and metaphor.  In the future, these two students would be in separate groups.  This time, I let them choose their groups, but I think that I will try to create a more heterogeneous ability group for this type of analysis in the future.  Also, I will introduce the literary concepts sooner.  Of course, for many of my students, the mini-lesson on figurative language was review because they have already had English I and II.  But for others, this course is their first English class aside from those they took just to learn the language.

Research Reflection:

            Before going to the library today, I gave students a list of possible facts to search for.  They had so many questions about what to look for that I decided to give them a bit more guidance.  Of course, these were just suggestions of information to find, not a requirement.  The questions were:  1.  How big is the state?  2.  Where did the name of the state come from?  3.  What tourist attractions are there?  4.  Describe what the place looks like.  Describe the climate.  5.  What do people do for fun there?  6.  What are some interesting facts?  7.  What does the flag look like?  8.  What kind of animals live there?  9.  What kind of jobs are available?  10.  What personal knowledge do you have about the state and/or country?  The students very quickly found information on their places of origin.  They were slightly more reluctant to sit down and read the research, but once they got started, even my most resistant boys were fascinated by the information they learned about their native countries.      

            Caleb was very excited to have found a picture of the cathedral he attended as a child.  “Can I print it?” he asked hopefully.  He did print the picture, and I was pleased that a hope I had for the project was realized:  I had hoped that the students would integrate the knowledge they had about the subject they were researching with new information they discovered.  The next day in class, I made a point of sharing Caleb’s find with the class.  We discussed how research is often a time when we add new information to that we already know.  Other students shared how it was neat to research where they were from because a lot of the history and geography they already knew, but seeing it described in English with pictures made it seem really important. 

            At this stage, I am pleased. This project is moving right along. But I fear Monday—the day that we devote to reading through the printed research and deciding what to include in the poems.  I know that this process will be frustrating to some of these students.  Several of them are still very dependent on their electronic translators, and I wonder how much of this research will make sense to them.  I also know that the I Poem is an abstract way to present information, so I will need to do some direct teaching of how to do this.  I think I will take some information out of the research and show them how to put it in an I Poem, using the overhead and a think-aloud approach.  I will also have to do a lot of one-on-one help, which I don’t mind.  But this class does have behavioral problems when I try to circulate and do one-on-one writing help.  So we shall see. 

Poetry Writing Reflection

            The students were very serious today when they sat down to write their poems.  To my delight and surprise, they concentrated and behaved well so that I was able to offer personalized help to every one.  It was really neat to see how much information they were actually able to incorporate into their poems.  We type them tomorrow and then they present them on Friday.

Presentation Reflection:

            I wanted to get this project completed and graded so that it would count for this fist nine weeks.  In the future, I would like to devote more time to the students actually practicing and rehearsing their poems so that their presentations are more fluent.  I am glad that I incorporated a listening factor into the presentation rubric:  the students paid great attention while other students shared their research and poem.  Overall, I was pleased.  The students were very proud of their work.  I laminated the finished product, and they were excited to see something they created that looked so “professional.”

Part II—Analysis:

As I mentioned in my day-to-day reflections, I was very pleased with the results of this project.  It definitely served the purpose of introducing research in a meaningful context.  The impact on student learning was immense.  These students really worked on a project through all of the stages of the writing process:  from brainstorming a topic to publishing.  Students learned a variety of concepts, from figurative language to research methods to presentation skills.  I have enclosed a copy of the poems my students wrote for reference.  Their writing is very detailed—information laden and poetic.  For example, Sandy, an EC student in my class, wrote “I Am Huehuetenango.”  This poem is sophisticated and shows a grasp of the concept of the I-Poem and of research.  Until this project, Sandy had not shown proficiency in writing.  She could not write a paragraph that made sense due to syntax problems and word choice errors, so her attempts at the five-paragraph essay fell short, further frustrating her.  In this poem, she wrote, “I understand the languages are all different here/I say be strong and together/I dream of more medicines for the sick people/I try to have more freedom/I hope for more visitors to see my city/I am Huehuetenango, a pretty city.”  This last stanza definitely gives a feel for the place Sandy called home for seven years.

            Overall, my students were very motivated by this project.  Every student completed the project from start to finish—which is a first for this semester.  I have had problems with students completing assignments in the past.  Also, just glancing at the scores students made on this project, I can tell student learning was impacted.  Because the topic was personal and the format easily accessible, I think that students were more invested, more motivated to do their best.  On the written portion of this project, scores ranged from 88-100.  On the presentation portion of the project the scores ranged from 86-97.  I am not an easy grader, so for all of my students to make at least a B on this project—that speaks volumes to me about its effectiveness.

            My students’ writing did improve.  We have since written a letter to an important person, and in these letters, I noticed sprinklings of similes and metaphors.  The knowledge transferred.  Also, my students gripe less about revising.  I think that with their poems, they came to appreciate the value of tweaking and rewriting a piece, of putting forth the effort to making their writing as good as possible.  They also behave a lot better during conference time in our writer’s workshop so that I can be more teacher than police. 

            I will certainly continue to use poetry as a means of integrating other curricula areas.  Poetry is a passion of mine, and I often am told that there is no time for creative writing within the constraints of our cramped curriculum.  So anyway that I can validate teaching with poetry, I do.  This project is a favorite of mine, one that I am sure I will continue to use.  I had honestly never thought of using poetry in this way before, but now that I have, I will continue to think of ways to integrate poetry into research.  The impact this project has had on my teaching is simply that I will ALWAYS use poetry as a way to begin research.  It’s SO cool!

Update:

After working on an EdD at Appalachian State University (still in progress), I discovered qualitative research, specifically poetic inquiry, and I love even more the practice of using research(ed)poems as both an entry into research and poetry because it is the epitome of poetic inquiry.  Dear readers, expect more to come on this topic as I continue to explore the use of poetic inquiry in my teaching.