Susan Lewis

12-8-04

Eng 112B

Prof. Warner

Expressing Feelings Through

Poems

Through out history there have been people who love poetry as well as those who do not. Poetry is an art form that is generally over looked because a lot of people do not enjoy reading poetry, especially teens. Most people do not realize that there are many different types of poetry and teens generally loose interest before they find out that there is more to poetry than rhyming words. Teens have been forced to read poetry as long as it has been around. Not all poetry is meant for everyone and a lot of the time that is why teens do not like it. There are many poets that are over looked because a certain kind of poetry was introduced to teens before they were ready for it. Poetry can be a great way for anyone to express himself or herself and this can be a great way for teens to express themselves without drawing unwanted attention to them self.

One of the best poets for young adults is Shel Silverstein. Silverstein uses humor, rhyming, and everyday life in his poetry. Teens generally like Shel Silverstein because the poems are funny and are easy to understand. Silverstein has written three great books full of poetry Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling up. Some of Silverstein�s poems express feelings that many teens have, but the way that he expresses those feelings are in a comical way making light of situations that seem to be worse than they really are. One of the poems that express how teens sometimes feel without coming right out and saying how they are feeling is in a poem in Where the Sidewalk Ends, called �Jumping Rope�:

This started out as a jumping rope

You prob�ly think that I�m a dope

But this started out as a jumping rope

And now I fear there is no hope

But this started out as a jumping rope.

When teaching poetry there are many things to keep in mind so that the students will not loose interest, for example one of the most important things to remember is to not teach poems that you do not even like. If someone is teaching something that they do not like the lesson will not go over very well. Another very important thing to remember is to never teach a poem that you do not understand. If the teacher does not understand the poem how can the students be expected to understand the poem? One of the final things that a teacher must remember is to allow the students to have their own opinion about a specific poem, but if they do not like the one that is presented the students must be able to find a poem that they do like or can relate to (Donelson et al. 149).

Launching The Unit:

When starting the unit you must remember to make poetry fun. If you seem to be having fun with the unit the students will have more fun and may enjoy poetry more than many other teens. To start off read a poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends that makes you laugh. One of my favorites is �Rain�:

I opened my eyes

And looked up at the rain,

And it dripped in my head

And flowed into my brain,

And all that I hear as I lie in my bed

Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,

I walk very slow,

I can�t do a handstand�

I might overflow,

So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said�

I�m just not the same since there�s rain in my head.

After reading the poem start to talk about how poetry can be used to express how people feel or where someone has been or where they want to go. Poems, when understood, can reach people in different ways that just words cannot. Next introduce other books that have poetry for young adults in different forms. There are many different types of poetry from the ode to the haiku. Teaching the different forms of poetry can inspire students to write their own poetry because they do not have to conform to one way of writing poetry. Some of the books that can be useful to teach both different types of poetry as well as poems that express feelings are:

Earth� Shattering Poems, edited by Liz Rosenberg. A book filled with poems about teens and the emotions that they have. The book is filled with poems that are very happy to poems that are very angry, which everyone has felt at some time.

Truth and Lies: An Anthology of Poems, edited by Patrice Vecchione. This book has many poems that try to find the answer to the truth. The truth is very hard to find and these poems are from many different cultures and centuries.

Love Speaks Its Name: Gay and Lesbian Love Poems, edited by J.D. McClatchy. This book includes many poems from very well known authors like Walt Whitman and Frank Ohara. These poems express the feelings that many people have and that some are not allowed to express for many different reasons.

Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writings by Teenage Girls, by Betsy Franco and Nina Nickles. This book is full of poems that represent the hopes, dreams, and relationships of young teenage girls. This book expresses many emotions and feelings that all young girls have at one point or another.

You Hear Me: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys, by Betsy Franco. This book goes along with Things I Have to Tell You, but tells the boy�s side of the story. The poems in the book express all of the emotions that young boys go through when growing up.

Once you have introduced a few different books that the students can look through split the class up into groups. Each group will pick out a poem that they like and share it with the class and explain why they chose the poem. After the poems have been shared have the students try to write their own poem in any form that they want. The poems should express how they are feeling, what they want to do, or anything that comes to mind. The poems should be about some aspect of their life.

Once the students have finished their poems collect them so that you can share the poems with the class. By collecting the poems no one will know who wrote the poems so no one will be put on the spot. Talk about some of the poems and what some of the meanings may be. Before sharing the students poems share another poem and talk about what the possible meanings of the poem may be. Share the poem �Tiny Dreams,� by Robert Chambers:

She could not have dreamed but tiny dreams

Comparing them to yours

For to live and have so little

To live for so little

To live for on little

To compromise death

To compensate Life

The dream must be small

Sometimes the dream must be warmed food

A cold drink

A cup of water

A warm bubble bath

A white starched hanky

A dress

A whiff of perfume

A flower in a vase

A spring night

A soft sod

A piece of dry cardboard

A pile of clean rags

Or rest when she was tired

Or dreams of rest

Of sleep

Of when the twilight of sleep

In the moment when fatigue and exhaustion mesh

The mending limbs surrender

And worry and fear flee

And nothing matters

No fear of flying

And all retreats into peace of dreams

Dreams

And kisses of angels

Dream of Dreams

Having given over to the Demons

The Big Dreams

The Big Dreams we take for granted

Tiny dreams availed her peacefulness

Of cool shade and bright shadow

Of new things

Of nurturing children in her arms

And cooking from the pantry

Sometimes of a sweet and tender loving man to protect her

But the Demons had tricked her

These little dreams weren�t Big Dreams at all.

Extending the Unit:

Most teenagers enjoy music, which can be seen as poetry put to melodies, so this will be a project that they will enjoy. Before presenting the idea of using music as poetry find a song that has some meaning to you. Once you have found a song write down the lyrics that convey a message that means something to you and that may interest your students. Everyone likes different types of music so there will be many different types of lyrics, just remind the students that the lyrics should be ones that are appropriate to share in a classroom. The song that chose is Wide Open Spaces by the Dixie Chicks.

Who doesn't know what I'm talking about
Who's never left home who's never struck out
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone
Many precede and many will follow
A young girl's dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out West
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes
She traveled this road as a child
Wide-eyed and grinning she never tired
But now she won't be coming back with the rest

After reading the lyrics play the part of the song that you chose and explain why you chose the lyrics that you did. After sharing your poem lyrics have each of the students play their songs and share why they chose the song that they did.

Works Cited

Cummins, Anna, Cummins, Emily, and Cummins, Paul. Proceed with Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education. Los Angeles: Red Hen Press, 2004.

Dixie Chicks. Wide Open Spaces. Sony: January 27, 1998.

Franco, Betsy. You Hear Me: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2000.

Franco, Betsy and Nickles, Nina. Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writtings by Teenage Girls. Hong Kong: Candlewick Press, 2001.

Rosenberg, Liz. Earth�Shattering Poems. Canada: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd., 1998.

Silverstein, Shel. A Light In the Attic. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1981.

Silverstein, Shel. Falling Up 10^th Anniversary Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, Inc., 1996.

Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, Inc., 1974.

Vecchione, Patrice. Truth and Lies: An Anthology of Poems. Henry Holt and Co., 2001.