The strategies in the appendix sections are very helpful in how and which strategy I’ll decide to put to use. It’s difficult for me to choose what strategy I’d use more often than others because I believe that each strategy works best under certain circumstances; therefore, I’d base my decision on the learning activity my students are engaged in. However, I will provide ideas of how I’d some of these strategies:
-Double-Entry Diaries: Looking at the model, I feel like it’d be a dread to teach my students this type of strategy. However, under circumstances when we’ll read difficult texts such as Dante’s Inferno, I’d take the time to expose my students to this strategy because it’ll definitely help boost their confidence while reading such a difficult text. I see this strategy as a confidence booster because students tend to get frustrated throughout a difficult text, causing themselves to overlook what they can easily understand. Instead of being overwhelmed by their thoughts of “I can’t understand this!” and the negative impact such thoughts have while reading further, they can maintain confidence by paying close attention to what they can understand if asked to record their understandings. I’m referring specifically to the double-entry diary in which the right column begins with “This reminds me of…”
-Comprehension Constructors: While this would not be a “favorite” strategy of mine, it’s one I’m most likely to use more often than others because it’s very flexible and it’s not so tedious. I feel it is less tedious because the questions ask for answers that encourage free-thinking, rather than requiring students to think one way such as “This reminds me of…” line by line by line. An example of the comprehension constructor is “What’s your thinking?” In class, when I model this strategy to students, I’m “thinking aloud.” This strategy, “Think Aloud,” is mentioned in Nancie Atwell’s book in which she specifically model poetry writing by writing a poem of her and her mother (or her daughter, I can’t remember). In my opinion, comprehension constructors are most flexible because I can’t think of one activity that I feel this strategy will be applicable. However, as I stated earlier, different strategies work best in different activities so a comprehension constructor would not always be the best strategy to use in certain activities. J
Andrea, you’re right about the comprehension constructors being so flexible. It’s great that you mentioned Atwell’s Think Aloud with one of her poems because ... (wait for it) :)
ReplyDeleteChapter 13 of Atwell’s book is all about poetry, and I love poetry! It was interesting to read about teachers actually avoiding teaching poetry because it seems too complicated. Maybe I just try not to over-think when I’m reading it because I look forward to teaching poetry. I think it could be fun and creative experience. I agree with Atwell about only wanting to share/teach poetry I like! I definitely don’t want to teach some boring, complex poem that I don’t even understand. And I love that her students’ poems were mostly written in free verse. I can remember having to write haikus or some other restricted form. Trying to make my words fit into a certain mold was not something I enjoyed. I’m sure a lot of other students have had this same experience, and that’s probably why they hate it.
I like Atwell’s ideas of taking out a lot of the analysis of poetry, and just enjoying it for what it is. That reminds me a lot of what I’ve observed of WordPlay in the schools. I remember students were asked which lines were their favorites, but they didn’t really have to get some long, critically-thought out answer as to why. They were free to just enjoy it.
I also agree that in order for students to write good poetry, they need to be surrounded by it. It’s the classic idea of learning by example. I couldn’t help but notice as I was reading Atwell’s words before each of her students’ poems how often she used the terms “borrowed” or “inspired.” These students relied heavily on what they had previously read, and that’s okay. It’s a great place for students to start writing their own poetry. Why not imitate someone who’s done it awesomely already? Eventually, the student will get his or her own style.
And, finally, I love Atwell’s reminder that good poetry takes time and work. So often, people (myself included) are discouraged because the first piece of writing isn’t some award-winning masterpiece of writing. But, we need to remember and remind students (and ourselves) that it’s okay to revise the piece until it’s a “yes.”