Getting to know you: Middle school, poetry and angst

Teaching Pre K-8, Nov/Dec 1999 by Pittman, Patrice A

A freewheeling activity that encourages middle school students to explore their innermost feelings

We're often told it's not good to keep our feelings bottled up inside ourselves, but so many of us do just that. Here's an activity for helping middle students to write about and understand emotions they may be struggling with, as well as helping them to see and appreciate the differences and similarities between themselves and others.

Let's begin by taking a brief look at three basic ingredients of an exercise which I've found helpful:

Abstract cognition. This is a communication exercise that's designed to increase the level of identification of middle school students with each other by making use of their beginning abstract cognitive abilities.

Angst I have yet to meet a middle school student who hasn't experienced angst, that feeling of generalized anxiety and depression which is normal for this age group. But many students don't feel comfortable discussing their feelings with their peers or teachers. They often feel that that they're the only ones who have these particular concerns about themselves and their relationships with other middle school students.

Poetry. This communication activity encourages students to examine their angst and put their feelings into a free-form or rhyming poem after listening to two exampies of poetry. I deliberately wrote the six sample poems (included here) to be on an average middle school student's level of understanding and writing ability.

Opening lines. First, I introduce the activity, as well as the concept of angst. The words you use are entirely up to you, of course, but something like the following helps me to get all the important points across:

"I want you to write a poem about angst or a problem concerning yourself that you, as a middle school student, deal with. Angst is a feeling of anxiety or aggravation about a problem that has been bothering you.

"The poem doesn't have to rhyme. It needs to be at least two lines long, but no more than eight. Don't write about anything too personal, because you'll be reading your poem to the other students in the class."

Next, I tell the class I'm going to read two sample poems.

A

I know who

I want to be.

I know want

to be me.

But,

the problem is

I don't always know

who the me

I am, is,

B

I wish people

would listen to me.

It gets so noisy

sometimes.

I say my words

and they all get lost,

when everyone talks

at once.

After reading the poems, I have the students write their own poems. I give them about five minutes to complete their poems, and I time them.

I silently read each poem while the students are writing them, and read them again when they're finished.

You'll have to use your best judgment as to the appropriateness of the poetry. If the subject or vocabulary is not suitable by school standards or if the angst being written about could be embarrassing to the student, I encourage a rewrite of the poem.

The final determination as to whether the poem is to be read aloud should be made by you, the teacher.

I signal when time's up and have my Idds move closer to each other, preferably in a circle.

More sample poems. I read the following poems between the students' poetry readings. For the best effect, I read them in the order given (C-F). I start reading them after either the first or second student reading.

Before and after. It's absolutely essential that the students and the poems they read be treated with respect and dignity by the other children. Snickering, jokes and expressions of disbelief have no place in an activity that asks students to reveal their innermost feelings.

Prior to the readings, I ask the class to read their poems slowly and clearly. For those students who aren't reading, listen quietly and respectfully. I also ask that no comments be made after a poem is read.

This doesn't apply to teachers, though. I always give verbal praise after each poem is read: "Good job," "Nice," "Well done," "Super." Any positive words I can think of, in fact, go a long way toward giving students the reassurance they need for an activity that deals with their innermost feelings.

At the end of this communication exercise, your students may find that they have more in common with each other than they realized. They may also find that they have a better understanding of themselves.

Above is a reproducible questionnaire I developed for students to assess the value of this communication exercise. If your results are as favorable as mine have been, you may want to repeat the exercise.

Have fun getting to know each other.

INTERNET CONNECTIONS

TOM: POETRY

1 POTRY PALS. www.geochiescom/EnchantedForest/ 5165/index.htmi Poetry project for submitting student poems. Extensive index of poetry lessons and resources on the web.

2WHYPOETRYWHAT: www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/samwhy poetrmi.html A sampler of poetry activities and resources on the Internet. Use this as a jumping-off point for exploring the emotions of poetry.

3 THE POETRY ARCHIVES: http: //library.advanced. org/3247/ ThinkQuest project with more than 3000 poems by 63 poets. Many poets have bibliography and picture; several have links and discussion questions for interpretation.