GLT-Concrete Poems!

What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson.

Of all the lessons in the poetry unit this was by far my favorite. I think this was the students’ favorite poems to write because not only did they get to have fun with it, they were able to create an image and incorporate creativity both into their written poem and the shape/artwork that coincided with it. Every student was able to create a poem that they were excited and proud of. Before students were allowed to make their own poems we brainstormed a class list so that everyone would have an idea, something that I think was very beneficial to students who had trouble thinking of something. This lesson placed importance not only on the picture/shape they drew but also the words they chose. I was glad that we had student’s read their poems without showing the class and allowing their peers to guess what it was about before revealing their artwork. This really allowed students to learn how important good descriptive words could be in writing. I was also blown away by the quality of what students were creating. Not only were they getting into the nitty gritty of using words, phrases, and sentences but they were creating images with their words that you could really tell what they were trying to convey. For example one student did one about lighting and each bolt from the sky was a sentence about it. Students don’t get many opportunities to tune into their creative side and I think all the students took advantage of that during this lesson.

What did you learn about your students? literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

As mentioned in the previous question I learned how creative students can be when given the chance. I was also surprised at what they noticed and pointed out in the examples we went through as a class. For example it was ok to split words up and not write complete sentences. One student even said “so today it’s ok if we don’t follow the normal writing rules?” Once students were aware that they could use this to their creative advantage they did. I also learned how excited and proud students were of their work. I knew that they would enjoy them but I underestimated the extent.

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

Poetry is a genre of literature that normally gets overlooked or pushed to the side and viewed as less important. But, students all loved this unit and being able to create the different poems. I feel like some of the lessons were a little rushed to make it through the whole lesson and some students weren’t allowed enough time to finish all their poems. With this being said I think poetry could be spread throughout the while year maybe spending 2 or 3 lessons on it a month. That way students get a wide range of examples and kinds and they would be able to focus in and finish their poems regarding that days lesson either that same day or over the next few. In this particular lesson, while we did brainstorm a list of ideas and I circulated while individually helping anyone who seemed to be struggling with creating their concrete poems, we could have created a class poem. This would have been just another example for students to see but also to feel like they were a part of in making thus instilling more confidence and enthusiasm to create their own. After helping students who needed additional support they did achieve excitement about what they were writing about.


If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students?

Overall, I was highly pleased with how this lesson flowed and the outcomes of both the student’s understanding of this type of poetry and the ones they created. The only change I would make would be to create a class poem. This again allows students to practice writing and creating the poem before they are expected to create one by themselves. Also maybe seeing if there were examples of words creating pictures in an ad in the magazines or on a billboard so that they could make a connection to their own lives.