Thursday, February 8, 2018

Poetry Supports History Curriculum

Welcome Poetry Friday friends. This week's round-up of all Poetry Friday posts is hosted by Sally Murphy. Please take a short hop to Australia for a visit.

I am a most fortunate as a Teacher Librarian. Many of the classroom teachers and specialists I work with not only are willing to collaborate with me but also to collaborate on lessons that involve my favorite topics.

Recently, a seventh-grade class was studying World War I. This is a common time period of study at this grade level. A challenge for the teacher I collaborated with is that many students are English Language Learners at very early stages of learning English. There are some seriously complex ideas to work with in WWI. 

I am constantly amazed at how young people are able to learn a language while learning content in that language. I studied French in HS and college and lived in a non-English speaking country. It's not easy!

So, what did Ms. SS and I do? We enlisted poetry to meet a Virginia Standard of Learning.


STANDARD USII.5c
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the changing role of the United States from the late nineteenth century through World War I by
c)   explaining the reasons for the United States’ involvement in World War I and its international leadership role at the conclusion of the war.

I took a poetry lesson from our US Library of Congress and adapted it to the needs of these middle school students.\: "In Flanders Fields" -- Using Multiple Approaches to Explore a Poem, written by Peter Armenti.

Ms. SS and I put our heads together about what her students needed.  We also brainstormed a way to share the origins of the poem very briefly so that students could maximize connections.

When we gathered in her classroom, students first listened to the poem and jotted down whatever came to mind--then chatted about those words with an elbow partner.

Next, students used our school's annotation symbols on a paper copy of the poem as they listened to a second reading. There was even more to talk about now that keywords and phrases were underlined....."we are the dead" being very popular.

Ms SS found a concise history of the poem on the internet that I was able to summarize, the inspiration of In Flanders Fields, in two powerpoint slides that allowed us to talk about how the author of the poem, John McCrae had lost a dear friend, Alexis Helmer. Now we had middle school connections all over.

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields-inspiration.htm

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields-inspiration.htm

Ms. SS and I then gave our students a way of showing learning and new understanding by illustrating the poem with a blank graphic novel page. Students were able to immediately show text to self and text to history content connections with their knowledge of how a graphic novel works. 


Our students are pretty graphic-novel savvy. The template we used for our graphic novel pages is free and found at picklebums....although there are many free templates on the internet to choose from. 


To foster creativity, Ms. SS provided sample mentor text/illustration pages. I provide a page of images to cut and glue
onto the GN template page. These WWI images were culled from sources on the internet. 

We could have accomplished this activity digitally. However, we thought about the value in limiting these students to the images we provided, which was matched to the poem or was a text box of information taken right out of our Virginia State teaching standards. Images included clipart of larks, cemeteries, WWI soldiers, WWI trenches, poppies.

We were pleased to see students doing history rather than trying to listen and understand history from teacher talk. They cut up copies of the poem we provided (in English and Spanish) and illustrated as many of the words they chose. It was fascinating to see their choices....and to know that In Flanders Fields is a poem they now associate with World War I and remembering those who served.




27 comments:

  1. Wow Linda - what a wonderful lesson idea. I can see why this would be so effective for ESL students, but can see it would work with students of all abilities and backgrounds. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. This is such an important reminder of why it's so important that students have dedicated teacher librarians in their schools!!

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  3. Having active students does aid the learning, I agree. Your lesson taking them through the connections and helping them create their own within the poem is terrific, Linda. The poem is one they'll remember, isn't it?

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  4. This is such a great lesson, a creative and engaging way to teach WWI. Thanks for sharing the process.

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  5. What a fabulous lesson! Those are some lucky students to be able to do history under the guidance of such a creative partnership between you and the classroom teacher.

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  6. Thanks for this interesting post. What a great lesson idea, loved reading about the process! Still remember memorizing the poem in grade school.

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  7. Fascinating post, Linda. I can host for you May 4. Remind me who I need to notify.

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    1. I'll add you to the list of roundup hosts on A Year of Reading and update the schedule at Kidlitosphere Central. Thanks for helping out!

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    2. I meant to sign up. Somehow I missed the post. Thanks for updating the list. It'll be fun.

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  8. Great idea for active learning, Linda! Have you read the Christmas Soccer Game poem about the war? Here's a link, plus more: https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2012/05/silent-night.html

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    1. I have not read that book---sounds like I need to. I did do a read aloud activity with this same group with Shooting at the Stars by John Hendrix. I asked the students to write a New Year's greeting to a WWI soldier at the end of it.

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    2. I will look into that book also, Linda.

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  9. I love this lesson for MS students, Linda. I created one for HS students who need to amplify their voice through argumentation but I could use what you have to show the SPED department your work with credit to you and your colleague. The graphic novel work would be appropriate for these students. I also like what Tabatha provided. I would suggest sharing the book Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon. It is based on the true story from 1914. He wrote a song about it too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9coPzDx6tA and here's another version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTXhZ4uR6rs. I am definitely incorporating the picture book and songs in my lesson and I thank you for giving me the inspiration to continue to research further.

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    1. Always! I'll bet your school librarian has some ideas too ;)

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    2. Since I am no longer in a school district but am a consultant working with teachers, I am bringing teachers instructional practices to enrich their classroom lessons for student-led classrooms. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Excellent lesson! Kudos for incorporating poetry with history!!

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  11. What a creative and engaging lesson plan! Poetry, graphic novels, and history in one... all while meeting a specific standard. I may swoon.

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  12. How wonderful to get some insight into your librarian-teacher collaboration, and what a rich experience for all involved. That poem is a shot to the heart. It gets me every time.

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  13. So creative, Linda. I love this! How lucky are your students to have someone in their lives who is more than just the lady who sits behind the desk and checks the books out? I gave my husband a collection of poetry from the war poets. Deeply moving. -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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  14. What a great idea for a meaningful lesson, Linda! I'm book marking this to try out, for sure. I missed the poetry round up this go around, but would be happy to do May 4th. Let me know, here's my email: elibenoli5@gmail.com

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    1. Thank you, Tara! I think Brenda Harsham is already subbing. Mary Lee Hahn is the one to let know you'd like to host.

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  15. Wow, Linda - thank you for sharing this terrific project from initial collaboration to engaged students! And three cheers for poetry bridging more than one gap. :0)

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  16. This is a wonderful lesson, Linda! Giving kids the opportunity to interact with the poem in this was clearly made it much more meaningful and memorable for them. Bravo!

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  17. What a fabulous lesson! Thanks for sharing it - what a gift!

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  18. You're quite the problemsolver, Linda! I was fascinated reading your approach and process. Poetry to the rescue!

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  19. Thanks for breaking down this lesson, Linda. It sounds like the students were totally engaged with the combination of visual history, poem, and their own creative responses.

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Friendly, positive comments and feedback are always welcome here. Please let me know I'm not just whistling in the dark!