SlideShare ist ein Scribd-Unternehmen logo
1 von 11
Downloaden Sie, um offline zu lesen
Creating “Golden Shovel” Poems
                                       Developed by Peter Kahn
                                              August 2012

Total Number of Sessions
2 – 4, depending on whether the teacher wants students to revise and present their poems.

NCTE Standards
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

Introduction
Many teens are reluctant to write and share their own poetry. They often find the idea quite
intimidating. This lesson plan, developed by a twenty-year teaching veteran, NCTE Featured
Speaker, and Louder Than a Bomb Coach of the Year, helps reduce student apprehension by
allowing them to borrow the writing of “master” poets of their choice. It has been successfully
utilized with students in the United States and England. After sharing their own writing, students
will gain insights to help them with selection for, and recitation of, poems for the Poetry Out
Loud competition.

To grow as an artist, it’s important to study the work of other artists. This certainly applies to the
craft of poetry. Memorization and imitation are two essential kinds of familiarity. Reiterations
of “form” poems such as sonnets, pantoums, ghazals, etc. have pushed the bounds of
contemporary poetry and provided inspiration in classrooms. For fledgling writers, in particular,
form can liberate, providing a scaffold and giving them the confidence to begin writing. With an
entirely new form, young writers can feel like they’re on the ground level of something and are
less intimidated by history and the weight of Shakespeare, Donne, Frost, Dickinson, and Rumi,
etc. Experimentation with new models can level the playing field to some extent—quite an
exciting prospect for students and teachers alike.

In the 2010 National Book Award-winning Lighthead, Terrance Hayes includes a poem entitled,
“The Golden Shovel” (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/244278) followed by “after
Gwendolyn Brooks.” The title and epigraph provide hints to the new form that Hayes creates
with his poem. One notices that the line endings in “The Golden Shovel” constitute Brooks’s
“We Real Cool” in its entirety. (He goes on to repeat the process in part II of the piece.) “We
Real Cool,” which first appeared in Poetry magazine, is seminal not only to the literary canon,
but also to the classroom. The Golden Shovel is a form that forces one to borrow in order to
create.

This models the idea of “something borrowed, something new” that is at the heart of Poetry Out
Loud. It allows students to take ownership of the line they most want to resonate with their
audience when reciting the borrowed poem. Sharing ownership with one of the poets in the
Poetry Out Loud anthology will create a kinship that should help students connect with the
poems they will recite for the competition.




	
                                                                                                  1	
  
Learning Objectives
In this unit, students will have opportunities to:

       •   Read a wide range of poems from the Poetry Out Loud website
       •   Discuss what makes language interesting and surprising (i.e., what makes a “striking
           line”)
       •   Discuss the importance of word choice in poetry and what makes an intriguing or
           memorable word choice
       •   Learn a new poetic form—the Golden Shovel
       •   Read and discuss sample “Golden Shovel” poems
       •   Apply a “borrowed” line from a poem to create one’s own Golden Shovel poem
       •   Learn and apply public speaking skills
       •   Read a Poetry Out Loud poem, along with an original poem for his/her classmates in a
           supportive environment


Resources and Materials
To teach this unit you will need:

       •   Copies of the poems provided at the end of this lesson
       •   Student access to the Poetry Out Loud website
       •   Lots of whiteboard or chalkboard space
       •   Paper and writing utensils

Session One

This session will help students determine what lines and word choices stand out in good poetry
and will provide background for writing their original poetry. It will also introduce the Golden
Shovel form.

1. Discuss what makes a “striking line” in literature (i.e., a line that is especially interesting,
surprising and original; that jumps out at the reader; and/or that makes the reader think).

2. Read Jane Cooper’s “Hunger Moon” aloud. Then have students read it silently, while
underlining striking lines. For example:

           “The last full moon of February / stalks the fields”
           “barbed wire casts a shadow.”
           “it advances on my pillow”
           “with the cocked gun of silence.”
           “The moon, in pale buckskins, crouches”
           “all the fences thrum”

3. Next, discuss the importance of surprising/unusual word choices in poetry. Have students
underline those words from the striking lines on the board (i.e., “stalks,” “barbed,” “crouches”
and “thrum”).

	
                                                                                                    2	
  
4. Repeat the process using sections from Gwendolyn Brooks’s “The Blackstone Rangers.”

5. Read Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool.” If you have time, you may play Ms. Brooks
reciting the original poem: (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audioitem/2264). Then
have the students read Terrance Hayes’s “The Golden Shovel” aloud. Ask students to look for
anything unusual about the form and see if anyone notices that Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool,”
is laid out vertically at the end of each of Hayes’s lines. If no one figures it out without a hint,
point out that it is “after Gwendolyn Brooks” and explain what enjambment means (“unnatural”
line breaks, or “The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next,
without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped” (per the Poetry Foundation website).
After a few minutes, point out the form that Hayes has created.

6. Finally, students should read at least three poems of their own from the Poetry Out Loud
website and make note of striking lines that include surprising word choices. They should
complete for homework, if need be.




	
                                                                                                 3	
  
Session Two

This session will allow students to put their “borrowed” lines to use in their own original poems,
applying what they learned in Session One.

1. Referring back to Terrance Hayes’s “The Golden Shovel,” explain the Golden Shovel form:

       •   In its purest form, one should find a poem and create his/her own with the borrowed
           poem laid out vertically on the right margin of the created poem.
       •   For this assignment, students borrow a striking line from a poem and create his/her own
           with the borrowed line laid out vertically on the right margin of the created poem.
       •   Recommended length—six to 24 words (i.e., six to 24 lines in the poem one creates).
       •   The theme or topic of the created poem may or may not be linked to the borrowed
           poem/line.
       •   It is recommended to choose a striking line that contains some unusual word choices.
       •   An advanced challenge is to make the line lengths consistent.

2. Look at the sample poems by Nova Venerable, based on a striking line from the Jane Cooper
poem; and by Hannah Srajer, based on a striking line from the Gwendolyn Brooks poem. Nova
was a three-time member of Oak Park and River Forest High School’s Louder Than a Bomb
slam team, is featured in the documentary of the same name, and recently graduated from Smith
College. Hannah is a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School and a member of the
slam team.

3. Ask students to determine where Nova “cheats” in terms of the form? (Possible answer—she
writes “stalk” instead of “stalks” and her last line is much longer than the other lines in the
poem.) Then, discuss where Hannah “cheats.” (Possible answer—she writes “know,” instead of
“no.”)

4. Students should then select one of their “found” striking lines selected from poems from the
Poetry Out Loud website and/or anthology to use for their own Golden Shovel poem.

5. They should write out the line vertically down the right margin.

6. Next, they should begin writing their Golden Shovel poem.
Note: This form allows students to write without having to brainstorm for topics. A sort of
creative “magic” tends to occur. Students often gravitate towards those things that are on their
minds. If students struggle, you may recommend that they write about recent thoughts. If that
doesn’t work, have them consider people, places and things that are important to them. Finally,
if all else fails, have them try writing about their favorite or least favorite memories.




	
                                                                                                   4	
  
Session Three

This session will first allow students to apply the skills learned in the previous sessions to help
their classmates improve their writing. Students will pay greater attention to language and form,
giving them a more layered understanding of the poems they select for Poetry Out Loud. The
session will then encourage students to evaluate various approaches to presenting poems.

1. Put students in pairs or groups of three for peer editing:

       •   Does the poem follow the Golden Shovel form?
       •   Does the poem make sense?
       •   Are there any surprising word choices?
       •   Are there ways of making the line lengths more consistent?
       •   What is the intent of the writer?

Students should revise accordingly.

2. Discuss performance/public speaking skills, focusing on the perceived intent of the poet, as
well as one’s feelings about the poem he/she is presenting. You may discuss tone as it applies to
the original Golden Shovel poems that students wrote, as well to the poems that students will
present for Poetry Out Loud. By thinking about intent and tone as both a writer and a reader, a
student gains new insights into his/her performance.

3. Brainstorm possible tones that a presenter could utilize to convey his/her feelings about the
poem. For instance: ironic, humorous, sarcastic, heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, mocking, etc.

4. Show the three video clips from the Poetry Out Loud website listed below. After each clip,
ask students to write down the tone conveyed by the presenter. Ask them to discuss what about
the performance prompted their observations. Then, ask them what they felt the presenter did to
engage the audience. Facial expressions, body language, gestures, volume shifts, pacing shifts,
tone shifts, gestures, etc may all be discussed. Have students discuss what the presentations have
in common. Note what they bring up on the board and use it as a basis for what they should
practice for their own presentations.
http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/video-recitation-series

       •   Sophia Elena Soberon, Bilingual/Bilingüe, by Rhina P. Espaillat
       •   Jackson Hille, Forgetfulness, by Billy Collins
       •   Shawntay A. Henry, Frederick Douglass, by Robert E. Hayden

5. With remaining time, students could pair up to practice reading their Golden Shovel poems
and their Poetry Out Loud poems.




	
                                                                                                5	
  
Optional Concluding Session: The Poetry Café

1. Go over ground rules for the Poetry Café. (1. Everyone should “respect the stage and/or
mic”—pay full attention to the presenter; 2. Do not cause any distractions by rustling through
papers, tapping a foot, etc.; 3. Clap when students are called up to present and when they are
finished; 4. Do not “mean mug” the presenter. In other words, don’t look angry or annoyed
when a poet is reading; 5. Students may snap during a poem if they hear a striking line that they
want to celebrate.)

2. Students are to present the poem from which they borrowed the striking line (with special
emphasis given to that line), followed by their original Golden Shovel poem. They should
consider their intended tone when performing their original poem, as well as the tone they want
to convey about their Poetry Out Loud selection.

Resources

       •   “Hunger Moon” by Jane Cooper (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/242454)
       •   Sections from “The Blackstone Rangers” by Gwendolyn Brooks
           (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/172095)
       •   Sample Golden Shovel poems by Nova Venerable, Hannah Srajer and Lexus Valentine
           (an extra example of the form)




	
                                                                                                  6	
  
“Hunger Moon” by Jane Cooper

The last full moon of February
stalks the fields; barbed wire casts a shadow.
Rising slowly, a beam moved toward the west
stealthily changing position

until now, in the small hours, across the snow
it advances on my pillow
to wake me, not rudely like the sun
but with the cocked gun of silence.

I am alone in a vast room
where a vain woman once slept.
The moon, in pale buckskins, crouches
on guard beside her bed.

Slowly the light wanes, the snow will melt
and all the fences thrum in the spring breeze
but not until that sleeper, trapped
in my body, turns and turns.

Jane Cooper, “Hunger Moon” from The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed. Copyright
© 2000 by Jane Cooper. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Source: The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed (W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.,
2000)




	
                                                                                        7	
  
“The Blackstone Rangers” by Gwendolyn Brooks
I
AS SEEN BY DISCIPLINES

There they are.
Thirty at the corner.
Black, raw, ready.
Sores in the city
that do not want to heal.

III
GANG GIRLS

A Rangerette

Gang Girls are sweet exotics.
Mary Ann
uses the nutrients of her orient,
but sometimes sighs for Cities of blue and jewel
beyond her Ranger rim of Cottage Grove.
(Bowery Boys, Disciples, Whip-Birds will
dissolve no margins, stop no savory sanctities.)

Gwendolyn Brooks, “The Blackstone Rangers,” from Blacks (Chicago: Third World Press,
1987). Reprinted by consent of Brooks Permissions.

Source: Blacks (Third World Press, 1987)




	
                                                                                     8	
  
“The Last Full Moon of February” by Nova Venerable (Oak Park and River Forest High
School, Class of 2007; Smith College graduate; featured in the Louder Than a Bomb
documentary). Used by permission of the author.

       After Jane Cooper
       From “Hunger Moon” (“The last full moon of February stalks the fields.”)


My little brother draws on my door every morning with his fists, the
words he makes are meshed between his tongue and my last

prayer asking God if I am being too selfish, if my hands are too full
of psychology books, too laced with Boston air to follow the moon

back home. My eyes are as moist as the spit on his lips, thoughts of
his funeral come as often as snowfalls in February.

I ask God how soon my fingertips will have to stalk
his casket, for a sign to tell me if the moon will be the

brightest path to follow before he is alone & my fingers lose him in a gravestoned field.




	
                                                                                          9	
  
“My Twin Brother Becoming a Man” by Hannah Srajer (Oak Park and River Forest High
School senior). Used by permission of the author.

       After Gwendolyn Brooks
       (from “The Blackstone Rangers”-- “…dissolve no margins, stop no savoring sanctities.”)


Once laid out like dinner plates, my brother’s bare hands dissolve
into meat-ened fists. He and the boy whose face I do not k(no)w

are seconds away from springing, circling at Chicago & Park’s margins
like seagulls over silvered fish. The dive comes. He cannot stop

until a glinted knife raws into skin like he is a box with heavy tape no
one can open. Street’s an unfurled tongue, black & wet, savoring

the hothead blood of men, lapping clean all trace of sanctities.




	
                                                                                         10	
  
“Sores in the city that do not want to heal” by Lexus Valentine (Oak Park and River Forest
High School junior). Used by permission of the author.

       After Gwendolyn Brooks
       (From “The Blackstone Rangers”—“Sores in the city that do not want to heal”)

I’ve become sores,
netted into your scalp from missing pieces in
my wide tooth comb, sitting in the
Panera bread over soup bowls. The city
never changed. Since you left, I can recognize that
you lift up your tips on what to & what not to do
when I reach college. You say, “Never believe in what I’m not.”
But what I want--
shifting your goodbyes in my pocket. Giving up is something I’m not used to.
With your advice we’ll never heal.




	
                                                                                           11	
  

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to use
Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to usePol tg 2013 2014 poems put to use
Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to useJenry Blanco
 
Amsterdam main confready
Amsterdam main confreadyAmsterdam main confready
Amsterdam main confreadyLinda_Lanis
 
John Miller Senior Exit Portfolio
John Miller Senior Exit PortfolioJohn Miller Senior Exit Portfolio
John Miller Senior Exit PortfolioJohn Miller
 
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Core
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common CoreArf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Core
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Coresherron killingsworth roberts
 
Nonsense and logic in literature
Nonsense and logic in literatureNonsense and logic in literature
Nonsense and logic in literatureAstrid Elena
 
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTE
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTENCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTE
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTEhildebka
 
Module 1
Module 1Module 1
Module 1loire27
 
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabad
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, HyderabadPoetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabad
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabadshafieyan
 
Speaking tough texts lesson
Speaking tough texts lessonSpeaking tough texts lesson
Speaking tough texts lessonbmiller7210
 
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2jordanlachance
 
High school-unit-slam-poetry
High school-unit-slam-poetryHigh school-unit-slam-poetry
High school-unit-slam-poetrymradawetz
 
In mrs tilcher’s class
In mrs tilcher’s classIn mrs tilcher’s class
In mrs tilcher’s classSaltashnet Peru
 

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to use
Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to usePol tg 2013 2014 poems put to use
Pol tg 2013 2014 poems put to use
 
Amsterdam main confready
Amsterdam main confreadyAmsterdam main confready
Amsterdam main confready
 
Teaching literature
Teaching literatureTeaching literature
Teaching literature
 
Makalah 1 copy (2)
Makalah 1   copy (2)Makalah 1   copy (2)
Makalah 1 copy (2)
 
John Miller Senior Exit Portfolio
John Miller Senior Exit PortfolioJohn Miller Senior Exit Portfolio
John Miller Senior Exit Portfolio
 
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Core
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common CoreArf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Core
Arf 2013 Well-chosen words: Creating spaces for poetry in the Common Core
 
Hnet
HnetHnet
Hnet
 
Readinglog2
Readinglog2Readinglog2
Readinglog2
 
Nonsense and logic in literature
Nonsense and logic in literatureNonsense and logic in literature
Nonsense and logic in literature
 
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTE
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTENCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTE
NCTE Poetry Notables, 2017. Individual and Verse Novel Notables from NCTE
 
Module 1
Module 1Module 1
Module 1
 
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabad
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, HyderabadPoetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabad
Poetic Pedagogy up to Performance Poetry, Hyderabad
 
Writing poetry tips
Writing poetry tipsWriting poetry tips
Writing poetry tips
 
Speaking tough texts lesson
Speaking tough texts lessonSpeaking tough texts lesson
Speaking tough texts lesson
 
Poetry project
Poetry projectPoetry project
Poetry project
 
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2
Ewrt 1 c with lit crit spring 2014 2
 
High school-unit-slam-poetry
High school-unit-slam-poetryHigh school-unit-slam-poetry
High school-unit-slam-poetry
 
In mrs tilcher’s class
In mrs tilcher’s classIn mrs tilcher’s class
In mrs tilcher’s class
 
Region X 2012
Region  X  2012Region  X  2012
Region X 2012
 
Ap syllabus presentation
Ap syllabus presentationAp syllabus presentation
Ap syllabus presentation
 

Andere mochten auch

Who can replace man vocbulary
Who can replace man vocbularyWho can replace man vocbulary
Who can replace man vocbularybmiller7210
 
Jordan and nick power point
Jordan and nick power pointJordan and nick power point
Jordan and nick power pointbmiller7210
 
Mely acosta power point
Mely acosta power pointMely acosta power point
Mely acosta power pointbmiller7210
 
Sean buckly power point
Sean buckly power pointSean buckly power point
Sean buckly power pointbmiller7210
 
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lesson
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lessonCelebrity, and the power of connotation lesson
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lessonbmiller7210
 
Cassie power point
Cassie power pointCassie power point
Cassie power pointbmiller7210
 

Andere mochten auch (9)

Who can replace man vocbulary
Who can replace man vocbularyWho can replace man vocbulary
Who can replace man vocbulary
 
Symbols
SymbolsSymbols
Symbols
 
Jordan and nick power point
Jordan and nick power pointJordan and nick power point
Jordan and nick power point
 
Mely acosta power point
Mely acosta power pointMely acosta power point
Mely acosta power point
 
Sean buckly power point
Sean buckly power pointSean buckly power point
Sean buckly power point
 
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lesson
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lessonCelebrity, and the power of connotation lesson
Celebrity, and the power of connotation lesson
 
Cassie power point
Cassie power pointCassie power point
Cassie power point
 
Irony
IronyIrony
Irony
 
Symbols
SymbolsSymbols
Symbols
 

Ähnlich wie Golden shovel lesson

Teaching prose and poems
Teaching prose and poemsTeaching prose and poems
Teaching prose and poemsuniprint
 
WRLIT-100-05 Michael Zhai
WRLIT-100-05 Michael ZhaiWRLIT-100-05 Michael Zhai
WRLIT-100-05 Michael ZhaiMike Zhai
 
Eng Lang Lit Spec
Eng Lang Lit SpecEng Lang Lit Spec
Eng Lang Lit SpecJeremy Tang
 
Kids and poetry
Kids and poetryKids and poetry
Kids and poetryborzna
 
Unit plan presentation
Unit plan presentationUnit plan presentation
Unit plan presentationshannondunn93
 
A World Of Poetry And Spoken Word
A World Of Poetry And Spoken WordA World Of Poetry And Spoken Word
A World Of Poetry And Spoken WordEmily Smith
 
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet X
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet XPoetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet X
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet XAbrilRodriguez37
 
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx grade 7 english
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx  grade 7 english21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx  grade 7 english
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx grade 7 englishJullyAnnJimenezFullo
 
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in English
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in EnglishSubject Choice: A Level Literature in English
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in EnglishRoy Hobson
 
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!Sarah
 
Kra poetry presentation
Kra poetry presentationKra poetry presentation
Kra poetry presentationSusan Knell
 
Grammar Cheat Sheet
Grammar  Cheat  SheetGrammar  Cheat  Sheet
Grammar Cheat SheetSarah
 
Poetry And Technology Book
Poetry And Technology BookPoetry And Technology Book
Poetry And Technology BookGail Laubenthal
 

Ähnlich wie Golden shovel lesson (20)

Teaching prose and poems
Teaching prose and poemsTeaching prose and poems
Teaching prose and poems
 
WRLIT-100-05 Michael Zhai
WRLIT-100-05 Michael ZhaiWRLIT-100-05 Michael Zhai
WRLIT-100-05 Michael Zhai
 
Ubd poetry
Ubd poetryUbd poetry
Ubd poetry
 
Eng Lang Lit Spec
Eng Lang Lit SpecEng Lang Lit Spec
Eng Lang Lit Spec
 
Kids and poetry
Kids and poetryKids and poetry
Kids and poetry
 
Poetry Project
Poetry ProjectPoetry Project
Poetry Project
 
Innovation....
Innovation....Innovation....
Innovation....
 
ELA Lesson plan
ELA Lesson planELA Lesson plan
ELA Lesson plan
 
Unit plan presentation
Unit plan presentationUnit plan presentation
Unit plan presentation
 
A World Of Poetry And Spoken Word
A World Of Poetry And Spoken WordA World Of Poetry And Spoken Word
A World Of Poetry And Spoken Word
 
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet X
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet XPoetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet X
Poetry and The Merchant of Venice and The Poet X
 
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx grade 7 english
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx  grade 7 english21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx  grade 7 english
21st century Q2 Melc1.pptx grade 7 english
 
Poetry Centers
Poetry CentersPoetry Centers
Poetry Centers
 
how_to_teach_poetry.ppt
how_to_teach_poetry.ppthow_to_teach_poetry.ppt
how_to_teach_poetry.ppt
 
The road not taken
The road not takenThe road not taken
The road not taken
 
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in English
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in EnglishSubject Choice: A Level Literature in English
Subject Choice: A Level Literature in English
 
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!
Official Lesson Plan To Viva La Poetry!
 
Kra poetry presentation
Kra poetry presentationKra poetry presentation
Kra poetry presentation
 
Grammar Cheat Sheet
Grammar  Cheat  SheetGrammar  Cheat  Sheet
Grammar Cheat Sheet
 
Poetry And Technology Book
Poetry And Technology BookPoetry And Technology Book
Poetry And Technology Book
 

Mehr von bmiller7210

The tabloid ballad lesson
The tabloid ballad lessonThe tabloid ballad lesson
The tabloid ballad lessonbmiller7210
 
Brian and edwin power point
Brian and edwin power pointBrian and edwin power point
Brian and edwin power pointbmiller7210
 
Brandi and nick's power point
Brandi and nick's power pointBrandi and nick's power point
Brandi and nick's power pointbmiller7210
 
Joel and gunner power point
Joel and gunner power pointJoel and gunner power point
Joel and gunner power pointbmiller7210
 
Jennie and kate power point
Jennie and kate power pointJennie and kate power point
Jennie and kate power pointbmiller7210
 
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpoint
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpointTyree melton and lisa trinh powerpoint
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpointbmiller7210
 
Soliloquy and monologues
Soliloquy and monologuesSoliloquy and monologues
Soliloquy and monologuesbmiller7210
 
Point of view and perspective
Point of view and perspectivePoint of view and perspective
Point of view and perspectivebmiller7210
 
Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameterIambic pentameter
Iambic pentameterbmiller7210
 
William shakespeare
William shakespeareWilliam shakespeare
William shakespearebmiller7210
 

Mehr von bmiller7210 (15)

Types of Genres
Types of GenresTypes of Genres
Types of Genres
 
The tabloid ballad lesson
The tabloid ballad lessonThe tabloid ballad lesson
The tabloid ballad lesson
 
Pol
PolPol
Pol
 
State schedule
State scheduleState schedule
State schedule
 
Brian and edwin power point
Brian and edwin power pointBrian and edwin power point
Brian and edwin power point
 
Brandi and nick's power point
Brandi and nick's power pointBrandi and nick's power point
Brandi and nick's power point
 
Joel and gunner power point
Joel and gunner power pointJoel and gunner power point
Joel and gunner power point
 
Jennie and kate power point
Jennie and kate power pointJennie and kate power point
Jennie and kate power point
 
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpoint
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpointTyree melton and lisa trinh powerpoint
Tyree melton and lisa trinh powerpoint
 
Soliloquy and monologues
Soliloquy and monologuesSoliloquy and monologues
Soliloquy and monologues
 
Point of view and perspective
Point of view and perspectivePoint of view and perspective
Point of view and perspective
 
Irony
IronyIrony
Irony
 
Conflict
ConflictConflict
Conflict
 
Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameterIambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter
 
William shakespeare
William shakespeareWilliam shakespeare
William shakespeare
 

Golden shovel lesson

  • 1. Creating “Golden Shovel” Poems Developed by Peter Kahn August 2012 Total Number of Sessions 2 – 4, depending on whether the teacher wants students to revise and present their poems. NCTE Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 Introduction Many teens are reluctant to write and share their own poetry. They often find the idea quite intimidating. This lesson plan, developed by a twenty-year teaching veteran, NCTE Featured Speaker, and Louder Than a Bomb Coach of the Year, helps reduce student apprehension by allowing them to borrow the writing of “master” poets of their choice. It has been successfully utilized with students in the United States and England. After sharing their own writing, students will gain insights to help them with selection for, and recitation of, poems for the Poetry Out Loud competition. To grow as an artist, it’s important to study the work of other artists. This certainly applies to the craft of poetry. Memorization and imitation are two essential kinds of familiarity. Reiterations of “form” poems such as sonnets, pantoums, ghazals, etc. have pushed the bounds of contemporary poetry and provided inspiration in classrooms. For fledgling writers, in particular, form can liberate, providing a scaffold and giving them the confidence to begin writing. With an entirely new form, young writers can feel like they’re on the ground level of something and are less intimidated by history and the weight of Shakespeare, Donne, Frost, Dickinson, and Rumi, etc. Experimentation with new models can level the playing field to some extent—quite an exciting prospect for students and teachers alike. In the 2010 National Book Award-winning Lighthead, Terrance Hayes includes a poem entitled, “The Golden Shovel” (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/244278) followed by “after Gwendolyn Brooks.” The title and epigraph provide hints to the new form that Hayes creates with his poem. One notices that the line endings in “The Golden Shovel” constitute Brooks’s “We Real Cool” in its entirety. (He goes on to repeat the process in part II of the piece.) “We Real Cool,” which first appeared in Poetry magazine, is seminal not only to the literary canon, but also to the classroom. The Golden Shovel is a form that forces one to borrow in order to create. This models the idea of “something borrowed, something new” that is at the heart of Poetry Out Loud. It allows students to take ownership of the line they most want to resonate with their audience when reciting the borrowed poem. Sharing ownership with one of the poets in the Poetry Out Loud anthology will create a kinship that should help students connect with the poems they will recite for the competition.   1  
  • 2. Learning Objectives In this unit, students will have opportunities to: • Read a wide range of poems from the Poetry Out Loud website • Discuss what makes language interesting and surprising (i.e., what makes a “striking line”) • Discuss the importance of word choice in poetry and what makes an intriguing or memorable word choice • Learn a new poetic form—the Golden Shovel • Read and discuss sample “Golden Shovel” poems • Apply a “borrowed” line from a poem to create one’s own Golden Shovel poem • Learn and apply public speaking skills • Read a Poetry Out Loud poem, along with an original poem for his/her classmates in a supportive environment Resources and Materials To teach this unit you will need: • Copies of the poems provided at the end of this lesson • Student access to the Poetry Out Loud website • Lots of whiteboard or chalkboard space • Paper and writing utensils Session One This session will help students determine what lines and word choices stand out in good poetry and will provide background for writing their original poetry. It will also introduce the Golden Shovel form. 1. Discuss what makes a “striking line” in literature (i.e., a line that is especially interesting, surprising and original; that jumps out at the reader; and/or that makes the reader think). 2. Read Jane Cooper’s “Hunger Moon” aloud. Then have students read it silently, while underlining striking lines. For example: “The last full moon of February / stalks the fields” “barbed wire casts a shadow.” “it advances on my pillow” “with the cocked gun of silence.” “The moon, in pale buckskins, crouches” “all the fences thrum” 3. Next, discuss the importance of surprising/unusual word choices in poetry. Have students underline those words from the striking lines on the board (i.e., “stalks,” “barbed,” “crouches” and “thrum”).   2  
  • 3. 4. Repeat the process using sections from Gwendolyn Brooks’s “The Blackstone Rangers.” 5. Read Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool.” If you have time, you may play Ms. Brooks reciting the original poem: (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audioitem/2264). Then have the students read Terrance Hayes’s “The Golden Shovel” aloud. Ask students to look for anything unusual about the form and see if anyone notices that Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool,” is laid out vertically at the end of each of Hayes’s lines. If no one figures it out without a hint, point out that it is “after Gwendolyn Brooks” and explain what enjambment means (“unnatural” line breaks, or “The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped” (per the Poetry Foundation website). After a few minutes, point out the form that Hayes has created. 6. Finally, students should read at least three poems of their own from the Poetry Out Loud website and make note of striking lines that include surprising word choices. They should complete for homework, if need be.   3  
  • 4. Session Two This session will allow students to put their “borrowed” lines to use in their own original poems, applying what they learned in Session One. 1. Referring back to Terrance Hayes’s “The Golden Shovel,” explain the Golden Shovel form: • In its purest form, one should find a poem and create his/her own with the borrowed poem laid out vertically on the right margin of the created poem. • For this assignment, students borrow a striking line from a poem and create his/her own with the borrowed line laid out vertically on the right margin of the created poem. • Recommended length—six to 24 words (i.e., six to 24 lines in the poem one creates). • The theme or topic of the created poem may or may not be linked to the borrowed poem/line. • It is recommended to choose a striking line that contains some unusual word choices. • An advanced challenge is to make the line lengths consistent. 2. Look at the sample poems by Nova Venerable, based on a striking line from the Jane Cooper poem; and by Hannah Srajer, based on a striking line from the Gwendolyn Brooks poem. Nova was a three-time member of Oak Park and River Forest High School’s Louder Than a Bomb slam team, is featured in the documentary of the same name, and recently graduated from Smith College. Hannah is a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School and a member of the slam team. 3. Ask students to determine where Nova “cheats” in terms of the form? (Possible answer—she writes “stalk” instead of “stalks” and her last line is much longer than the other lines in the poem.) Then, discuss where Hannah “cheats.” (Possible answer—she writes “know,” instead of “no.”) 4. Students should then select one of their “found” striking lines selected from poems from the Poetry Out Loud website and/or anthology to use for their own Golden Shovel poem. 5. They should write out the line vertically down the right margin. 6. Next, they should begin writing their Golden Shovel poem. Note: This form allows students to write without having to brainstorm for topics. A sort of creative “magic” tends to occur. Students often gravitate towards those things that are on their minds. If students struggle, you may recommend that they write about recent thoughts. If that doesn’t work, have them consider people, places and things that are important to them. Finally, if all else fails, have them try writing about their favorite or least favorite memories.   4  
  • 5. Session Three This session will first allow students to apply the skills learned in the previous sessions to help their classmates improve their writing. Students will pay greater attention to language and form, giving them a more layered understanding of the poems they select for Poetry Out Loud. The session will then encourage students to evaluate various approaches to presenting poems. 1. Put students in pairs or groups of three for peer editing: • Does the poem follow the Golden Shovel form? • Does the poem make sense? • Are there any surprising word choices? • Are there ways of making the line lengths more consistent? • What is the intent of the writer? Students should revise accordingly. 2. Discuss performance/public speaking skills, focusing on the perceived intent of the poet, as well as one’s feelings about the poem he/she is presenting. You may discuss tone as it applies to the original Golden Shovel poems that students wrote, as well to the poems that students will present for Poetry Out Loud. By thinking about intent and tone as both a writer and a reader, a student gains new insights into his/her performance. 3. Brainstorm possible tones that a presenter could utilize to convey his/her feelings about the poem. For instance: ironic, humorous, sarcastic, heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, mocking, etc. 4. Show the three video clips from the Poetry Out Loud website listed below. After each clip, ask students to write down the tone conveyed by the presenter. Ask them to discuss what about the performance prompted their observations. Then, ask them what they felt the presenter did to engage the audience. Facial expressions, body language, gestures, volume shifts, pacing shifts, tone shifts, gestures, etc may all be discussed. Have students discuss what the presentations have in common. Note what they bring up on the board and use it as a basis for what they should practice for their own presentations. http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/video-recitation-series • Sophia Elena Soberon, Bilingual/Bilingüe, by Rhina P. Espaillat • Jackson Hille, Forgetfulness, by Billy Collins • Shawntay A. Henry, Frederick Douglass, by Robert E. Hayden 5. With remaining time, students could pair up to practice reading their Golden Shovel poems and their Poetry Out Loud poems.   5  
  • 6. Optional Concluding Session: The Poetry Café 1. Go over ground rules for the Poetry Café. (1. Everyone should “respect the stage and/or mic”—pay full attention to the presenter; 2. Do not cause any distractions by rustling through papers, tapping a foot, etc.; 3. Clap when students are called up to present and when they are finished; 4. Do not “mean mug” the presenter. In other words, don’t look angry or annoyed when a poet is reading; 5. Students may snap during a poem if they hear a striking line that they want to celebrate.) 2. Students are to present the poem from which they borrowed the striking line (with special emphasis given to that line), followed by their original Golden Shovel poem. They should consider their intended tone when performing their original poem, as well as the tone they want to convey about their Poetry Out Loud selection. Resources • “Hunger Moon” by Jane Cooper (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/242454) • Sections from “The Blackstone Rangers” by Gwendolyn Brooks (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/172095) • Sample Golden Shovel poems by Nova Venerable, Hannah Srajer and Lexus Valentine (an extra example of the form)   6  
  • 7. “Hunger Moon” by Jane Cooper The last full moon of February stalks the fields; barbed wire casts a shadow. Rising slowly, a beam moved toward the west stealthily changing position until now, in the small hours, across the snow it advances on my pillow to wake me, not rudely like the sun but with the cocked gun of silence. I am alone in a vast room where a vain woman once slept. The moon, in pale buckskins, crouches on guard beside her bed. Slowly the light wanes, the snow will melt and all the fences thrum in the spring breeze but not until that sleeper, trapped in my body, turns and turns. Jane Cooper, “Hunger Moon” from The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed. Copyright © 2000 by Jane Cooper. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Source: The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed (W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2000)   7  
  • 8. “The Blackstone Rangers” by Gwendolyn Brooks I AS SEEN BY DISCIPLINES There they are. Thirty at the corner. Black, raw, ready. Sores in the city that do not want to heal. III GANG GIRLS A Rangerette Gang Girls are sweet exotics. Mary Ann uses the nutrients of her orient, but sometimes sighs for Cities of blue and jewel beyond her Ranger rim of Cottage Grove. (Bowery Boys, Disciples, Whip-Birds will dissolve no margins, stop no savory sanctities.) Gwendolyn Brooks, “The Blackstone Rangers,” from Blacks (Chicago: Third World Press, 1987). Reprinted by consent of Brooks Permissions. Source: Blacks (Third World Press, 1987)   8  
  • 9. “The Last Full Moon of February” by Nova Venerable (Oak Park and River Forest High School, Class of 2007; Smith College graduate; featured in the Louder Than a Bomb documentary). Used by permission of the author. After Jane Cooper From “Hunger Moon” (“The last full moon of February stalks the fields.”) My little brother draws on my door every morning with his fists, the words he makes are meshed between his tongue and my last prayer asking God if I am being too selfish, if my hands are too full of psychology books, too laced with Boston air to follow the moon back home. My eyes are as moist as the spit on his lips, thoughts of his funeral come as often as snowfalls in February. I ask God how soon my fingertips will have to stalk his casket, for a sign to tell me if the moon will be the brightest path to follow before he is alone & my fingers lose him in a gravestoned field.   9  
  • 10. “My Twin Brother Becoming a Man” by Hannah Srajer (Oak Park and River Forest High School senior). Used by permission of the author. After Gwendolyn Brooks (from “The Blackstone Rangers”-- “…dissolve no margins, stop no savoring sanctities.”) Once laid out like dinner plates, my brother’s bare hands dissolve into meat-ened fists. He and the boy whose face I do not k(no)w are seconds away from springing, circling at Chicago & Park’s margins like seagulls over silvered fish. The dive comes. He cannot stop until a glinted knife raws into skin like he is a box with heavy tape no one can open. Street’s an unfurled tongue, black & wet, savoring the hothead blood of men, lapping clean all trace of sanctities.   10  
  • 11. “Sores in the city that do not want to heal” by Lexus Valentine (Oak Park and River Forest High School junior). Used by permission of the author. After Gwendolyn Brooks (From “The Blackstone Rangers”—“Sores in the city that do not want to heal”) I’ve become sores, netted into your scalp from missing pieces in my wide tooth comb, sitting in the Panera bread over soup bowls. The city never changed. Since you left, I can recognize that you lift up your tips on what to & what not to do when I reach college. You say, “Never believe in what I’m not.” But what I want-- shifting your goodbyes in my pocket. Giving up is something I’m not used to. With your advice we’ll never heal.   11