6 Room Poem
“Poems are all around if we are willing to search for them.” (Heard, 1999, p.49)
Poetry is the hardest thing to teach and the hardest thing for students to understand. In chapter 4 it talks about how most teachers have expressed a dislike in poetry. When asked why teachers do not like poetry it usually comes back to having to dissect poems. Georgia Heard, the author of Awakening the Heart, quotes Denise Levertov and how dissecting poems is like taking the life out of a poem. As teachers, if we present poems in the viewpoint of dissecting them and looking at poetry based terms then students will lose all interest in poetry. Poetry can be a beautiful thing if we present it as a story that we need to listen closely to in order to find the true meaning. Finding the true meaning can be done without taking a poem apart line by line.
Finding the topic for the poem has always been the hardest part for me. I may find a mentor text that has a strategy I want to use in my own writing but I have no idea what to write about. This week's strategy was no different for me. In chapter four of Awakening the heart, one of the strategies that Heard talked about was the “6-Room-Poem.” With this strategy writers are encouraged to think of a place with a memory attached to it that they can write about. A piece of paper is then divided into six different sections: Image, light, sound, questions, feelings and repeating words. In each section writers write down a word or many words that not only correspond with the place and memory that they chose but the category. The main thing about this strategy is that it is not meant to be used to create a full fleshed out poem. This strategy is great for the brainstorming process and helps to make some memories to become clearer to write about. For those who struggle with descriptive words and the use of figurative language like me this strategy gives writers a chance to test out different phrases or words. When writing a poem I tend to use very basic words or scratch out words to replace with a better one. The “6-Room-Poem” strategy helped me to eliminate the scratching out of words.
My process of using the strategy:
When using this strategy I had to brainstorm with my friend to figure out a topic I felt I could write about in enough detail. I even went through the pictures in my phone hoping a memory would pop out at me. My first go round with this strategy I used the topic of my jaw surgery but as I went through each category I felt as though I couldn't remember enough details to write a good poem. Thankfully my strategy of looking through my photos for inspiration worked and I found a memory I could write about. This past summer I took my first beach trip in years. I had enough photos of the trip to help me in describing the scene around me. Once I felt satisfied with the words or phrases I had in each category I got out a blank sheet of paper and went to work writing a rough draft. I felt really good about my poem until I read it aloud and realized how basic the words I was using were. This poem is all about describing a memory and I felt I needed more descriptive words so people could really imagine it. I pulled out my thesaurus and got to work with finding words that were more descriptive to replace the basic ones I had in my poem. Once the words were replaced and metaphors were nailed down I started to write the final version of my poem. Although I still feel like there are more things I want to change or tweak about my poem I feel happy about it. At some point writers have to stop editing their work and take a step back to appreciate the hard work that they have done. "A poem is born not because we willed it, begged it, or coaxed it with "creative assignments" but because when we begin to open our hearts and see poetry everywhere we are beginning to live out lives as poets. And, ultimately, that is where all poetry hides waiting for us to find it." (Heard,1999,p. 61)
Strategy in the classroom:
Every form of writing that we do with students there are graphic organizers to help students organize their thoughts before writing. Writing a poem is no different than writing any other form of writing so it seems crazy to me that there aren’t graphic organizers for writing a poem. The "6-Room-Poem" strategy is almost like a graphic organizer for writing a poem as each box is a different category of thoughts. I believe the best writing happens when students have a chance to flesh out their ideas before writing.
This strategy is a great one to use in the classroom with students. When introducing this strategy to students I would do it as a whole class. Chapter 5 of Awakening the heart talks about a strategy called observational drawing. In this strategy writers are encouraged to go outside and just observe what is going on around them. Students don't get a whole lot of opportunities to get out of the classroom on a normal day except for recess so doing a strategy like this not only get students out of the classroom but it's great inspiration for a poem. Students will take their writers notebook with them outside and write down any observations and maybe even some phrases that coil work in a poem. After a little time outside everyone will go inside and the teacher will lead the class in doing the “6-Room-Poem” strategy. Students will be encouraged to share any observations they wrote down from outside and the teacher will write them down and eventually make them into a collaborative poem. Since there are so many different writers' perspectives going into one poem there may be some disagreement about what topic the poem should be about. This can be a good thing because it shows students that it's ok to not always know exactly what you want to talk about and that it's ok to try out different topics to see if you like it or not. Writing a poem together as a class can really help students to see themselves as writers for when they try the strategy on their own.
Mentor Poem:
Since Hanna Moved Away
By: Judith Viorst
The tires on my bike are flat.
The sky is grouchy gray.
At least it sure feels like that
Since Hanna moved away.
Chocolate ice cream tastes like prunes.
December's come to stay.
They've taken back the Mays and Junes
Since Hanna moved away.
Flowers smell like halibut.
Velvet feels like hay.
Every handsome dog's a mutt
Since Hanna moved away.
Nothing's fun to laugh about.
Nothing's fun to play.
They call me, but I won't come out
Since Hanna moved away.
I really love this poem because it is written in such a simple yet powerful way for students understand. The topic of a friend moving away is unfortunately such a common experience for many students. When introducing a mentor poem in the classroom I feel that it is so important to make sure the poem is relatable to the students.
My observational drawing!
This past week I went to the parkway to my favorite outlook spot. Every time that I feel overly stressed or anxious I take a drive to this spot, park my car and just observe. The view of the mountains goes on for miles and miles and at night you can even see the lights of a busy city. Its such a peaceful place for me and a great place for my observational drawing and poem. When we take the time to stop and appreciate the things around us we may see things that we never noticed before. "What Peter taught me that night is what children do for adults all the time; they help us see the beauty in things that we no longer see, that have been obscured by a film of familiarity." (Heard,1999,p.92)
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