Introduction to Poetry (Conor Hilton)
Objectives:
- Assess students’ feelings about and experience with poetry
- Introduce poetry as a genre and lay the groundwork for an expansive understanding of and approach to poetry
I. Welcome (5 minutes)
- Share objectives
- Take roll
- Ask for questions
II. Writing Prompt: "How do you feel about poetry?" (10-15 minutes)
- Have students think and write for 5-7 min
- Once students have finished have them condense their response to one word (or two or three) and write it on the board
III. Discussion (10-15 minutes)
- Start discussion by reading out the spread of feelings/reactions on the board
- Invite further thoughts and expansion. Be sure to set this up so students can be honest and open without fear of repercussions (this hasn’t been a problem in my experience, but is worth working on from the start of the semester)
- Ask follow-up and clarifying questions: "What are your experiences with poetry in the classroom?", "Any favorite poems?", "What is poetry?"
IV. Definition (10 minutes)
- Build on the conversation you’re having where students are identifying how they feel about poetry and why and work towards crafting a definition of poetry
- May be valuable to break into small groups here to mix things up a bit
- Draw attention to what “poetry” will be for your course, point to specific readings on the syllabus and give a sense of how expansive the genre is for you
V. Close Reading (10-20 minutes)
- I typically have assigned a short poem or two to read for this class period (something like “Harlem”, by Langston Hughes)
- Pull the poem up and read it out loud (multiple times if time allows)
- Dig into the language together, doing some close reading
VI. Closing (5-10 minutes)
- Recap what happened/learned (ideally a pre-assigned student does this)
- Reminders of upcoming assignments & readings