Seventh graders in Mrs. Davis and Ms. Brown’s ELA classes at Chisholm Trail Middle School recently took an in depth look at the various structures, styles and literary devices used in poetry. Students used their new knowledge of poetry to compose original narrative poems revolving around the concept of choice. Ava said, “I learned that poetry can take any moment and emphasize it to where it becomes bigger than it really is.”
By utilizing Google Drive, students were able to work both independently and in groups to write, revise, edit, publish, and present their original poems. Google was utilized as a platform for drafting, revising, editing, and publishing the poems. This platform allowed students to collaborate in composing the poems, authentically.
“The most challenging part of the project was trying to convey our message to the listener and/or reader in a way that could show what we had in our heads”, says Makeeda. After composing and rehearsing their poetry, students presented their narrative poems in a poetry slam with their respective classes. Using a traditional scoring method of a 1-10 scale, peer evaluation determined which students from each class would be moving on to the next round. Careful consideration was given to both the poem itself and the performance of the piece while scoring.
The winners from the in-class poetry slams went on to present their poems in the cross-district poetry slam held via Zoom Conference with Medlin Middle School. Students from both campuses were able to share their poems with students across the district through live-streaming. Classes were able to interact throughout the Poetry Slam by using Today’s Meet, as they discussed and provided feedback, while a Google Form was used to provide student presenters with more detailed feedback from their peers.
Ashton shared her thoughts on the poetry slam. “Google helped us by being able to have others edit our poem and add feedback. It also helped because my partner and I were both able to edit our poem at the same time. Zoom allowed us to present to Medlin and receive their feedback.” Students and teachers are hopeful this event can expand throughout the district next year.
By utilizing Google Drive, students were able to work both independently and in groups to write, revise, edit, publish, and present their original poems. Google was utilized as a platform for drafting, revising, editing, and publishing the poems. This platform allowed students to collaborate in composing the poems, authentically.
“The most challenging part of the project was trying to convey our message to the listener and/or reader in a way that could show what we had in our heads”, says Makeeda. After composing and rehearsing their poetry, students presented their narrative poems in a poetry slam with their respective classes. Using a traditional scoring method of a 1-10 scale, peer evaluation determined which students from each class would be moving on to the next round. Careful consideration was given to both the poem itself and the performance of the piece while scoring.
The winners from the in-class poetry slams went on to present their poems in the cross-district poetry slam held via Zoom Conference with Medlin Middle School. Students from both campuses were able to share their poems with students across the district through live-streaming. Classes were able to interact throughout the Poetry Slam by using Today’s Meet, as they discussed and provided feedback, while a Google Form was used to provide student presenters with more detailed feedback from their peers.Ashton shared her thoughts on the poetry slam. “Google helped us by being able to have others edit our poem and add feedback. It also helped because my partner and I were both able to edit our poem at the same time. Zoom allowed us to present to Medlin and receive their feedback.” Students and teachers are hopeful this event can expand throughout the district next year.
