Rather than take a poem down from dictation, we read Laurie Halse Anderson's poem "Listen" and analyzed the structure and the choices that Anderson made in writing this poem. Why did we stray from our usual pattern? Well, since we're basing our final project on this poem and since we're almost finished reading Speak, it seemed like a good move to see where we're headed.
For this activity, I gave each of you a printed copy of this poem for you to mark-up with your highlighters. I asked that you highlight the areas where Anderson made interesting structural decisions and/or where you felt like you Anderson made an interesting choice of words. I then gave you a few silent moments to write explanations all around your highlighted lines and stanzas. After you had all made your notes, you all contributed observations and explanations to our group analysis on the board. I was impressed with the depth and understanding that you all demonstrated in this process. I feel like we're more prepared to develop our own poem in this style after engaging in this exercise today.
We'll finish Speak and start our group poem next week. Please remember to bring in your signed progress reports for Tuesday.
