2021 Post #24 -- Poetry For Athletes

 by Brett Vogelsinger

Sports provide abundant space for words.  The sports fans in our classroom often read and listen to more analysis than the rest of our students. I encourage them to write analysis pieces in their weekly writer's notebook entries.  Sports Illustrated contains some complex writing and The Player's Tribune features pieces written by athletes.  So students who feel like sports is their main reason for coming to school never need to feel left out in an English class. 

Since I am not a big sports fan, I occasionally have to remind myself of the importance of including sports poems in our classroom life.  Not everyone feels as moved by Mary Oliver's description of a meadow as I do, so variety matters when it comes to a daily poetry routine.  

The poem "Makin Jump Shots" by Michael S. Harper is a poem that is rich in movement and the potential to teach inference as a reading skill or showing vs. telling as a writing skill.

After our first read aloud of this poem in class and before inviting a student to read it a second time, I ask students to think about this:  What does the poet show us about this basketball player but never really tell us about him?  What do we have to infer?  

Students may comment on the setting (likely a public park) the skills (he seems good) or the demeanor (he seems confident) of the player.  

After a student shares a conclusion, I am always sure to ask them, "What words does the poet use that help you to draw that conclusion?" 

When it comes to inferential thinking, a broader and important question is "How does inference make reading and writing more enjoyable?"  

Learning to read between the lines add to our joy.  If reading were a sport, this would be the skill that separates a spectator from a participant.

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He has been starting class with a poem each day for the past ten years. He is the creator of the Go Poems blog and the author of Poetry Pauses: Teaching With Poems to Elevate Writing in All Genres.   Find him on Twitter @theVogelman.