2021 Post #5 -- Kaleidoscopic Thought

 by Brett Vogelsinger

Since childhood, I have always loved the mirrored, sparkling, shifting imagery a kaleidoscope can offer. For this mini-lesson, it might be fun to have this YouTube video of hypnotic, kaleidoscopic imagery projected on a screen as students enter the classroom:

The poem "Thought." by Alice Dunbar-Nelson was recently featured by the Academy of American Poets in their Poem-a-Day emails, a subscription I highly recommend.  

It goes like this: 

Thought. 

A swift, successive chain of things,

That flash, kaleidoscope-like, now in, now out, 

Now straight, now eddying in wild rings, 

No order, neither law, compels their moves,

But endless, constant, always swiftly roves. 

The poet catches my eye when she says thoughts are "kaleidoscope-like," and in keeping with this simile, continues to shift from comparison to comparison, image to image for the remainder of the short poem. Reading the poem makes me pause and tune into my own stream of consciousness, that subtext to our experience in any moment that often escapes our notice. 

After reading the poem, I might ask the class to comment on "What does Alice Dunbar-Nelson observe about human thought? How does the way our thought patterns work relate to those kaleidoscope patterns we were watching on the screen a moment ago?"

Next, we could pause for sixty silent seconds with this aim: Just tune into the kaleidoscope of your own thoughts. In the course of sixty seconds, where does your mind go. What shifts happen and what forms emerge? 

Then, in our writer's notebooks, we can craft a short poem that tries to put those shifting thoughts into words. Remember, it could be figurative instead of literal, and it doesn't have to make pure, perfect grammatical sense, much like Dunbar-Nelson's poem. 

Georgia Heard's new book of children's poems, My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems For Mindfulness, helps readers to do what this lesson emphasizes, pausing in the moment to bring awareness to just what is going on in our mind. In stressful times, teaching students how to do this, then putting some of their thought into words that will not be judged, assessed, or graded, can serve an important emotional purpose in our classroom. This kind of pause can provide a balm in anxious or divisive times.  

And our students do well to remember that whoever they are and whatever their aspirations, their thought is "endless, constant, always swiftly roves."  

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.

  

2020 Post #21 -- Words of Comfort

by Brett Vogelsinger

Since reading a poem is a daily ritual in my class, patterns develop in our poetry selections.  One of those patterns -- yes, a pattern students observe in much of the literature we read in English class -- is that writers often tackle dense, heavy, depressing topics.  Poetry is no exception.  And I would argue it is important to bring these types of poems to our students.

However, we also live in an age of crushing anxiety, and each year I see more students struggle to maintain their emotional health.  I want to be sure that English class, and particularly a routine that begins our class period most days, does not deliver a daily dose of doom.  Picture the Pavlovian effect of that for a moment:  Bell rings, gloomy poem emerges on the screen, discussion of humanity's darkest moments ensues. . . what might be the effect of that day after day after day on our students?

Derek Mahon's poem "Everything Is Going To Be All Right" interrupts this pattern when we need something to reassure, comfort, or uplift our class.  The poem does not ignore that the world is full of problems, just as English teachers do not, but it does remind us of the healing power of nature, of the importance of taking time to observe and notice, of cycles and hope and the potential to begin again.

Dr. Katherine Dahlsgaard, a psychologist who specializes in childhood and adolescent anxiety, recently spoke to teachers in my school district about the science of hope.  She said that "teachers are ambassadors of hope."  If I am to be such a teacher, I must introduce my students to the power of words not just to identify problems and give them voice but also to explore solutions, find peace in the face of turmoil, and provide comfort when we feel lost.

So I leave you with Derek Mahon reading his own poem in a video, and a question to pair with this poem for students:  What brings you comfort in troubled times?

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.

2020 Post #20 -- Rituals in Difficult Times

by Allison Marchetti

Rituals in Difficult Times

As a mother of two littles, I have been doing my best to keep our days at home as predictable and familiar as possible during these strange times.

We’re still getting dressed and brushing our teeth in the morning. Still taking the dog for a walk first thing. Still snuggling in my four-year-old’s bed at night for stories. Still making pancakes on Sunday morning.

My daughter points at the sky. “Airplane, Mommy!” Planes still fly. The squirrels in our backyard still take their share of the seed in the feeder. The rabbits still munch grass in the cool light of dawn.

This short, simple poem, “The Return,” by Jonathan Greene, reminds us that, despite COVID-19’s disruption to our lives, “some rituals/ of this good earth/ continue.” And what a comfort that is to both old and young.

Perhaps it will bring some calm to your students to think about the rituals of their lives that have not stopped, that will continue to ground them in the present and keep them focused on the good.


Here’s what working with this poem in your classroom might look like:

1. Read the poem out loud.

2. Discuss what you notice about the poem. Here are a few things that might come up, or that you might draw their attention to:

• 3, 4-line stanzas
• The poem follows a simple pattern: The first stanza explains, in simple terms, the “ritual.” The second stanza paints an image of this ritual. The third stanza feels like a refrain, or a mantra, that bears repeating.
• First-person. “We” and “us” could be anyone, observing this ritual. Anyone who is looking for this reminder.
• The simple, descriptive language: “They find their old nests / teach their young to fly”
• The repetition of the word “return”

3. Encourage students to talk (or email or Zoom -- however they might be communicating from afar) about the various rituals, both inside and outside of their homes, that continue during these strange times.

4. Invite your students to write beside this poem, perhaps borrowing the frame:


We are heartened

when…





They remind us,

for now, some rituals

of this good earth

continue.



Further Reading:

Allison Marchetti is co-author with Rebekah O’Dell of WRITING WITH MENTORS and BEYOND LITERARY ANALYSIS (Heineman). She is the co-founder of Moving Writers, a blog for secondary writing teachers. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.

2019 Post #25 -- Make Your Peace

by Brett Vogelsinger

Anna Grossnickle Hines is a poet who brings a beautiful blend of poetry and quilting expertise to her books for children.  Since I am a poetry enthusiast, and my wife is a professional embroidery artist, we were thrilled to discover her picture books this year!

Her 2011 picture book, Peaceful Pieces, contains a poem that will speak to younger and older writers alike.  It is called "Peace: A Recipe," and the picture under the poem shows how the quilting complements the words.


Peace: A Recipe

Open minds -- at least two.
Willing hearts -- the same.
Rinse well with compassion.
Stir in a fair amount of trust.
Season with forgiveness.
Simmer in a sauce of respect.
A dash of humor brightens the flavor.

Best served with hope.

Click to Enlarge!

After reading the poem twice aloud in my classroom -- first a teacher reading, then a student read aloud -- I ask my students to think of someone that they need to make greater peace with in their own lives.  I invite them to ponder: which of the "ingredients" in this poem could help lead to greater peace.  In their Writer's Notebooks, write for a few minutes about what action they could take using this "ingredient" to create greater peace in their relationship.

This activity welcomes students to see poetry not just as literature or a collection of images or a weaving of words.  Of course, it is all these things.  But it can also be a motivator, a catalyst for change, an invitation to an epiphany.

As teachers, we cannot manufacture epiphanies.  But we can give students the chance to take a message from a poem and look for ways to apply it in their lives.  This deceptively simple poem may give them just such a chance.

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.