The Lost Generation ~ #sol17

I believe being a writer is one of the biggest gifts you can give to your students. ~ Stacey Shubitz

This month I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge.  Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating a space for me to share my corner of the world.

  

It's also Poetry Friday, and today's slice is about a poem that had an impact on my teaching as well as my students. Slide on over to Today's Little Ditty where Michelle has the poetry round-up.

This week we have been working with tone and mood.  We have read pieces of literature and determined the tone and mood, and we have written our own pieces, changing the tone to create a different mood.

Poetry is my favorite genre to teach this skill, and I recently came across the poem, "The Lost Generation" by Jonathan Reed.  Some call it a palindrome poem or a reverse poem.  When the poem is read down or forward, it takes on a new meaning than when it is read up or backward. This is certainly the case with this poem.

When I showed my students this video of the poem, I did not have to say a word about tone and mood.  They got it!  My students not only understood the tone and mood of the poem, they also understood the meaning of the words and the role they, themselves, play in the world today.

I hope you enjoy "The Lost Generation."