My room has been buzzing with the sounds of poetry this week. I teach an 8th-grade creative writing class, and we are creating a Poetry Madness bracket. They are the writing the poems and my 6th graders will be reading and voting on them next month.
Each student wrote two poems. I have 15 students, and we have 32 spaces. They were problem solving and trying to decide how to fill in the two remaining spots while making it fair. Finally, I suggested, "How about I add two of my poems."
They thought that was a great idea until today.
We randomly placed each student in a bracket, and then they chose the poem for each slot. I, of course, was also placed on the bracket, and then reality hit. Two students were going head-to-head against me!
"Mrs. Eck! That's not fair. You'll tell them which ones are yours."
I finally convinced them it would all be anonymous, and everyone would have a fair chance. But I guarantee you, I won't be the winner!
This is the coolest thing ever. I can't wait to hear what happens with the sixth grade voting. Please share that if you are able! (I taught eighth grade and wish I had thought of something so clever!)
ReplyDeleteOh, Leigh Anne, I'm so impressed that teachers make it as far and as often as they do with the Slice of Life Challenge. When I was working fulltime I only managed to finish the March challenge one time. Glad you made it back today. I love that your students are excited about the poetry brackets. Eighth grade is a great year to write poetry. That age was one of my favorite classes to teach. I just wanted to share a great article with you about poetry brackets. I love the way the author suggests that you can do Poetry Madness with no losers. Students choose poems that spoke to them, not that they think are best. The ones that get eliminated get used for more lessons in appreciating poetry. I wish I could redo some of my March Madness Poetry lessons. I hope you will enjoy this: https://www.ethicalela.com/rethinking-the-march-madness-poetry-bracket/
ReplyDeleteI love that you are using poetry brackets. A lot of schools are doing first chapter Fridays, and our own ninth graders used them for brackets, but what a great way to do poetry as brackets!
ReplyDeleteWhat great memories your students will have of writing and sharing poetry in eighth grade! I hope you will be able to share some of their poems.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic idea! Teaching poetry was my favorite part of the year. How fun to go head to head with the teacher. I'm sure this will be a memorable part of their learning. Keep us posted!
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