Driving Question: How might we inspire positive change through poetry and art?
Project Description: Through literature and informational text, students were introduced to what inspires people to write. Powerful examples of poetry are being presented, read, and written everyday. This project has been launched many different ways, depending on the relevant examples of poetry in student's lives. Amanda Gorman's presidential inauguration poem is just one of the recent examples of poetry student's watched, and analyzed to launch the project. After our launch, students read the novel "Love That Dog", by Sharon Creech. After analyzing how character's change through the course of a story, students explored the real life poets that are referred to in the book (Robert Frost, Valerie Worth, William Blake). Students became experts on a poet of their choosing, learning how and what inspired their famous poet to write poetry. After learning about famous poets, students began thinking of what inspires themselves to write poetry. Student's found inspiration in their families, friends, nature, travel, and media. Choosing a topic that inspires them, they wrote original poems which were then presented to an audience.
Products
- Informational Essay about what inspired a famous poet to write poetry
- Original Poem w/ art accompaniment
- Formal presentation about what inspired students to write their own poem
Exhibition: Poetry Gala with a poetry reading and presentation explaining why students were inspired to write their original poem.
Check out my blog on PBL Works (featuring this project!) on how we use inquiry throughout a high-quality project.
https://www.pblworks.org/blog/how-we-use-need-know-questions-guide-sustained-inquiry
https://www.pblworks.org/blog/how-we-use-need-know-questions-guide-sustained-inquiry