Songs and Project Ideas for Teaching Poetry in Middle School

Although I was not a poetry fan when I was a college student, poetry became my absolute favorite topic to teach when I taught 8th grade English.

My "aha moment" happened when I was student teaching, and my mentor teacher told her students "Poetry is meant to be heard." Well, no wonder I didn't like it—we always read poems silently, then discussed them in class.

This revelation completely changed my thinking. Songs are poetry. 

Using music to teach poetry engages students immediately. It makes sound devices and figurative language real to them. And rocking out in class is the absolute best!

Here are some of my favorite songs to use for teaching poetry.

1. "Waving Through a Window" from Dear Evan Hansen. It's perfect for helping students grasp the concept of a speaker in a poem. My 8th graders could immediately relate to the theme and had the lyrics memorized the next day!
2. "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts. Perfect for metaphor.
3. "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. Allusions. Personification. Alliteration. Rhyme.
4. "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. Its theme is ideal for 8th graders who are about to go to high school. It's also great for teaching the concept of speaker.

After introducing the elements of poetry and reviewing the definitions using handouts and foldables, we play Quizlet Live™ in class to master the terms.

Then we read poems by Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Langston Hughes. My students loved acting out "Paul Revere's Ride" to see how Longfellow uses sound to build suspense. It was a version of a poetry slam with the entire class reading and creating the sound effects.

One of my favorite projects is after reading and analyzing Whitman, Dickinson, and Hughes, my students wrote poems about their heroes, hopes, and dreams.

The hero poems were especially poignant. One football player wrote the most beautiful tribute to his grandmother using a tree as a metaphor.

Inspiring and drawing out deep thinking takes practice. After a year or two of trial and error, I created some graphic organizers to help students pause and reflect. The results were better than I imagined. 

These projects made a powerful bulletin board and their parents treasured their child's work. 

Tried and True Teaching Strategies for the Middle School Research Paper

Teaching Tips

Nothing triggers negative feelings like the mention of the words "research paper." Ask any adult, and almost everyone has a research paper trauma story—either based on their own experience or a family member's.

So let's get rid of the fear. On a slip of paper, write down your worst research paper experience. Now crumple it up, tear it up, get rid of it. Forget it.

Let's start fresh!

What do students need to glean from the research paper experience? Here are my top five skills.

1. How to break a large project into small, manageable steps.
2. How to find reliable, vetted sources.
3. How to read to glean information.
4. How to paraphrase, summarize, and quote.
5. How and when to cite sources.

I believe a middle school research paper should

• be age-appropriate, but challenging;
• primarily teach students about the research process;
• prepare students for formal, academic writing in high school;
• be low-stress and manageable for the student and teacher.

After years of trying various ways of teaching without traumatizing, these are the strategies I found to be tried and true.

1. Be Positive

Even if the research paper is your least favorite thing to teach, be positive! Inspired by one of my students, I began the research paper unit by playing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." The lyrics begin with,  "At first I was afraid; I was petrified . . . "

It breaks the ice and helps everyone relax.

2. One Topic for All

I know having a choice is important for middle school students. However, after allowing students to choose from a list of topics for years, I finally decided that to meet learning goals effectively, it was best if everyone in the class worked on the same basic topic. They could choose their supporting details within the topic, but essentially we were all on the same page. A list of topic ideas is included in this product.

This decision was a game-changer for both me and my students. Students could focus on the research process, which is the main goal. I could guide them much more effectively and provide more meaningful feedback. I could model every step and provide samples along the way.

It also avoids issues with students not being able to find information on their topic.

Choice is important, so I offered them choices on other projects throughout the year, but not on the research paper.

3. Model Every Step

Critical-thinking skills are still developing in middle school students and research papers are intimidating. Many students become anxious and stressed. Showing them samples of each step along the way helps them meet expectations and relieves their anxiety.

Model how to think while reading. Project an article and read the article out loud. Show them how to highlight key words and phrases. Show them what to write in the margins. Then have them try it.

When modeling, keep it short and sweet. Go one step at a time, then have students practice it. Work together on it in class. Coach them every step of the way. Post reminders, samples and instructions to your LMS page so students, parents, and tutors can see!

4. Color-code

This is the best strategy I have ever used. I would have my students color-code their topic sentences and point sentences in red, their examples in blue, and their elaboration in green.

Students could focus on what they were writing and were less likely to go off on a tangent. It also helped me see at a glance if they were on the right track. I could provide meaningful feedback quickly.

5. Give Everyone an Opportunity to Succeed

I divided my rubric into three main areas:

1. Content and Organization
2. Writing: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics, Word Choice and Sentence Fluency
3. MLA and Following Directions. 

Having three main areas gives every student an opportunity to succeed. Encourage students to pay attention to details and try to make an "A" on the MLA and Following Directions portion. When I would point out to them that those are the "easy" points, they did very well!

6. Communicate with Parents on the Front End

When I first started teaching, I would send a letter home to the parents about the research paper explaining the process, deadlines, and grading. Parents would sign and the students would return the letter.

Keeping parents in the loop about expectations and deadlines was key. Parents were supportive and I had fewer questions about grades at the end.

7. Write most of the paper during class. 

Students produced better work when they wrote with me in the same room, right there to coach and assist. 

Each day I would remind them of their goals for the day. I would model the thinking process and review color-coded samples with them. 

Write one paragraph at a time using their note cards.

Also, it reduced procrastination and plagiarism.

I positioned their desks so I could see their computer screens—they faced the back of the room with me behind them. 

Here is the daily procedure.

1. Briefly remind them what you did before.
2. State the learning goals for the day.
3. Model the day’s lesson.
4. Post color-coded samples and directions to the LMS.
5. Have students work on it in class. Coach them through the process.
6. Finish for homework.

8. Don't require the paper to be a specific length

I don't tell my students how long the paper will be—no matter how many times they ask. We would write one paragraph at a time, together in class. Students would end up with a 6-7 page paper at the end. They had such a feeling of pride and accomplishment. If I had told them at the beginning how long the paper would be, they would have died. It was much better for them to look back at the end and see all they had accomplished.

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Teaching Literary Analysis with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Springboards for Writing and Thinking

One of the best activities I've found to encourage higher-level thinking and analysis is the Insight Garden by Gretchen Bernabei. My students could elaborate well in a class discussion, but they froze when writing essays.

I discovered the Insight Garden in Gretchen Bernabei’s book, Reviving the Essay: How to Teach Structure Without Formula. Using the Insight Garden model, I adapted the activity to various literary essay lessons.

I needed a way to encourage my middle school students to think beyond the plot. They could tell me what happened in a story and give examples, but they needed help explaining why something happened, or how a character changed, or how the author developed a theme. I wanted them to elaborate, interpret, and dig deeper.

I also needed my students to practice writing multi-paragraph essays for a timed writing assessment test.

Written in 10 minutes or less, these activities encouraged higher level thinking in small doses.  They produce thoughtful, multi-paragraph essays, and it's painless!

Although my 8th grade students were a bit baffled the first time we did one, after two or three, they enjoyed these writing activities. Because the prompts are divided into chunks, their pieces were well-organized. Students felt a sense of accomplishment when saw their finished product—a multi-paragraph essay written in 10 minutes.

Managing the Paper Load: Write 3; Choose 1 for a Grade

After each prompt, I would choose a few to show as examples the next day. Then we would do another prompt. After they completed three or so different prompts, they would choose one for me to grade. All of the samples went in their writing portfolios.

The finished product also made great pieces for bulletin boards.

I often wrote alongside my students.

This activity fostered higher-level thinking and improved my students’ writing skills. It was one of the most effective strategies I used!

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Literacy Toolbox: MLK Writing Prompts

Another Great Idea for Teaching Literary Analysis with Dr. King's Work

Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech is a great way to introduce students to literary analysis. I found this wonderful, free, online activity from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Tips for Timed Writing Assessment

Visit Literacy Toolbox for more Timed Writing Assessment Resources.

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Writing Assessment Toolbox: Narrative, Persuasive, Expository Writing

Writing Assessment Test Practice Tips for Middle School

I'm just going to say it. Teaching writing to middle school students is a bit like herding cats. It just is. Students have a wide range of abilities. Many have had negative experiences when they were younger. Some love to write. Some just hate it, and most kids are somewhere in between.

And they are all in one classroom.

At the same time, teaching writing can be extremely gratifying. There's no better way to see a student's growth and improvement. When a prompt or assignment resonates with a student, they shine. It's absolutely the best.

So it's really all about the best of times and the worst of times, I guess.

Another irony about teaching writing is that the process is similar to the writing process itself. You plan, you execute, you see ways to improve, and you revise. Each assignment (hopefully) gets better.

I don’t claim to know everything about writing instruction. Far from it. But after years of trial and error, I have reached a few conclusions.

What I Know . . .

1. Modeling the thinking process is key. It's a game-changer when students see proficient writers revise their ideas through trial and error. 
2. Using charts and graphic organizers helps students stay focused.
3. Coaching students through the writing process IN CLASS is a very valuable use of class time. Assigning essays as homework is a waste of time because students usually sit down after an exhausting day at 9:30 p.m. or later and try to write while their phone is buzzing and beeping.  Having students write during class means I can quickly review the main goals of the assignment with them, and they can work uninterrupted with me right there to help them. The results are sooooo much better.
4. Writing is the culmination of thinking. When students write about something they have read, their reading, writing, and thinking skills improve dramatically.
5. Strong essays need guidance. It’s like golf. If you give someone a set of golf clubs and send them out on the course, they will whack at the ball, but to be a good golfer, they need an instructor. Likewise with writing. If students practice bad habits, they become better at poor writing.
6. Similarly, sending students out on the golf course with their friends with a list of instructions doesn’t help them learn to golf well either. The same is true for peer editing.
7. Peer-editing works well with talented writers who can articulate their thoughts effectively, But generally speaking, students can’t learn to write well from their peers. They need a knowledgeable, skilled writer to guide them. They need a teacher.

We know students need a lot of practice. They also need meaningful teacher feedback. But there are only 24 hours in a day, and teachers are only human, so how do we provide feedback in a manageable way?

Writing Assessment Practice Tips

Do short, quick writing activities with your students whenever you can. Focus on a specific trait of writing. When working on argument essays, you might focus on organization, voice, or word choice. Depending on time and your goals, students may write for 10-20 minutes on a single prompt.

Step 1: Give students a prompt and the appropriate amount of time in class to work on it. It can be 10 minutes. Maybe they only write one paragraph. Maybe they finish it for homework. It’s up to you. While they work, you can either write a sample or read the responses from your previous class.

When the date for a writing assessment test approaches, my students write for 30 minutes because that’s the time they are allowed on the test.

Step 2: Read and react. Provide feedback, but do not grade their essays. Don’t copy edit them or correct every mistake. After reading several, choose 1-3 strong pieces to share with the class. The next day, project the examples and review/analyze their strengths with the class. You can either have students revise their original piece or assign another prompt and have students write that day.

Step 3: Repeat until students have 3 different writing pieces for their portfolios. Note that you don’t need to read all of the essays every night. When practicing for a writing assessment, you’re just trying to determine where they are as a class at this point. You can read a handful of essays and know what you need to clarify or explain to them as a class.

You also just need a handful of good examples to show your students. When pressed for time, I go to my strongest writers first to find good examples. Sometimes, though, I find some treasures among my lesser-abled students. Using even part of their pieces gave them an incredible boost. Maybe they have a great opening sentence. Or a fabulous counterargument.

Step 4: Choose 1-3 examples to share and analyze. Then do another prompt.

After they have completed at least 3 prompts, go to

Step 5: Have students choose one of the three essays for you to grade. Have them tell you which piece they chose and why. Keep all three pieces in their writing portfolios.

When students go through the process of choosing their best piece, they will learn to self-evaluate. Also, they will see their progress, which gives them a feeling of accomplishment.

Reading and reacting to a piece saves you time, while still guiding your students' writing. It's a classic win/win!

Expository Essay Toolbox for Writing Assessment

Narrative Essay Toolbox for Writing Assessment

Persuasive Essay Toolbox for Writing Assessment

© 2018 Linda Ricci All Rights Reserved.

TpT for Schools!

Great news for teachers!

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Six Words and a Whole Lot of Learning

This activity makes a great end-of-the-year or graduation writing activity. 

My 8th-grade students learned more about writing from six-word memoirs than they did from the five-paragraph essays and research papers they wrote. Well, almost.

Here's what I mean. Take a minute and write a six-word memoir about your day today. I'll wait.

---------------------

Critical Thinking, Writing, Revising, & More Thinking

You probably navigated your way through these steps:

Step 1: Thought about your day.
Step 2. Thought about the most important parts of your day. What stood out?
Step 3. Jotted down ideas.
Step 4. Summarized those ideas.
Step 5. Wrote a few phrases or sentences.
Step 6. Chose a phrase and revised it to 6 words.
Step 7. Played with the word order and word choice. Looked up words to take the place of multiple words. Added adjectives or adverbs.

If you worked through those steps, chances are you could feel your brain cells working. You had to synthesize the information from your day and phrase it in a logical way. It took some critical thinking.

Don't get me wrong. Five-paragraph essays and research papers are extremely important. I'm not suggesting replace those with six-word phrases, but . . .

Sometimes the most learning takes place in small chunks. From the perspective of a student, a six-word memoir is a lot more manageable than a five-paragraph essay. Students can focus on syntax and word choice. As they revise to hit the six-word count, it also helps improve their vocabulary.

Once students write a few six-word memoirs, they get the hang of it, and it gets easier. It's something you can work in often—before, during, and after the major writing assignments. It's a fun break. My reluctant readers and writers loved them!

Consider the possibilities (and they're not just for English class):

• Exit Tickets
• Bulletin Boards
• Response to Reading
• Summarizing a history lesson
• Summarizing a science or math concept
• "Getting to Know You" Ice Breaker at the beginning of the school year
• Introducing yourself to your students and parents at "Meet the Teacher" Night
• Grandparents' Day Tribute
• End-of-the-Year Activity
• Final Exam Question

For just about anything you teach, you can use Six-word memoirs.

Here are some memoirs I wrote to introduce myself to my students and to show them various patterns for six words.

• Born in Maryland. Live in Tennessee.
• Twelve years teaching junior high English.
• Junior high: New adventures every day.
• Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother. Teacher. Friend.
• Learned about memoirs from a colleague.

Background

Six-word memoirs are the brainchild of Larry Smith of Smith magazine, an online storytelling website he founded in 2006.

In 2008, Smith released a book of six-word memoirs called Not Quite What I was Planning, which was featured on NPR. A book for and by teens called "I Can't Keep My Own Secrets," soon followed. (The link is at the right.)

According to Smith, the inspiration for six-word memoirs comes from Ernest Hemingway who was once asked to tell his life story in six words. He replied, "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."

Teaching Tips

I first taught six-word memoirs when my students read Melba Pattillo Beals' memoir, Warriors Don't Cry. I used the activity to introduce the concept of memoir.

Afterwards, my students used their memoirs to introduce themselves to students in a class in another state. I had connected with another 8th grade English teacher through Edmodo, and we collaborated on several activities together.

The memoirs turned out so well, we used them for Parent Tributes and Grandparents Day.

I suggest you start small. Try it out. Start with exit tickets, then maybe a bulletin board.

I created a packet of resources I developed during eight years of teaching Six-word Memoirs.

Over time, I developed ways to encourage students to think deeply and symbolically about the important people in their lives. Some of their memoirs about their parents—and especially their grandparents—were very poignant.

The memoirs became more poetic each year.

This packet includes all the graphic organizers I used for students of different abilities. I also included a student sample of the thinking process.

Six Word Memoirs for the Classroom

Tips for Making Independent Reading Fun and Manageable!

Fostering a Love of Reading

Mention an Independent Reading assignment, and the reaction is likely to be an eye roll and an ugh . . . and that's from the teachers.

As an 8th grade English teacher, I felt more like an enforcer than a teacher when it came to Independent Reading. Reading logs—ha! Make them too detailed and the logs are a nightmare for the child, parent, and teacher. Book reports—been there and done that. 

Finding the balance between accountability and promoting a love of reading was a tightrope walk.

How can we make sure middle school students are doing the assigned reading while making it fun? 

While working on my Capstone Research project on Promoting Adolescent Literacy, I uncovered an article that tapped into the social-emotional aspects of middle-school students. 

Choice

• Students need to have the freedom to choose their own books. However, reluctant readers often need guidance in selecting a book they will like. Start a dialogue about their interests. Have classmates make suggestions. Create a bulletin board: The Best Book I Ever Read.

Social Opportunities

• Teens are social creatures, so by incorporating social activities into the reading, teachers can promote a love of reading. Small group discussions combined with a snack can make reading fun. Students often recommend books to each other, which is more powerful than an adult saying, "Here. Read this." An added bonus is improved speaking, listening, and writing skills!

Parent cooperation 

• Parents need to be in the loop. Their main role is to make sure their child has time to read. Extracurricular activities and technology dominate families' lives. A graphic showing parents the number of hours their child spends participating in extracurricular activities vs. their time spent reading is an eye-opener.

Painless Accountability 

Making sure students are actually reading can be burdensome for both students and teachers. Reading logs don't tell us much about what the student is actually comprehending. 

Finding the right balance between accountability and reading enjoyment can be a challenge.

Book Bistro in Literacy Toolbox

Book Bistro is the perfect activity for middle schoolers. It fosters a love of reading while keeping kids accountable. It taps into their social nature.

With Book Bistro, students choose a book to read independently. As they read, they complete a brief, two-page assignment to use for the basis of their book discussion. 

They are accountable but not burdened.

On or shortly after the due date, students sit in assigned groups (3 students is ideal) and discuss their books. They can be grouped by genre with similar genres together, or you can have a variety of genres in each group.

This is also a great activity for summer reading at the beginning of the year. You can find it on Teachers Pay Teachers: Literacy Toolbox

Resources for Book Recommendations for Middle School

Good Reads

Scholastic

WeAreTeachers

Book Bistro Independent Reading Activity

© 2018 Literacy Toolbox by Linda Ricci. All Rights Reserved.

First Day of School: Five Tips for the First Day

Setting a Positive Tone in Middle School

1. Begin in a positive way.

Tell your students, "I am on your side, and I want you to succeed" and mean it. They want to get along with you as much as you do with them. Sincerely supporting your students can be life-changing! Your students will relax and breathe. And they will remember this statement on the last day of school. (I have the letters to prove it!)

2. Be well-organized. 

Have a seating chart posted and greet your students at the door. Not knowing where they will sit can create anxiety. Better to assign seats. Consider alphabetizing by students' first names. It's a refreshing twist for them, and it can be helpful to you as you try to learn their names. Try to have all their names memorized by the third day of school.

3. Get them moving.

Make your first activity an ice-breaker activity to loosen things up. First days can be monotonous. Get them moving with something like "Find Someone Who".

4. Break the monotony.

Every teacher goes over rules, procedures, and syllabi on the first day. In your students' minds, it all runs together into one big ball of mush. They might remember 1 thing you say. (Think of the last teacher's conference you attended, and how you felt after sitting through 3 sessions . . . )

Instead, assign the rules and procedures as a quick homework read. Let them look it over after they've had a chance to decompress from the first day.

5. Smile, but set a business-like tone.

Be friendly and pleasant to make them feel welcome and safe. Greet your students, ask how their day is going, and listen to their answers.

Dress the part: First impressions count. Dress as if you would for a job interview because first impressions count. Always look sharp on the first day.

Posture: Stand up straight. When you speak to your students, make sure your toes are pointing toward them. It sounds silly, but it works. Fred Jones writes about it in his book, Tools for Teaching.

Your attitude and demeanor form the foundation for your classroom management and discipline more than anything else. You set the tone!

Enjoy the first day! You are changing lives!

This packet includes "Find Someone Who," an editable newsletter template, and an editable Teacher True/False quiz. "Compass Points" is a wonderful way to learn about your students questions and concerns in a non-threatening way.