POETRY CAFE
Launch the media gallery 1 playerPoetry is one of those strands of writing that we sometimes hate to love or love to hate. Many students are intimidated by the restrictions and limitations designed to create specific rhythms. They’re also hesitant to let too many emotions, feelings, or thoughts be out in the open for others to see.
This year was different. I had a group of sixth grade students that were willing to open up about bullying and difficult circumstances they find themselves in during the school day and even at home. They were creative in writing about a variety of topics and pushed themselves to make their writing better during the revising/editing stages of the writing process. They worked diligently to find the right words to speak in the right rhythms to get their message across.
So, this year we did something different. I knew their writing was too important to keep within the confines of the four walls of our classroom. This led us to the No.7 Coffee House in Wellington. Here the students were able to share their poetry with not only their families, but complete strangers that ventured out for a cup of coffee that morning. They courageously stepped up on that stage and read their poetry aloud for all to hear, above the noise and conversations that filled the shop. Students also enjoyed cinnamon rolls, smoothies, and hot cocoa. They spoke with customers and a news reporter. Most importantly, they represented their school well. Read or listen to their poetry here.
I hope that they’ll look back on that brief moment of public speaking and be thankful that they took the risk to get up, speak out, and share their creativity and thoughts with absolute strangers. Because this year was different; it was about more than just writing poetry with a certain number of syllables or rhyming patterns.
It was about finding your voice, even above all the noise.
