A Trajectory to Duplicate: These Poems Were VERY Good Things

The Backstory

Many readers might know that September was my last month of public school teaching, as I am opening my own writing studio, The Writing Clinic, in November. Therefore, the work I did with a classroom of fourth-graders was especially meaningful to me… it was like a grand finale.

As part of their writing unit launch and identity unit. I worked on poems with fourth-grade students that were inspired by Derrick Barnes’ I’m Every Good Thing. It’s funny– I wrote the launch unit and envisioned the work students could do, but I’ve never gotten to teach it before. Most teachers don’t want coaches in their rooms during the first few weeks, but we had an unexpected long-term sub, and I got the chance! How much fun did I have!

The Details

We started with written copies of the text, and students noticed and named craft moves. Each student had their own copy of the text to annotate. 

One student had the great idea of numbering the lines and stanzas so that he could keep track of ones he tried to emulate. As he wrote his own poem, he cross-referenced his work with Derrick’s work. He inspired the whole class, including me, to do that!

As students annotated, I shared out some of their noticings on a chart that evolved over the course of their poem-writing. I gave credit to those who named the move, and more importantly, I invited students to let us know when they tried a move in their own poem. Mentor texts are a powerful tool for all writers, but only if they’re used! This chart helped formalize and document the use of the Derrick Barnes mentor. Adding the far right column served as an informal assessment and also reinforced their intentional use of the mentor text. Many of them kept their annotated poems right next to them as they wrote their own poems. Every day, I could hear the impact of Derrick’s poem, but within students’ own words and stories.

We also emphasized revision. The students responded to the concept that there are different levels of revision, and writing pieces often get stronger when writers engage in 2-3 star revision strategies. 

One-star Revision	Two-star Revision	Three-star revision
Change a word Add some punctuation for meaning Add spacing and line breaks	Add a sentence or two Add a phrase or some figurative language Find ways to add repetition	Add or move a section around Add and develop figurative language

This chart led students to see revision as much more than a word change, and the energy for adding sections and developing figurative language was super high!

As I taught, I created a chart that developed throughout the week. This chart includes concepts that apply to all types of writing. 

Reflections

Ultimately, the best indicator of effective instruction has most to do with students’ attitudes, engagement, and creations. I taught students to self-assess their on-task behavior by giving me a fist-to-five hand rating. Rarely did I see anything less than a three. Most of the time students held up four or five fingers, and I agreed with them. When I asked for reflection through a google form, I asked several questions, but also gave students the opportunity to tell me anything they thought I should know. 

Responses included:

• during the process i think i changed to a 2 star writer because i added a chunk and took away a chunk.
• I think that the best poem I’ve ever written
• I loved being your student and my poem would not be the same if you were not my writing teacher. *

*(I had to include the last one since it touched my heart, and the poem really was INCREDIBLE.)

With permission, I am including a few of the poems for your reading pleasure, and I’ll be sure to share any comments you might have with these brave and powerful writers. 

Alexa’s poem

Lucas’s poem

Madison’s poem

Patrick’s poem

Tessa’s poem