The Poetry of Home

In Activity 2, students will listen to three different poems. One of the poems has references to potentially disruptive content, and it will be important to preview the poem to ensure that it aligns with your school policies and the culture of your classroom. 

The poem “Transubstantiation” by Molly McCully Brown opens with the lines, “It’s the middle of the night. I’m just a little loose on beer, / and blues.” This is the only reference to alcohol, and the poem neither glamorizes nor focuses on alcohol consumption. However, if you need or prefer to avoid these references, consider selecting an alternative poem that offers insight into rural life (e.g., the works of Wendell Berry).

• Explain that students will participate in a Wraparound activity designed to succinctly capture their reflections on what they’ve learned so far in the unit. Each student will synthesize their thoughts, insights, or reactions into no more than three words. Emphasize that they should choose words that genuinely reflect their understanding or feelings about the lesson content.
   
• Invite students to revisit and review their notes, texts, and journal entries from the previous two lessons. Provide them with enough time to thoughtfully consider and write down their chosen words in their journals. Encourage them to have their journal entry ready for quick reference during the Wraparound session.
   
• Encourage students to listen respectfully to their peers and to think about the diversity of perspectives being shared as well as common ideas that may emerge. Emphasize that every student has a voice and ensure that all thoughts are heard equally.
   
• Invite a volunteer to share their three words with the class. After the volunteer has shared, continue the activity by having the next student to the right share their words, and so forth, until everyone has had the opportunity to contribute.

• Inform students that they will be reading and listening to three poems, each of which offers a unique lens on life in a rural, urban, or suburban setting. Clarify that these poems illustrate specific, personal experiences of each setting and are not general representations of life in these areas. These personal experiences add a layer of depth and complexity to the place-specific sources examined in previous lessons, such as the image and data analysis.  
   
• Hand out copies of the poems:
  • Reading: “Transubstantiation” Molly McCully Brown
  • Reading: “west of philly” by Yolanda Wisher
  • Reading: “Suburban” by Michael Blumenthal
     
• Let students know that they will read and listen to audio recordings of each poem to deepen their engagement and understanding.
   
• Before playing the recordings, ask students to prepare for a focused listening experience. They may find it helpful to close their eyes or rest their heads on their desks to minimize distractions. Explain that the purpose of listening in this way is to fully immerse themselves in the auditory and emotional landscape of the poems.
   
• Further explain that paying attention to the flow and rhythm of a poem can be a useful exercise in learning how to effectively read poetry without pausing at line breaks.
   
• Pass out the See, Hear, Feel: Poetry Connection Questions handout and introduce the three guiding questions to help focus students’ listening. These questions are provided on Part 1 of the handout:
   
  • Visual Imagery: What images or scenes do you visualize as the poem is read? Concentrate on identifying one or two vivid images.
  • Auditory Elements: Pay attention to rhythm, rhyme, and sound patterns. Is there a particular musical quality you can identify?
  • Emotional Response: What emotions does the poem evoke in you? Without overthinking, note your immediate emotional reaction. This could range from happiness to curiosity, or anything in between.
     
• Play the audio recordings of “Transubstantiation” and “west of philly,” and read “Suburban” aloud to the class. After each poem, pause to let students write their initial reactions to the questions on their handouts. Explain that initial impressions are valuable and that there are no incorrect responses.
  • Audio: “Transubstantiation” Molly McCully Brown
  • Audio: “west of philly” by Yolanda Wisher

• Organize students into small groups of three or four to discuss one of the poems. Choose a different poem for each group to ensure that all three are discussed in class.
   
• Explain to the class that each group will need to decide on their reading approach.
  • They may choose to do one of the following:
    • Read the poem silently, individually.
    • Read the poem out loud as a group, taking turns between lines or stanzas.
    • Nominate a volunteer to read the poem out loud to the group.
       
• Give students time to read their poems in groups.
   
• After reading, students engage in an analysis activity using the Part 2 questions on the See, Hear, Feel: Poetry Connection Questions handout. 
  • You may find it useful to introduce or review the following terms. These are also defined on the handout for student reference.
    • Message or theme: the poet’s generalization about life, the human condition, or the world we live in.
    • Dramatic situation: the concept, idea, or experience that unfolds in the poem (similar to the plot of a narrative). 
       
• Connection Questions

1. Analyze the speaker’s attitude—or tone—toward the subject. Support your insights with specific words or phrases from the poem.
2. Summarize the poem’s dramatic situation. How would you describe what’s happening in the poem to someone else?
3. Discuss the message or theme conveyed by the speaker. Use evidence from the poem to support your interpretation.
4. Reflect on the poem’s title and its relation to the theme and dramatic situation.
5. Find textual examples where the speaker reveals a sense of familiarity with the place that is written about in the poem.
6. In what way does the speaker seem connected to or disconnected from the place being described in the poem?

• Invite students to answer one of the Connect, Extend, Challenge teaching strategy prompts in their journals. Explain that the purpose of this reflection is to synthesize their learning to illuminate new insights and understanding about place, home, and belonging. Before you begin, let students know that they will be sharing their reflections in pairs or small groups. Alternatively, you can facilitate a whole-class discussion after students have had time to reflect.
   
• Student Prompts:
  • Connect: Consider how the poems in today’s lesson connect with ideas and information from previous lessons. How do the poems add or connect to your personal understanding of the relationship between place and belonging?
  • Extend: Reflect on how the poems expand your thinking about the concepts presented in the TED Talk, image analysis, and research analysis. How do the ideas or perspectives introduced by the poems broaden your understanding of the relationship between place and belonging?
  • Challenge: Explain how the poems from this lesson challenge or complicate the ideas or assumptions presented in the TED Talk, image analysis, and research analysis. What new questions or considerations does the poem raise for you about the relationship between place and belonging?
     
• When students have completed their reflections, invite them to share their thoughts with a peer or two. Then ask them to grapple with one or both of the guiding questions:
   
  • Student Prompts: Using new insight or understanding from this unit, discuss the following questions: 
    • Describe the familiar places, people, routines, or landmarks where you live that give you a sense of belonging and connection. How are these similar to or different from any of the poets’ detailed experiences? 
    • How can literature deepen, extend, and complicate our thinking about place?

• Students write a personal letter to one of the poets they engaged with in this lesson. 
   
  • You may tailor this assignment with your own guidelines or make use of the following suggestions:
     
    • Begin with an introduction that includes a brief summary of who you are, a description of the school you attend, and an interesting fact about where you are from. 
    • Have the body paragraphs explain the experience you had of reading their poem in class, how the poem made you feel, and the message you received from the speaker or poet while reading and listening. In addition, you might ask the poet questions you have about the poem or its intended meaning. 
    • In the closing of the letter, include a reflection of gratitude to the poet for sharing their thoughts, questions, and feelings with the world through poetry. 
       
• Optional: To build letter-writing skills, this activity can be extended as homework or conducted as an optional exercise that includes peer editing, revision, and sending letters to the poet’s publisher or the poet themselves (you may need to provide envelopes and stamps and show models of how to format a letter and properly address an envelope).