The Poetry of Place Helping Teacher Candidates Engage in Place Based Writing
Dr. Vicki Sherbert Asst. Professor, Kansas State University sherbev@ksu.edu
The Poetry of Place So much of who I am is where I’ve been, where I am now, where I’m going next. These places occupy segments of my head, pieces of my heart, chambers of my soul. I carry with me the sights, the sounds, the scents, the sensations of my home places and my travel destinations. I am kitchens, warm and scented by baking bread. I am wheat fields, maturing in the hot Kansas sun. I am libraries, filled with stories, tales true and imagined. I am Ozark mountains, sometimes gently, sometimes abruptly rising and falling. I am a country church, receiving joyful spirits and hurting hearts. I have been. I am. I will become. - Vicki Sherbert, 2017
Place Based Poetry & Teacher Candidates Writing teachers must be writers. Teachers must acknowledge their own identities in order to
acknowledge their students’ identities.
Identity is tied to place. A writing community must be cultivated and nurtured.
Teachers must be members of the writing community.
My Poetry of Place Consider a place in your past, your present, or your future. Brainstorm aspects of your place. Describe what you see, what you smell, what you feel, what you hear, what you sense. How is this place part of your identity? Journal, jot, juxtapose your thoughts and ideas.
Time to Write Time to think, space to compose, class time devoted to poetry.
Print resources:
Resources
Janeczko, P. B. (2003). Opening a door: Reading poetry in the middle school classroom. New York: Scholastic Professional Books. Janeczko, P. B. (2000). Teaching 10 fabulous forms of poetry. New York: Scholastic Professional Books. Milner, J. O.; Milner, L. M., & Mitchell, J. F., Eds. (2017) Bridging English (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. McPhillips, S. (2014). Poem central: Word journeys with readers and writers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. Janeczko, P. B. (2005). A kick in the head: An everyday guide to poetic forms. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. Digital resources Lesson Plan: Creating Place Based Poems (NPR) http://www.pbs.org/pov/elvelador/lesson-plan/ Place Based Poetry, One Step at a Time (National Writing Project) https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2230 Poetry Lesson Plans (NCTE) http://www.ncte.org/lessons/poetry