Your company is requested …Please join me
on a trip back in time to…
O ur class, all together
L
earning about our common history
D iscovering our colonial beginnings
S hall become citizens of the past
A
nd write feelings, sights and sounds of old
L ighting the forge, forging the gun, milling the grain
E liciting the essence of that occupation of colonial times
M aking meaning, painting images with words of precision
Come join me on an adventure
back in time to-
Experience the life of a colonial craftsmanLearn the tools of the trade
and
the rewards and challenges of the day
As you slip on the shoes of…
the Cordwainer,
the Wainwright,
the Potter,
or the Blacksmith!
Before our field trip to Old Salem, you are invited to begin to research some of the
occupations you will see demonstrated in the shoppes and exhibits at Old Salem Historical
Village at Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Salem was known as a trades town because of the production of essential goods and
services such as Gunsmithing, Furniture-making, Ceramics and Tools,
Paper-making (Scherenschnitte) as well as many other essential crafts and arts.
Together we will research via the Internet and published texts how the people of Old
Salem produced quality, necessary items.
After your research, we will “slip on the shoes” of a specific tradesman and write an I
Poem from that citizen’s perspective.
Together, we will edit, revise and publish our poetry and
bring back to life
The colonial craftspeople of Old Salem.
Your research table, a checklist, and a rubric, which will explain
how your poetry will be graded, are attached.
Mrs. Croon will assist you at every step of your journey!
Now, let’s go back in time to the days of
The Moravians in Old Salem.
Old Salem I Poem Checklist
Yes
1. My poem is about a craftsman from Old Salem / Colonial times.
2. My research is neatly recorded on the grid and I have found
facts and information which are relevant to the occupation.
3. My poem uses facts and information from my research, which
shows what I have learned about my craftsperson.
4. I have edited my poem and have described the job with
interesting and precise words that fit the poem and
demonstrate my understanding of the person and his / her job.
5. My poem is neatly written and I have checked for
spelling and grammar. (Punctuation is not required)
6. My I Poem is illustrated with a picture of the person doing
his/her job or with a shop sign one could find outside the
place of business.
7. I enjoyed doing this project and learned something new.
No
Please tell what you liked best about this project, other than visiting Old Salem
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Old Salem I Poetry Rubric
Dimension
Possible
Points
The poem is about a craftsman from Old
Salem / Colonial times
10
The research is neatly recorded on the grid
and the student has found information
relevant to the occupation
20
The poem uses facts and information from the
research, which shows the student has
learned about the craftsperson
15
The student has edited the poem and has
described the job with interesting and precise
words which fit the poem and demonstrate an
understanding of the craftsperson and his /
her job
15
The poem is neatly written and the spelling
and grammar are correct
(Punctuation is not required)
The poem is illustrated with a picture of the
occupation or a shop sign
The student had fun and
learned something from the project.
15
20
5
Points
Earned
Learning context
In an inclusive fifth grade classroom, students are working through a poetry unit. Students
have already explored concrete poetry, acrostics, cinquain, and haiku. The classroom teacher agreed
to allow me to invite her students to discover I Poetry as part of her unit. The class is planning a field
trip to Old Salem Village, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We discussed inviting the students to
explore different occupations that they might have held in the settlement, and the classroom teacher
agreed this idea would fit right into her Social Studies plans as well as the poetry unit already in
progress. We made arrangements for me to introduce the students to I Poetry, and then begin our
research, which would serve as a foundation for their own I Poems.
As a push-in literacy specialist, I had thirty minutes daily four days a week with this class, less
backed up lunch schedules and bathroom time. I often worried that we would not have enough time to
accomplish what I had laid out. On top of this, I am required to monitor the reading progress of
thirteen at risk students in this class every other week via DIBELS progress monitoring. That also
took away from my time with students. Finally, the classroom teacher has some serious health
problems, and was absent quite frequently, leaving me with a substitute teacher (of whom I took full
advantage of by taking charge whenever I could). I tried my best to keep a positive attitude with this
project, pushing ahead, feeding off the enthusiasm of the kids’ response to the mentor books, and the
enjoyment factor of what we could do with this assignment. I couldn’t wait to see what these children
would write.
Students’ initial exposure to I poetry began as a guessing game of sorts. I copied nine different
poems from Dirty Laundry Pile: I Poems in Different Voices. I chose poems that did not mention who
or what the subject of the poem was. I cut the pictures and the titles off so that students had no
picture cues or clues of any sort, and mounted the poetry on construction paper. I distributed the
poems to small groups of three students or less, and asked them to read as a group, and decide what
the poem might be about. Some of the subjects included a dirty laundry pile, a mosquito, and a cow
longing for greener grass, a broom, a vacuum, and a kite. Then I requested a volunteer from each
group to stand and read each poem to the entire class so we could guess (and gain exposure to each
poem). After reading, the class tried to determine the subject of the poem. The class enjoyed this
guessing game, and came undeniably quite close in guessing a nurse for the mosquito poem, and a
pile of dirty socks for the dirty laundry pile. I asked students to formulate a definition of what an I
Poem (aka Persona or Mask Poetry) might be exactly. Students were able to identify the poem as
written from the perspective of the object or person the poem was about. I still had not introduced the
format for I Poetry to the class.
We talked about the characteristics of this particular type of poem, which included that the
poem was written in the first person, perspective of the subject was evident, and that vivid imagery
was evoked by the author’s word choice. We talked about the precision of poetry, and how crucial
every word might be. I used an analogy of choosing paint colors, and paint chips. Shades of meaning,
like shades of color, differ slightly, but may also differ in the extreme when one looks at the big
picture.
Mentor Texts
I introduced the book Atlantic by Brian G. Karas, and read aloud the poem, displaying the
pictures and soliciting opinions and comments about language, imagery, word choice, and personal
connection to the great Atlantic Ocean. After reading, we examined the author’s choice of words, and
discussed possible explanations for why the author chose precisely those words in the poem.
Students were able to connect to the ocean in many ways, although some admitted to never having
seen the ocean at all.
At the following meeting, I revisited learning from the prior day by asking for an explanation for
this genre of poetry. Students were again able to formulate a working definition of this genre. I
introduced the book I Am The Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting. I explained that ancient Egyptians
believed in an afterlife, and prepared their deceased to enter into a new existence. I asked students
to listen carefully to the language of the poem, and to jot down any unknown words. I used the
overhead documents camera, so that the class was able to appreciate the beautiful imagery that
accompanies the poem. These fifth graders were enrapt with awe for how a mummy was prepared,
and although opinions of beauty differed, they ultimately agreed that the Lady of the poem was
important, regal, and yes, beautiful before she was mummified. The class was actively engaged and
asked many questions about why her organs were removed, why was the cat also mummified, and
why was food provided, etc. Clearly, they were interested in finding out more. We went back over the
poem exploring unknown vocabulary, and I pointed out the author’s choice of words in many places.
Some students were obviously familiar with the subject of mummification, and one girl enthusiastically
retrieved a gorgeous book from her cubby that had flip open compartments to reveal what was inside
the urns, how the body was prepared, and other extremely interesting facts. The class passed it
around and they were truly interested and engaged. Unfortunately, thirty minutes goes by in a blink
when there is actual learning going on, and the lesson for this day ended there.
The next step of the immersion into I Poetry was a reading of Mojave, by Diane Siebert. I
thought it important to read this work as well as the other two, because although the first two did not
rhyme, Mojave does, and the lyrical quality to the author’s words is mesmerizing. The artwork, too, is
beautiful and draws the reader into the meaning of the poem. The class was clearly entranced as I
read, and asked me to reread the work. I obliged them, but I asked them to write down words that
particularly evoked specific images as they listened. This group of fifth graders was quite astute in
picking up on figurative language, colorful imagery, as well as the use of metaphor and simile. We
talked again about word choice, the feelings and connotations certain words might evoke. I explained
that as authors, they must also choose their words carefully.
At our next meeting, I introduced students to some of the I poems written by my graduate
colleagues. I explained that we researched using a mentor book, and that the poem was inspired by
the information found there. I explained how I had written my I poem about the Amazon rain forest.
We also immersed ourselves in some of the pirate poetry from our class syllabus. These fifth graders
had participated in a school wide pirate research project as fourth graders last year, so they could
really connect to the pirate theme. Finally, I gave students a copy of the I poem format. We talked
about how we might fill in the framework, and students wanted to start right then. We were out of
time, so I invited students to consider a topic they would like to begin practicing writing I Poetry about.
We were to meet the next day to proceed with the whole class shared writing.
Shared Writing
Our next meeting was exciting for me, because we were actually going to write. But I was
surprised; the classroom teacher had given the class extra time to write about their own selected
topics. When I arrived, they were all excited, and wanted to share their first attempt at I Poetry. I
solicited volunteers to read aloud, and they all jumped up at once! We had a great time listening to
each other’s poems, and I was very encouraged by how well they understood the concept of
becoming the subject, of capturing the essence of what they were writing about.
We finally met to share some whole class writing, but I was somewhat puzzled, because we
had not had time yet to research, and I couldn’t decide what to write about. The students helped me
out.
The teacher’s favorite character is the loveable red monster Elmo from Sesame Street fame. Her
classroom is filled with stuffed Elmos, pictures, and other Elmo paraphernalia. So guess what we
wrote about? I was pleased by this choice, because all the kids knew the topic, had ideas about how
Elmo might feel, what he would say, (Dancing Elmo also talks and tells stories), and they looked upon
this character as a buddy, having grown up with Elmo on television. We had a great time writing our
shared I Poem, and we collaborated on word choice and perspective. This was my opportunity to
employ the mini lesson on strong verbs, metaphors and similes. I encouraged students to look for
other ways to “say”, “see”, and “feel” something. We talked about how a thesaurus comes in handy
when one gets stuck for a word. We made a list of other words to choose besides “say”. We came up
with quite a few, and I explained I would be looking for this type of editing when we finally wrote our
Old Salem poetry.
Invitation and Research
Somehow, I found time to meet the class during their computer lab. I rearranged my schedule
so I had just enough time to distribute the invitation to write about Old Salem, explain the research
grid I had created, and show the class where to look on the Internet to find information. I had
researched a number of kid friendly websites, and came up with quite a few to help them begin their
searches. We picked occupations out of a hat, and got to work. You wouldn’t believe some of the
faces I saw in that place. Kids had never heard of a wainwright, a wheelwright, or any kind of wright at
all. Even occupations like cooper, miller, fuller, turner, joiner, and tinsmith were foreign to them. We
had our work cut out for us. It took quite a few sessions in the computer lab and in class time to learn
enough about these colonial citizens. Our media center was very skimpy on books on these subjects.
I was very disappointed about that, because I would have much preferred kids use books in tandem
with the Internet. Our computer specialist was very helpful directing the kids to new words to search
for research. It was tough going, because they couldn’t help but pull up advertisements for all kinds of
applications. One of my research questions was “What kind of tools would this craftsman have used?”
Apparently, you can find anything and everything a cooper would have needed even today on the
Internet.
Day of the Field Trip
Finally, the day arrived for the class to visit Old Salem. I was secretly praying that the
demonstrations and people they would experience during their visit to Old Salem would inspire them.
Thankfully, they came back to class with a new appreciation for the citizens of that colonial village.
They had made realistic and personal connections to the blacksmith, the cooper, and the baker when
they had firsthand knowledge of what the shop looked like, smelled like, and saw some of the tools
that might have been used. Suddenly, they were filling in their research without a problem, and were
getting ready to write.
First Drafts and Editing
I was very pleased by how some of the students just took off after the field trip. It was as if a
light had come on for them, and they were able to put on the mask of the occupation they had
researched. They did a great job during the writing process. I had my hands full trying to edit with one
student at a time. The teacher was out on medical leave by this point, and I had a substitute teacher
trying to help me. I did another whole class mini-lesson about word choice and making use of factual
information they might have learned on their trip.
I reminded students that we could play with strong verbs, changing them as the poem
warranted. Several students really picked up on this, and reached for the thesaurus. I was thrilled with
some of their alternative verbs. I saw big improvements in word choice after this second mini-lesson.
One student, Austin, wrote about a blacksmith. He called himself “a master of iron”. This was a
surprising comparison and an excellent metaphor. He used verbs like “facilitate, bellow, enunciate
and fantasize” in his poem. His writing was powerful and visual. Another student, a native Spanish
speaker and ELL, wrote about being the town potter. He told me he had stood in the potter’s shop at
Old Salem and looked around, pretending he was in charge of the pottery store. He wrote so
deliberately; he took his time, and said what he meant to say exactly and concisely. He described the
sound of breaking pottery and the feel of the wet clay in his hands. Raimundo wore the potter’s mask
quite well.
Final Draft and Publishing
I reviewed the rubric and the checklist I had created to be sure students understood what I
was looking for during the editing and publishing process. I made it clear that I expected to see all
their paperwork, including their research grid, the first draft with editing apparent, the final typed
product with an illustration, and their checklist and rubric, both filled out. Lastly, we had to get enough
computer time for everyone to get his or her poem typed and illustrated. On one of the final days I
had with the class, another of my classes went on a field trip, so that I had a double period with them.
This really saved the day…and then, disaster struck. I had put all completed poems on a floppy disk
because we have had virus troubles at our school, and no zip drives are allowed. The brand new out
of the box floppy was defective, and much of the students’ work was gone. I couldn’t believe it. I
learned a hard lesson from that equipment failure: always have a backup plan. Some kids had saved
to their own personal log on screen, others used a generic one. I really had to scramble to find
everyone’s work, between computer labs, the classroom machines, and what I could recover from the
floppy via a recovery program, I was lucky to have a copy of everyone’s finished product.
On the whole, I am very pleased with the result of our project. The students produced some
amazing poetry, and they learned a new format to add to their repertoire of poems. They also
experienced a piece of colonial America, and one student actually said to me, “I’m glad I wasn’t born
200 years ago. Life was hard back then”. He was right.
I loved working with this class. Even with all the obstacles we encountered, we had fun and
learned together, and from each other. I will try this project again with another class. I don’t know
what the non-fiction research topic will be, but I’m sure something will present itself. I had so much
fun with this; I’d go looking for an application this project would complement. I do wish that I had
longer blocks of time with this class, and that our media center had been more helpful in providing
texts for reference. I plan to have students share their poetry with their classmates when we come
back from vacation, and I hope we will be permitted to display their work on a bulletin board near their
5th grade classroom.
Bibliography
Bunting, E. (1997). I am the mummy heb-nefert. Orlando, FL: First Voyager Books.
Janeczko, P. (2001). Dirty laundry pile: Poems in different voices. New York, NY: Harper
Collins Publishers.
Karas, G. B. (2002). Atlantic. New York, NY: Puffin Books.
Siebert, D. (1988). Mojave. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.