YouthBuild on Time Video

Poetry

I began teaching poetry this week.  I have been showing the students lots of different types of poems that I have found on YouTube. Tuesday, I played a profanity riddled rap song and printed out the lyrics. They had to look for similes and metaphors. Some of the students have expressed interest in writing some poetry in class while others seem terrified at the prospect. I tried to draw a parallel between rap music and poetry since they are all fans of hip-hop.  So far we have watched DMX, Saul Williams, Taylor Mali, Charles Bukowski, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Lord Byron, and Dave Chapelle poems.  I was surprised, but quite a few of them were really into the Lord Byron poem.  They also really liked Saul Williams performing Black Stacy. Tomorrow we are going to watch The Raven and another Saul William poem, Coded Language. Some of the students who have poetry are also going to share or perform (for my rapping students) their works for the rest of the class. I am thinking about downloading a nerd-core rap song to play for them.  I want to expand their horizons.

This week has been much more pleasant for the students than last week was.  They hated the 80 problem fraction test and complained the whole time, but I had one students that finished early and nailed nearly every problem. I had three students get suspended on Friday for various reasons, and another got dismissed from the program, but I also got a new student who only needs to pass the math portion to attain his GED.