Poetry

To go along with our unit on The Odyssey and journeys, 9th grade students wrote poems based on C.P. Cavafy's Ithaka. The assignment was to write a poem about a personal "Ithaka": a place, a special person, a memory, an object, or a time in life that one longs to return to. Students were required to include a metaphor, an extended metaphor, a simile, a word containing the suffix -some, and a consistent point-of-view (first, second or third person).

Then, in small groups, students read their poems to one another and discussed which poems they felt were the best. The authors of the winning poems read their work to the class (with a few exceptions when students were shy), and the class gave meaningful feedback and asked questions about what inspired the poetry. It was an incredible learning experience for both the winning poets and the audience.

Winning poets are pictured below! Check back soon to read some of the poems!

Processing the tragedy in our community

Today was a tough day. I was nervous about saying the right things. I was worried about making the kids feel safe and normal but trying to figure out how to balance that with honesty.


In 11th grade, we've been talking all semester about the how the "struggle for freedom changes through history" and a concept that I've been emphasizing is that there was never a magical, bygone era of democracy where doing the right thing was popular. The now universally lauded Abe Lincoln was extremely divisive in his time; the now lovingly memed Martin Luther King Jr. was considered a radical and rabble-rouser when he marched for equality. "It was never easy" has become my daily phrase as we study the great speeches and writings of American history. To connect to the idea that the struggle goes back through time, I shared with them this article about fear during the Cuban Missile Crisis.


We used this article to talk through several ideas:

1 - Fear isn't new, although we're now afraid of different things
2 - Art can change the world! Reagan's viewing of "The Day After" influenced his decision to sign a weapons treaty with Gorbachev
3- Being honest and acknowledging our fears can be healing.


If I'm honest, I did most of the talking. The kids didn't seem eager yet to talk about how they were feeling, and that's perfectly okay.


For 9th grade, our Essential Question is "How do words inspire change?" I asked the 9th graders to create something with their words today - a poem, a song, a letter of gratitude, a letter of comfort. Students created a number of beautiful poems, letters to family and friends, and letters to friends at Saugus High.


It was a difficult day in a number of ways, but the students were wonderful, kind and respectful.