I Am a Pencil by Sam Swope

Swope’s I Am a Pencil from the chapter “Poetry 101” on page108:
“I sometimes had the children memorize poems, and now I wish I’d done more of that. Nothing gets the beauty of a language into your bloodstream more than verses learned by heart. I selected poems that were strong on meter and rhyme, which children love and make a poem easier to memorize. It was fun selecting particular poems for particular kids: Poe’s “El Dorado” for Aaron; Durston’s “The Wolf” for Miguel…”
Writing poetry was something I would do with the entire class, saving prose for smaller groups. In a single period, I could give an assignment and the class would write at least one poem, often more. They were poems only in the loosest sense, the freest sort of verse, mostly unstructured and unrhymed. Unlike fiction, these poems gave the kids a way to express a complete thought quickly, and because they didn’t have to worry about grammar and punctuation, their minds were free to play with language and images in ways they never did in prose.”

This passage was particularly compelling for me because of it’s inclusion of many of the ideas we have been discussing concerning the various philosophies of teaching and arguments for and against certain methods. The fact that Mr. Swope brought out the positive aspects of both the traditional approach to poetry, that of memorization and copying, and the expressivist approach to poetry, that of creation and lack of formality, is very noteworthy for our purposes. By utilizing the positives of both philosophies he was able to teach this lesson effectively. The traditional approach can be monogamous and boring; however, he catered to each student by selecting individual poems that they would each appreciate. The reading of ‘great literature’ (or poems) gives the children an example to aspire to while the poetic nature of writing allows them to be unrestricted by the more formal rules of prose. Because the poetry allowed the students to complete their thoughts more quickly he was able to tap into the benefits of putting one’s ideas onto paper that the expressivist approach provides.
We have also been discussing how it is always good to give individual attention to students, but that it is sometimes difficult to manage the time that it takes to do so. I see Mr. Swope’s attempt to balance the group discussion on poetry and the individual poetry assignments as a way of meeting this end. He gives them their own poems, but brings them together to create them as a class and in this way reaches out to them on both levels of personal inquiry and efficient time management.





Analysis: “How does Mr. Swope do such an effective job of getting his students to write?”
--He always encourages them to express their interests first and foremost and often takes the opportunity to take other class topics and get them to write about it. Whether it’s a story about the crack in the floor with a small family watching TV or other interesting topics for young children they are always excited. From there he adds a personal touch to connect with the student and help them produce their thoughts. After that he just encourages them from behind allowing their imaginations to lead them. (One particular thought comes from Aaron’s writing on page 73-75.)

Evaluation: On page 61 Mr. Swope says that he encourages the students to write what they are dying to write about even if it wasn’t his assigned topic.
“How effective do you feel it is to encourage students to write what they want to rather than sticking to the given assignment?”
--I feel like this can be treading dangerous waters considering that there is a subject to be taught and learned and deviating too far from the task might not produce any knowledge. On the other hand getting the kids to write and be excited about it is important. With this in mind I feel that we should just be certain to nudge them down the lesson plan’s path with there assignment or try to spin their excitement in the direction of the assignment’s aim.

Application: “How would you collaborate with students to show them writing techniques at an elementary level?”
-- Not to steal Swope’s ideas, but to avoid reinventing the wheel I would definitely consider working with them one on one and transcribing their thoughts in front of them as they express their ideas. On page 41 Mr. Swope does this with Miguel and he effectively puts together the beginnings of a story without the setback of grammar and by watching Swope write he learns what quotation marks are and how they’re used. I would write for them to see and be sure to include one advanced writing/grammar tool for them to incorporate into their own writing. Little kids love to learn about tools adults use and for Miguel he loved the idea of quotation marks.