Create a "Found Poems" Activity

This activity can be effective in helping students construct new knowledge in the sense that they take an existing document and reframe it to express the same content but in a different format, that of a poem. The poetry created does not have to rhyme, but should display a lyrical quality that captures the essence of a historical event, person or place represented by a primary source. With the Found Poems activity, students select words using rich primary source texts to retell the historical content in poetic form.

PREPARATION

Select raw material for Found Poems from newspaper articles, speeches, diaries, advertisements, letters, food menus, brochures, short stories, manuscripts of plays, shopping lists, and even other poems. If you want students to represent an era in history, select several items from which they can compile a poem. If you are concentrating on a specific event, you may select just one representative manuscript – choose one that is rich in content, meaning or description. To find sources, consider Browsing in American Memory under “Manuscripts” http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?format=Manuscript or getting ideas from the Primary Source set on Found Poems: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/poetry/ Provide for your students plain paper, highlighters, scissors and tape or glue. Found poems can also be created electronically; provide the manuscripts in Word form and use in a computer lab. To create a found poem, students will select words, phrases, lines, and sentences from one or more written documents and combine them into a poem.

PROCEDURE

1. Have students take time to analyze the source document(s) for understanding and jot down a brief summary of the event, person, or place represented.
2. Using a highlighter, have students select words or phrases (no more than 50-100) that capture the essence of their understanding, looking for descriptive language, phrases that are powerful, moving or interesting, or words and phrases that contain poetic effects such as alliteration and assonance.
3. Have students look back over the highlighted words or phrases and focus on those that best help create a mood or convey a theme. They can cut and paste to combine, arrange, and rearrange words in new ways, considering content and meaning, as well as rhythm and line breaks. Have them consider creative ways to position the words on the page, forming a shape or suggesting a path. Note: Students should be encouraged to use only words from the source document, although they could add small articles or connecting words, such as in, on, and, or change tenses or plurals to fit. Some students may prefer to just use pencil and paper, but make sure they are using actual words from the document and not treating this as a traditional writing assignment that flows from their own head.
4. When they are finished, have them title their poem (using their own words). Ask for volunteers to read them aloud (or read each other’s.) Have students discuss what new insights they gained.

Quick Links:

Optional Assignment for Credit
Connecting Through Images
Life in a Box
Found Poems
Discussion Board
Guide for using the unctps.org website to submit assignment