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Writing for Equity and Justice:

Honoring Student Voice in Alternative Settings

Andy Schoenborn

@aschoenborn

cutt.ly/vA0asMI

Michigan

Reading Association

RISE:

Embracing &

Celebrating

a Beloved

Community

of Literacy

Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

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For the Dreamers...

“For Every One” pt. 1 - Jason Reynolds, 826 Digital

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Dear Dreamer,

The truth is...

...and that is why I write.

With love,

Me

Writing into the Day: A Letter to the Heart

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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“Where does writing come from?”

Travis Crowder

Turn and Talk

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“Writing is a relationship with the self, after all. It’s a ritual of tuning in and listening to the language inside of us.”

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop, Felicia Rose Chavez, p. 98, 2021

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A Student’s Perspective

Marisela Salvador, Scaling Mountains: Using Writing Footholds to Find Our Voice

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Cheryl E. Ball, Jennifer Sheppard, and Kristin L. Arola, writer/designer

Why Poems? -- Poems are Multimodal Texts

Linguistic Mode

The linguistic mode refers to the written or spoken words. The mode includes word choice, the delivery of written or spoken text, the organization of words into sentences and paragraphs and the development and coherence of words and ideas.

Visual Mode

The visual mode refers to the images and characters that people see. This mode includes color, layout, style, size and perspective. The visual mode is used in order to instruct, persuade, entertain, represent feelings or etc.

Aural Mode

The aural mode is focused on sound including, but not limited to, music, sound effects, ambient noises, silence, tone of voice in spoken language, volume of sound, emphasis and accent.

Spatial Mode

The spatial mode is about the physical arrangement, organization and proximity of the text.

Gestural Mode

The gestural mode refers to the way movement is interpreted. Facial expressions, hand gestures, body language and interaction between people are all gestural modes. The gestural mode works with linguistic, visual, aural and sometimes even spatial in order to create more detail.

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Why Poems? -- “Almosts” as a Multimodal Text

What do you notice? What is worthy of note? “Almosts” Bianca Phipps, Button Poetry

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“So this, I believe, is the central question on which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?”

Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic, p. 8

Writing is Not “Big Magic”

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Let’s Write! Reflections of Hope in “My Mother’s Eyes”

I

My grandmother's eyes

are rolling pastures

where roots

grip tradition

where neighbors weary of work

come to rest

where the good earth is keeper

of whispered words.

Student Example

II

My grandmother's eyes

are rolling pastures

of coarse corn

strengthening the grip

of a calloused hand.

I approach them

and on the threshold of her eyes

a boy is looking

for himself in the clear blue skies,

in soft sands of insecurity.

In my grandmother's eyes

I also encounter myself

because into them

I move,

to find the steady rhythm of peace

and love

in rolling pastures endured, with humility, for me.

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“Writing poems is a way to uncover what most needs to be uncovered -- to loosen the tongue in solitude, to make connections that can’t be made in conversation. Poems are made of questions more than answers.”

Patrice Vecchione, My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice, p. xiii-xiv

My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice

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“Ode to the First White Girl I Loved” José Olivarez, Louder Than a Bomb Great Plains

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Meet the Writers in My Classroom

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Our Journey

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“I hate reading; I hate writing; and, if you try to make to do either,

I’ll probably hate you too.” ~ anonymous student on the first day of school

A Snapshot of Reading

“The total pages I’ve read during this marking period are 946, which accumulates to about 4 books. The pages per week averaged out to be around 135, so I’d say around a book every two weeks or so. I would definitely consider this to be more than usual for me because I don’t typically read on my own, but I’ve really gotten into those poetry books over the course of the weeks. The longest I’ve read at once was probably a couple hours. Depending on how good the book is, I don’t want to put it down.”

~ anonymous student on the last day of the semester

A Snapshot of Writing

“I put the most effort into writing and becoming better at it. I have always struggled to write and trying to make sense when writing. I have seen that I have gotten a lot better with it and I don't struggle as bad. I always felt embarrassed turning in a writing assignment when I knew it didn't make sense and everyone else's actually made sense. I guess that has always been one of my biggest problems because I never thought I was going to be able to write as good as I do right now in life.”

~ anonymous student on the last day of the semester

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Where are We Now?

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Let’s Write! Tumble Down Poetry

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Creating and Integrating Spaces for Poetry

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Spoken Word Ind. Reading Mini-Lesson Workshop Time	Daily Poem Ind. Writing Sharing Mini-Lesson Workshop Time	Daily Poem Ind. Reading Mini-Lesson Workshop Time	Daily Poem Ind. Writing Sharing Mini-Lesson Workshop Time	Featured Poet Friday Ind. Reading Mini-Lesson Workshop Time

72 minute class periods

Independent Reading: 15 mins x 3 days/week = 45 mins/week

Independent Writing: 15 mins x 2 days/week = 30 mins/week

Sharing: 10 mins Mini-Lesson: 10 mins Workshop: 30 mins/day

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Classroom-Friendly Poems

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Curated Student Work

Click image

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What makes a fire burn

is space between the logs,

a breathing space.

Too much of a good thing,

too many logs

packed in too tight

can douse the flames

almost as surely

as a pail of water would.

So building fires

requires attention

to the spaces in between,

as much as to the wood.

Finding the Spark of Creativity

When we are able to build

open spaces

in the same way

we have learned

to pile on the logs,

then we can come to see how

it is the fuel, and the absence of fuel

together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log

lightly from time to time.

A fire

grows

simply because the space is there,

with openings

in which the flame

that knows just how it wants to burn

can find its way.

“Fire”

by Judy Sorum Brown

The Sea Accepts All Rivers

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A Regular Writing Routine

Habits of Mind
Curiosity	Openness
Engagement	Creativity
Persistence	Responsibility
Flexibility	Metacognition
Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing

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"Incorporating the freedom of creative writing gives students the chance to spread their writer’s wings. To write for the sake of writing."

Andy Schoenborn and Troy Hicks,

Creating Confident Writers

Writers Need Time and Space

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Why Poems? -- Sparklines with“Elementary”

What do you notice? What is worthy of note? “Elementary” G. Yamazawa

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Revising, Polishing, Publishing, and ...

Click image for Revision Strategies

Requirements HD Summative Image (Pixabay or Unsplash) + Revise/Edit + Words from the Author + Revision Decision = Student mentor text	Words from the Author - Where did this idea come from?
	Revision Decision - What was a specific revision you made that added power?

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...Sharing.

Everything But Us

Exit 131

Featured Poet Friday

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Becoming Comfortable with Vulnerability

GSites to Showcase Work

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A Collection of Words and Branching Out

Publishing and Authentic Writing

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Pulling Back the Curtain

Publishing and Authentic Writing

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Poets That Resonate with Students

Aimee Nezhukumatathil

José Olivarez

Rudy Francisco

Sophia Thakur

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Novels in Verse: Poems for Reluctant Readers

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Invitations to Write Poetry

Monthly Ekphrastic Poem Challenge

Ethical ELA #verselove - @SarahJDonovan9

Daily Poems for the Classroom - @thevogelman

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PoeticJustice.org

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Andy Schoenborn

@aschoenborn

Award-winning Author

MCTE past-president

MRA VP

CRWP TC

English Teacher

Mt. Pleasant

High School

“Language is a celebration of literacy, life, and experience when we are vulnerable enough to perceive it as such.”

Hicks and Schoenborn, Creating Confident Writers

Questions & Commentary

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Writing for Equity and Justice:

Honoring Student Voice in Alternative Settings

Andy Schoenborn

@aschoenborn

cutt.ly/vA0asMI

Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

Michigan

Reading Association

RISE:

Embracing &

Celebrating

a Beloved

Community

of Literacy