Open Doors

by Leslie Lucas, Hoggard HS

I’m so comfortable cloistered in Room 228, venturing out only when necessary.  But when I read the recent blog post by Xan Mays & Taylor Thomas entitled Making Space for Today's Poets: The Role of The Beatles, Beyonce, & Bruno in the ELA Classroom about engaging students with song lyrics, a visit to Xan’s room became necessary.  Two days later she and Florence and the Machine were shaking up my classroom.   

Students whose voices I’d never heard discussed how a buried horse symbolizes letting go of the past and how the author’s tone evolves from overwhelmed and rebellious to optimistic.  After the lesson, students volunteered to help me find song lyrics rich with imagery, metaphors, parallelism, personification, tone, and symbols that help convey the theme(s). Later, I’ll gravitate to my choices (Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Jackson Brown), but Xan showed me that I need to meet my students where they are.  And if that means I have to listen to Taylor Swift, well, I’ll make the sacrifice.  

Making Space for Today’s Poets: The Role of The Beatles, Beyonce and Bruno in the ELA Classroom

by Xan Mays (Hoggard HS) & Taylor Thomas (Ashley HS)

It’s common in ELA classrooms across grade levels for groans and feelings of dread to arise when poetry is mentioned. Students tend to see poetry as confusing and boring, which immediately puts them at a disadvantage when they are asked to read and analyze any poem. Rather than forcing more poems from the textbook down the students’ throats and hoping that this time it will click, why not take a more inventive approach--one that meets students where they are and reveals to them how they are already more familiar with poetry than they realized.

Ms. Xan Mays (Hoggard) and Mr. Taylor Thomas (Ashley) have been using popular song lyrics as poetry in their classrooms for years. The two educators presented a session on the topic at 2017’s New Hanover County School's Summer Institute for Instructional Innovation conference. Below, they discuss their thought process behind the activity: