What are your favorite poems to use in class? The ones that you can either sell really well or always connect with kids? Here are some of mine -
Freeway 280 by Lorna Dee Cervantes – this poem has some great images, but also quite a bit spanish. It gives the hispanic students in the class a chance to explain the meaning of the words and the images created with much more authority.
September 12, 2001 by X.J. Kennedy – I don’t know if the images are so stark or if I’m able to sell it really well having been there, but kids really get into the theme of the poem. It’s also a great example of enjambment and how it affects the tone and theme of the poem.
Slam, Dunk, & Hook by Yuself Komunyakaa – my students always ask me why we can’t read more poems like this… I guess it does seem a little more approachable than say, Dickinson.
Saturday at the Canal by Gary Soto – given that I teach in an area where every single students is dying to graduate and get out, this one hits home quite a bit.
Comments
I taught much younger kids than you do (sixth grade), and I made much less sophisticated choices in my poetry selections.
The kids and I always loved doing Shel Silverstein (Sick and Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout--actually, that could be an awesome project to write a new version!); and Casey at the Bat (somehow the kids never peeked at the end and were appropriately surprised at the ending); and The Cremation of Sam McGee for ballads.
That one and "To A Louse" or "Rose, Thou Art Sick" are good examples of poems that aren't about love or 'stupid stuff', for high school boys!