Writing Poems From Idea Bundles

• In Event: 42.083 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 42.083-10 - From Posthuman Literacies to the Arts: Fictocriticism, Comics, Poetry, and Songwriting

Abstract

In this three-month qualitative study, 36 pre/in-service teachers were invited to create and write poems from four idea bundles (e.g., mixed; verbal; visual; and arranged bundle) in response to four picturebook read alouds that address themes of abandonment (Wild, 2006), homelessness (Wild, 2007), togetherness (Woodson, 2015), and renewal (Tan, 2010). Bundles included a variety of visual/print media (e.g., photographs, art, magazines, etc). The purpose of the study was to investigate how different visual and verbal media support students in their efforts to write poems. Analysis of 136 idea bundles, poems, questionnaires, and class discussion suggest that idea bundles provided a meaningful pathway for supporting students’ efforts to write vivid and descriptive poems.

Author

• S. Rebecca Leigh, Oakland University