Creative and Interactive Poetry Project for Middle School Language Arts
Ah, winter. A time of sunshine, sand, and palm trees. Yep, that’s right. For us Floridians, winter is just not that special. Last school year, we read Wallace Stevens’s “The Snowman,” and my students had a hard time relating. Winter winds? Sparkling ice? Biting cold? What’s that?
When National Poetry Month came a few months later, we decided we wanted to host an on-campus field trip for the lower grades at our school. Because of the pandemic, our lower grades had missed out on a lot of fun events, and we wanted to show them a good time. We decided to host a 4D walk-through poetry experience where little kids could experience all 5 senses in a poem. And one of my classes chose to recreate none other than—that’s right—”The Snowman,” by Wallace Stevens.
My students studied the imagery in the poem and came up with all kinds of ideas to help the little kids at our school experience the poem. Students signed up to bring snow-cone machines, fans, glittery fabric, Christmas trees, frozen blueberries, Bluetooth speakers, air freshener, artificial snow, and ice. They volunteered for roles as tour guides, prop managers, and station leaders. I was blown away by their creativity and leadership.
When the day of the walk-through poem came, my students were ON IT. My tour guides led groups of little kids through each station and pointed out the 5 senses as they read each line of the poem and allowed the kids to see, smell, hear, taste, and touch the wintery poem. Those little Florida children were mesmerized, and it was adorable.
At the end of their tour, my students led a Styrofoam snowball fight and then handed out snow-cones for the kids to take back to their classes. The little kids and their teachers were so appreciative, and my students gained a much deeper understanding of imagery and the role it plays in poetry. Hopefully they learned a little more about winter too!
If you decide to do a 4D walk-through poetry experience with your students, here are 5 tips to make it go smoothly:
Allow at least 2 weeks of planning time before the big day. This gives everyone time to study the poem, brainstorm plans, and gather props.
Let your students take charge! Not every 4D poetry experience has to look like ours. Try your best to be open to ideas from the class.
Send invitations about a week in advance. Especially if you are inviting other classes, teachers will need time to work the event into their lesson plans. You can create a sign-up genius link or send formal invitations, which are included in this 4D poetry resource. Don’t forget to invite admin too!
Take lots of pictures! It won’t technically make the first event go more smoothly, but you can use these pictures as examples for future classes. A good example can go a long way!
Label props with students’ names. Half of my students forgot what they brought, and it was a nightmare finding a place for all of the leftover items!
I hope your students have a blast with this poetry project! DM me on Instagram to let me know how it goes!
