Class Composition - Day 4

Day 4 - I decided that we're going to work on this project on Tuesday and Thursday every week. So, coming back from Spring Break, I had one more day to remind them to submit a poem or quote. Most of them had before Spring Break, but it was nice to have one more day. 

I took all the quotes and poems from each class and listed them on a document that I could project on a screen for the whole class to see. I didn't include who submitted each item. I first read each quote and poem aloud so we could get a feel of each submission. I then asked them to think if any of the quotes/poems struck them as particularly meaningful and "songable." It took some prodding to get the ball rolling, but then they were much more open to discussion. I emphasized again that there's no right or wrong, just "more effective" or "less effective." 

The 7/8 graders were able to take a broader scope and make connections between several quotes at a time. With the 6th graders, I found it helpful to go quote by quote and poem by poem to judge each one individually. Some students had submitted their own poetry, but the whole class was very supportive of the students' works.

We ended each class with document of possible quotes and bits of poetry that we'd like to use. Our next task will be to put them in an order that we'd like to use and possibly narrow our choices down a bit more.