Port Veritas: Day 1

Vinalhaven parents, families, and friends, today is an exciting day for us at the Vinalhaven School! In honor of National Poetry month, we begin with a five-day workshop featuring Robin Merrill and Nate Amadan of Port Veritas, a not-for-profit poetry group that works with young people to practice creative writing.  Both Mrs. Applegate and I are lucky to have Nate and Robin in the middle school and the high school working with students from ages 12—18.

This morning, Nate and Robin began by sharing poems they enjoy with students.  After reading, they asked each class, "Why is it important to learn to speak?" highlighting the oral nature of poetry: poetry is meant to be read out loud and for audiences.

After some discussion of the value of speaking skills, students learned about Persona Poems—poems written from someone (or something) else's point of view different from the writer's own.

Here's some of what we learned is great about Persona Poems:

1. Persona Poems give a voice to someone who doesn't necessarily have a voice.  For example, a person who is suffering under unfair circumstances can have a voice when written from someone else's perspective.
2. You can be sneaky! If you're mad at your husband, you aren't going to write about how you are mad at your husband.  Instead, you can write about a bird who is tired of her nest.
3. Another reason: you get to know someone better by stepping into their shoes.

Robin shared a poem by Cornelius Eady, "My Heart" from Brutal Imaginations and discussed emotional reactions to the piece.

Nate shared a poem about his grandparents' love written, interestingly, from the perspective of his grandmother.

Then, students were given the following writing prompt.

Writing Prompt:
Create a t-chart with objects on one side and adjectives (describing words) on the other side.

Then, pick a subject (place, thing, object) and write from its perspective, linking it with some kind of modifier or adjective from the list you created.

For example:
soldier          blind

teacher         cold

island           scared

Write four or five words that relate to that thing.  Nate: "Don't try to write a poem.  Just write."
He continued, "Try to be colorful and creative with your writing.  You don't have to have certain rhymes, line breaks.  Just write."