Port Veritas: Day 5 (9/10th English)

Our 9/10 English students started the last day of our week with a performance by Jesse Parent titled, "To the Boy Who May One Day Date My Daughter."

Then, each student was given fifteen minutes to practice reading a poem they wrote this week.

Speaking and Listening Instructions:
1) The speaker should introduce themselves.  "My name is ____, the poem is titled____."  If it is untitled, just say so.
2) Each of the five students is given 15-minutes each.  3-5 minutes to perform, and an additional 5-10 for feedback and a second performance.
3) Read through once, get feedback, then repeat.

Here are some of the students we heard from today:

1) One student read a poem about fishing for lobsters.  Vivid descriptions about hauling traps and spending time with his grandfather added a level of authenticity to the poem that I loved.

2) Our next student read a poem titled, "Secret Soldier," which recounted the experience of going to war.  The poem ended with a fabulous line, "now, I make my departure."

3) Our third student presented a poem he'd worked on all week about his boat, speaking about the way he is abused by his owner and deals with crashing waves.

4) Our fourth presenter read a poem he'd workshopped about a baseball, using the image to describe time passing, age, and deterioration.

5) Our next student writer read her poem about a dusty, forgotten room that "would be destroyed by socialization, but it was already killed by it."

6) Our next writer read a poem about the Greek Titan Atlas, read from the perspective of the earth.  The poem told the story of Atlas from a perspective you don't normally hear.

7) The following student read a poem written from the perspective of a TV controller that wants to fight back from all of the treatment it takes.

8) Our last student presented a poem about pencils, how frequently they are disposed and