Today I pulled out an oldie but goodie to engage my students:  poems for two voices.  Armed with the works of Paul Fleischman from Joyful Noise and Scholastic’s Partner Poems for Building Fluency, the students enjoyed a new poetic experience.  We practiced as a class first to understand the concept and  practice the rhythm.  They were quickly hooked!  Next they partnered up, practiced for a few minutes, and presented to the class.  This brought renewed life to my classroom as the students’ faces brightened and they sat up a little taller.

As they were reciting their poems in front of the class, I was brainstorming ways that we could build on this experience that they were enjoying so much.  Poems for two voices would be an enriching tool for teaching perspective.  Whether it was two historical figures, two characters in a book, or two real-life people, students would have to understand the viewpoints of each to create a poem for two voices. I’m going to have to delve into this deeper…