Would You Rather Poetry or Rap?
Would you rather be a poet or a rapper??
To some of us...there's little difference. How many times have you heard a lyric in a song so poignant and poetic that it rivets your soul? Like some of you, I can listen to a song and travel back in time.
So...being a kid of the 80s/90s and loving all genres of music (like I love all genres of books), I thought I'd collaborate and combine my two great loves: poetry and music...specifically rap music! I came across the idea a couple of years ago via Book Riot's post: Poetry Line or Rap Music.
We begin the lesson with a few foundation questions via a Gallery Walk!
With 8 poster size sticky notes and the following questions, we were able to build a foundation for the poetry vs. rap:
1. What are some characteristics of poems?
2. How do you encounter poetry in your everyday life?
3. What is poetry to you?
4. What makes a good poem?
5. What makes poetry easy? Difficult?
6. If poetry was a food, then which food and why?
7. What can poetry teach you?
8. Would you trust a poet? Why/why not?
***Here's the bonus, each poet/poem/poetry can be replaced with a rap/rapper/rapping!
After the Gallery Walk, we discuss and move into the core lesson, analyzing a rapper's book of poetry!Presenting TuPac Shakur's The Rose That Grew From Concrete!
So using a template, we review some pre-selected poems (some of them aren't appropriate for children under 10). My favorite poem from this collection is "Liberty Needs Glasses:"
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31JMyNVbqBlzjyTVm_59LK1Zge4JXFwlGaZWmY6hkW0a58UWGWv6Y-tT4ONepUR4gxIesAAGlJv-Jum9HbawGZIUplZc6kb9temtwfmNn6IFqTyBHoAS0Q3wD2D0N_h615MZiKdD1ux3t/s400/Lady+Liberty.jpeg)
Here's my modeled poem review:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1mUz8PVrQ7CPX9lhyaDV79wIqMq-l-SryWApa1kt8h1IqX9BtjekaJD5pWhi8YMiLVBZCyGPfkBQh3SHBusxW2wkwat7Z8tvFd1qLYATOaGqfo_cr5QHmLw9Fam1b_x9CiAIDd7LYSvmC/s400/Poem+Review.jpeg)
To conclude the lesson, we either play the aforementioned Book Riot: Poetry vs. Rap as a game (split the class in teams and award points for each correct guess) or we conclude with an ACROSTIC poem.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qXXNvpdAx-VTaxIx2Qg7HGv26iT-ceglTTHo2I2jLYzmd_HQK_NBbqgiWW9dsEqpz_lOJuN_DMQKcTg6cThxeE0MZTmUPL8EWfTJpQhyA1pRsFqqow_jQP1HkAVGSxgxcy9WKPcU1jdH/s400/PvR.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-rMVdB9zqeXlEOWWS0FbSS8BjGKZB0AsV6kMKbZhWitNxmpGVGptMcxTGoxh7bReu36azdiof2shNoytsfNzQyDW34SXA-4NTU6PW105u_iOHzpam8ICQ3eYLhIQN17NPm9JG1zquUC5/s400/PvR2.jpeg)
If you like my library advocacy w/a hip-hop twist, then please check out what I did with 2016 Texas Bluebonnet Book Winner, When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip-hop! Also, check out this book-talk on The Rose That Grew From Concrete:
As an extra bonus, there's a book out called The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It's the perfect culmination of me, this blog post and the current strife in America:
I just had to include this tweet about Tupac Shakur...he's been dead 10 years, yet HE STILL LIVES! Lol!
To some of us...there's little difference. How many times have you heard a lyric in a song so poignant and poetic that it rivets your soul? Like some of you, I can listen to a song and travel back in time.
So...being a kid of the 80s/90s and loving all genres of music (like I love all genres of books), I thought I'd collaborate and combine my two great loves: poetry and music...specifically rap music! I came across the idea a couple of years ago via Book Riot's post: Poetry Line or Rap Music.
We begin the lesson with a few foundation questions via a Gallery Walk!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga47MD7uRyeDL7lmJbSOP1-LC398hEaVlf7R5rLqR7FqTKQ0dzUsQCyBlh8zVrjhC3qY6e5ch9AgTDRViHcYF2kOUXHKrMLI4sSzU_YeC_MELC53sj2ZdRN6EMi1tlBI76bE_YE9JXuPKu/s400/Gallery+Walk.jpg)
With 8 poster size sticky notes and the following questions, we were able to build a foundation for the poetry vs. rap:
1. What are some characteristics of poems?
2. How do you encounter poetry in your everyday life?
3. What is poetry to you?
4. What makes a good poem?
5. What makes poetry easy? Difficult?
6. If poetry was a food, then which food and why?
7. What can poetry teach you?
8. Would you trust a poet? Why/why not?
***Here's the bonus, each poet/poem/poetry can be replaced with a rap/rapper/rapping!
After the Gallery Walk, we discuss and move into the core lesson, analyzing a rapper's book of poetry!Presenting TuPac Shakur's The Rose That Grew From Concrete!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fq3rVyat_aX4NmgYIb4Wcuh-y7VCeJ3fSvjAR9g7mb-NeD7ZxfCcmHPbsYKIi0zOclouF1Urp0AuPnfOCAlv5wlHHdR-OkgOjGLfAWjUDXl4m-m8ls7BkbCZm8S43udEjdoQjY6VWEgN/s400/the_rose_that_grew_from_concrete_frontcover_large_1TzhlKVmhfNmtZq.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93Yu3Lm2W3dt3K6IMKW2dItdZQjQ5njrFp4LcaQbNVbzxPBkT-muSdh5YB2xtnNvDLnJ-Qlt5k5_qyc1yd4CKOXTX1RePEkVYL9R0fBF5-vk0YA_w7p66rtQ8zrboTaWZp-T4DRCxw65I/s400/Rose+from+Concrete.jpg)
So using a template, we review some pre-selected poems (some of them aren't appropriate for children under 10). My favorite poem from this collection is "Liberty Needs Glasses:"
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31JMyNVbqBlzjyTVm_59LK1Zge4JXFwlGaZWmY6hkW0a58UWGWv6Y-tT4ONepUR4gxIesAAGlJv-Jum9HbawGZIUplZc6kb9temtwfmNn6IFqTyBHoAS0Q3wD2D0N_h615MZiKdD1ux3t/s400/Lady+Liberty.jpeg)
Here's my modeled poem review:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1mUz8PVrQ7CPX9lhyaDV79wIqMq-l-SryWApa1kt8h1IqX9BtjekaJD5pWhi8YMiLVBZCyGPfkBQh3SHBusxW2wkwat7Z8tvFd1qLYATOaGqfo_cr5QHmLw9Fam1b_x9CiAIDd7LYSvmC/s400/Poem+Review.jpeg)
To conclude the lesson, we either play the aforementioned Book Riot: Poetry vs. Rap as a game (split the class in teams and award points for each correct guess) or we conclude with an ACROSTIC poem.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qXXNvpdAx-VTaxIx2Qg7HGv26iT-ceglTTHo2I2jLYzmd_HQK_NBbqgiWW9dsEqpz_lOJuN_DMQKcTg6cThxeE0MZTmUPL8EWfTJpQhyA1pRsFqqow_jQP1HkAVGSxgxcy9WKPcU1jdH/s400/PvR.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-rMVdB9zqeXlEOWWS0FbSS8BjGKZB0AsV6kMKbZhWitNxmpGVGptMcxTGoxh7bReu36azdiof2shNoytsfNzQyDW34SXA-4NTU6PW105u_iOHzpam8ICQ3eYLhIQN17NPm9JG1zquUC5/s400/PvR2.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG4D_to_wXJd4dbysLuWhqTuXp1qJTZDBLguZ1BGlLNh-fll681oK65mx56Vb26tVFF5IYVrXc2In-gx6b-5ItBWH-15nmdxCAKPA5GmVeUcDXq5AGOpU0hjG783UyBSEGmphxBFm6M6U/s400/Acrostic-DARNELL.jpeg)
If you like my library advocacy w/a hip-hop twist, then please check out what I did with 2016 Texas Bluebonnet Book Winner, When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip-hop! Also, check out this book-talk on The Rose That Grew From Concrete:
As an extra bonus, there's a book out called The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It's the perfect culmination of me, this blog post and the current strife in America:
I just had to include this tweet about Tupac Shakur...he's been dead 10 years, yet HE STILL LIVES! Lol!
@Claribel_Ortega Please check out my lesson featuring #Tupac and his poetry: https://t.co/3PGRMrE2hf. pic.twitter.com/9TlPHxqmLf
— AwakenLibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) September 22, 2016
This is all kinds of AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! You Rock!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy! I'm glad you like it! I can't wait until the class I'm collaborating this lesson with takes it to a whole new level! Lol! Stay tuned! :)
Delete