Central Texas Writing Project

Demo Lesson: Bree Rolfe for the…

My Life at DVHS

I think that sums it up, but if you like numbers… DVHS looks like this…

Total Students: 2127

Hispanic: 73% African American: 17% White/ Other: 10% Other: Economical Disadvantaged: 75% “At Risk”: 59%

Still, we’ve been RECOGNIZED for the past two years in a row.

But what about Ms. Rolfe? I’ve taught at DVHS for the past five years, where I coach the

three time district champion UIL Journalism team. This year we moved to 5A and sadly Westlake bumped us down a peg to 2nd place. I am also the sponsor for the Red Wing Newspaper and Creative Writing Club.

I currently teach Journalism/ Newspaper, 10th Grade English Inclusion and 12th Grade English Inclusion.

But I’ve previously taught Photojournalism, Creative Writing, Yearbook and was the SPED inclusion teacher for 10th and 11th grades.

I have an MFA from Bennington College in Writing and Literature. I specialized in poetry.

Before becoming a teacher I wrote about everything from electronic music to conservative Judaism to big and tall men’s fashions. I held a monthly column about DJs in a Boston nightlife magazine for three years.

I firmly believe in the following things…

People who teach writing should write themselves! And their students should be aware that their teacher writes and loves to write.

“Mentor Texts” and “Modeling” – I never, ever give a major assignment that I don’t do myself first. Also, I try to teach as many living, breathing, working writers as possible to show students writing is alive and well in our society and a viable career.

“Scaffolding”: Our school motto is “whatever it takes” and I stand behind this. I do as much or as little scaffolding as needed for my students to succeed.

“ENGAGEMENT”: I personally believe that there isn’t a kid out there that I can’t make love or at least not hate writing and/ or reading. It is my life’s mission to prove to my students that both are not BORING. For kids to be fully engaged, they need to be interacting with one another.

And finally, teaching poetry is a dying art and it’s a sad thing. I personally have made it my mission at my school to get it back into our curriculum wherever possible. I believe it’s more suited to our contemporary lifestyle than any other genre and it’s a vital, but often dismissed, part of our culture.

And apparently there are theories behind my beliefs… Social Development Theory: "…an essential feature of learning is

that it creates the zone of proximal development; that is, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers.”                                                    

Vygotsky, L. (1978) from the Mind in Society: The Development of Psychological Processes

In Actual Minds, Possible Worlds Jerome Bruner coined the term “scaffolding” using Vygotsky as inspiration. He wrote, “...conceptual learning was a collaborative enterprise involving an adult who enters into dialogue with the child in a fashion that provides the child with hints and props that allow him to begin a new climb, guiding the child in next steps before the child is capable of appreciating their significance on his own. It is the 'loan of consciousness' that gets the child through the zone of proximal development.“ (Bruner 132)

“Without writing there would be nothing to read. If we teachers purport to nurture our students’ growth in writing, to have them believe that writing matters in the world, just as reading does, then we ourselves must write. We cannot merely talk about the importance of writing. We must live it. Anything less makes counterfeit the teaching of full literacy, that precious coin of the realm.” (Romano 47)

From Clearing the Way: Working with Teenage Writers by Tom Romano

Poets who teach on teaching poetry and writing… “Teaching kids to write is the most powerful way I feel I can affect

their lives, and I do it without preaching a single word. I need only help them generate and craft poems, help them bring together their experience and imagination and language on the page, and they feel indebted to me for life. I've seen writing help kids in profound ways: good decisions on the page translate to good decisions in their lives.” - DOUG GOETSCH

“I teach for the students who look to me and say, ‘You write?’ I teach for the need in their eyes, the want to know there is some reason and satisfaction in doing what tugs at their very souls for them to do. I teach also for the students who take my class and say, ‘I can't write.’ I teach so I can show them that they are wrong. I teach in order to hear a student write a new line and yell to the rest of the class, "I've never heard that before in the history of the entire world!" I teach poetry so that I can keep hearing new things in the world, and I teach poetry so that I can make sure there are new things being made in this world.”- RICHARD K. WEEMS

References

Vygotskii, L. S., and Michael Cole. Mind in Society: the Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1978. Print.

Bruner, Jerome S. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1986. Print.

Romano, Tom. Clearing the Way: Working with Teenage Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1987. Print.

Bree’s Poetry Book Suggestions

A Note Slipped Under the Door: Teaching from the Poems We Love by Nick Flynn & Shirley McPhillips

Fooling with Words by Bill Moyers

American Poetry Now: Pitt Poetry Series Anthology by Ed Ochester

Enough Talk, Lets WRITE!

We will apply our knowledge of the poetic line and imagery using Poetry Poker Poems.

Poetry Poker Instructions 1. A dealer is chosen.   2. The dealer deals out five cards to each person face down. The rest of the

deck is placed face down in the center.  3. Each person looks at their cards to see what phrases and images can be

created from their word cards. You are allowed to change the form of the word to make it fit in a sentence. You are also allowed to insert helping verbs, prepositions (in, of, during, about, etc.), articles (a, an, the), and conjunctions. 

4. You will have an opportunity to choose some new words. Each person may opt to discard up to three word cards. They place the discarded cards face down next to the deck. They then select new replacement cards from the deck. Play continues with the rest of the players. When the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile, place it face down, and select from that. Go around the circle once. If a player likes their cards, they may say "Pass." 

5. Once everyone has had a chance to change cards, it is time to put the words into a poetic line. Write the first poetic line on your paper and share with the members of your group. Use as many of your word cards as possible. 

6. Play at least 4 more rounds. After each round, write your new poetic line beneath the previous one. 

7. When you have completed five poetic lines, try to rearrange the lines into a poem and create a title. This is your Poker Poem!  

Ms. Rolfe’s Poker PoemNote: She didn’t exchange ANY cards.

Sway, clash, firelight, deep, forever

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying in deep firelight

Praise, dream, love, forget, dreadful

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying in deep firelight

Praise dreams and forget dreadful love

Romantic, woman, sour, glory, light

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying in deep firelight

Praise dreams and forget dreadful loveSour women aren’t lightened by romantic

glory

breakfast, uncommon, birth, war, children

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying in deep firelight

Praise dreams and forget dreadful loveSour women aren’t lightened by romantic

glory.Children at breakfast are at war with their

uncommon births

Wild, alone, pleasure, hidden, creativity

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying in deep firelight

Praise dreams and forget dreadful loveSour women aren’t lightened by romantic

glory.Children at breakfast are at war with their

uncommon birthsWild pleasure is hidden in creativity when

you’re alone.

And now… for the final draft…

Before the Divorce

They thought they’d clash forever– swaying against the deep firelight of their now cold living room.

In her mind, before sleep— praise dreams and forget dreadful love.In his— such sour women are not lightened by romantic glory.

The children at breakfast were at war-- their uncommon

birthshid them from wild pleasure. Their creativity left them alone.