I wrote Chapter 8 Review
at the top of this page.
I should be thinking
about the Civil War:
who was P.G.T. Beauregard?
But instead, I’m ignoring the slide show
and thinking about your eyes.
I think
they are almost perfect.
They would be perfect
if they looked at me
like they look at her.
And all that anyone else notices
is that I am not doing the chapter review.
Instead I’m flipping aimlessly through the textbook
until the vision of your eyes blurs and fades.
And all that I have learned is that
P.G.T. Beauregard was never in love.
And that all I am left with
is an endless pit of homework,
and the shadow of your eyes
at the back of my mind.
Allison Gerard
1st Place 7th and 8th Grade
LA Writes! 2008
Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts
Opelousas, LA
used with permission of LA Writes!
LESSON PLANS
For an English Classroom
Lesson plan for Allison Gerard’s poem “Chapter 8 Review”
by Margaret Simon
“Show, don’t tell,” is a mantra of many writing teachers. Clarity and specificity lead to a good piece of writing. Allison Gerard manages to capture the feeling of young love with her clarity in this poem. We can be in the classroom with her. Darrell Bourque, Poet Laureate of Louisiana, reminds us that a poem should go from the deeply personal to the universal. Allison accomplishes this in her poem.
Another great poet, Billy Collins, America’s Poet Laureate for 2001-2003, writes about love using clarity in “Aimless Love,” published in his book Nine Horses. “This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,/ I fell in love with a wren/ and later in the day with a mouse/ the cat had dropped under the dining room table.”
Begin by brainstorming things you love. For this exercise, you may play the song, “I Love” by Tom T. Hall. “I love little baby ducks…”
Guided imagery: Imagine yourself as a target in the field (taken from “Aimless Love” by Billy Collins, “But my heart is always propped up/ in a field on its tripod,/ ready for the next arrow.) Where is the field? Look around you. What makes your heart hurt? (What are the arrows?) What makes your heart happy? Think of the wind as it blows around you surrounding you as it moves through your heart.
Write a love poem. Try using very specific words. Find a way to place us where you are with vivid images. Avoid clichés. Read aloud your poem to a classmate. Find places to make the words more specific.
For a Social Studies/History Class
Lesson plan for Allison Gerard’s poem “Chapter 8 Review”
by Laurie Williams
After reading the poem aloud, have students look through either their history textbooks or any other place where they can find photos of people taken during the time of the Civil War.
Discuss with students how long people would need to sit still in order to have a picture taken during at the time of the Civil War.
Have them choose one portrait and write what they actually know about that person.
After writing what they know, ask them to imagine what that person may have been thinking when the photo was taken and write some possible topics.
Have them research the place and time when the photo was taken and find out what was happening during that month or year, what battles had occurred, which side of the Civil War was that particular region on (it could be both sides).
If they can, have them find out knowledge specific to the person in the photograph.
Does this person have a family?
Has this person seen battle?
Has anyone in his/her family been affected by the war?
If they cannot find out the above information, have them look at the photo and imagine the answers to those questions. What do they see in the photo that makes them think what they do about that person?
Then have them write a poem in the vein of “Chapter 8 Review,” but with the person in the photograph thinking about something other than sitting still for the amount time it takes to capture his/her image.
Variation: Have students look at public sculpture, like the sculpture of Beauregard in New Orleans, and research that figure. Ask similar questions as above, but include shy that person has a public sculpture. Instead of writing about what that person may have been thinking while the photograph was being taken, have them write form the point of view of the sculpture and the changes that have occurred since the statue was first created.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a nice collection of Civil War photographs available online, but be warned, some are not for younger students.
For a Math Class
Lesson plan for Allison Gerard’s poem “Chapter 8 Review”
by Laurie Williams
After reading the poem aloud, have students discuss how often their minds wander during the day, especially when they should be focusing in class.
As an experiment, have students choose one class and track how many minutes their minds are actually focused in class.
Have them track when they are on task and when their mind wanders.
Have them note anomalies like a loud noise or some outside force that draws their attention away.
On a sheet of graph paper, have them chart the following
time spent focused in class
time spent thinking of other things
anomalies
Then have them choose an activity like watching television or playing video games and track when they are on task and when their mind wanders.
Have them note anomalies like a loud noise or some outside force that draws their attention away.
On a second sheet of graph paper, have them chart the following
time spent focused in class
time spent thinking of other things
anomalies
What percentage of time is spent focused in class?
What percentage of time is spent thinking of other things?
What percentage of time is spent focused while engaged in “fun” activities?
What percentage of time is spent thinking of other things?