Helena Alves and Angela Chavez have a motto for their third- and fifth-grade classes: be selfless, not selfish. One of the ways that these Madison elementary teachers instill the values of the motto into their students is through an inventively artsy method: poetry. For years, Alves and Chavez have applied their PEF Teacher Grants toward a class project the students love during the year’s poetry unit, the student-published poetry book. Last November, their yearly poetry book project received the Jarratt Brunson Memorial Award for Literacy in recognition of the impact that these self-published poetry books have had on students over the years.
The project itself had two parts. The first aspect was the book created by Alves and Chavez’s combined classes. Both classes have a large population of English Language Learner students, meaning some students are slightly intimidated by English poetry and its formatting rules when the unit began. That intimidation quickly faded once students were introduced to the project. As soon as the kids found out that they would be creating their own book, they felt empowered and excited to work together to pick a theme for the book and bring it to life. For this project’s theme, students explored dogs as our beloved companions, along with the responsibility we have to protect and care for them. They brainstormed and collaborated on the different aspects of the book, including the format, the art, the photos, and the poems themselves. By the end of the unit, the students had produced their own, multiclassroom publication.
In addition to the physical publication, Alves and Chavez’s students had a live poetry reading at Madison Elementary’s annual Poetry Night to End the Plight fundraiser, a night to raise money for a nonprofit effort of their choice and to promote community service. They were excited to see all of their hard work helping their cause of choice dogs and veterans in need. After the poetry reading, students received a copy of their poetry book and an author’s pen to end the project and to serve as a keepsake of all their hard work.
The success of the project over previous years has encouraged Alves and Chavez to continue growing the self-published book section of their poetry units going forward. They are looking forward to seeing the beautiful poems and strong teamwork created by students in the future.
Interested in classroom projects like this? You can support the work of teachers like Helena Alves and Angela Chavez by donating to our Teacher Grants.
