Design For Learning

Black Out Poetry

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Poetry is the art of saying the most with the fewest words, and it's a doorway to incredible creative discovery!

I'm thrilled to introduce a lesson plan I created that transforms the way students view poetry, turning a potentially intimidating subject into a thrilling adventure. This lesson is built on active learning and hands-on creation that creates an experience that sparks imagination, encourages personal voice, and shows students that everyone has the capacity to be a powerful storyteller through verse. It is built on the foundation of culturally responsive practice by embedding principles derived from Indigenous pedagogies, such as the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Blackout Poetry, as a methodology, naturally aligns with this framework by fostering holistic, experiential, and relational learning:

• Holistic (Mind, Body, Spirit, Emotion): The task requires students to engage the text intellectually (analysis), physically (the creative act of "blacking out"), emotionally (personal voice and reflection), and spiritually (exploring identity and meaning).

• Experiential and Reflective: Students learn by doing—transforming a concrete, existing text into a personal, meaningful work, ensuring the learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.

• Relationality: The lesson emphasizes the student's relationship to the source text, their personal voice, and the collective outcome (often displayed as community art), creating a sense of shared responsibility and place.

This lesson demonstrates my ability to design engaging, visual arts-based projects that effectively meets curriculum outcomes while simultaneously promoting deep self-exploration, cultural sensitivity, and an approach to education that prioritizes the well-being of the self and the community. To look at the lesson plan and slides for the lesson plan, please see the links below. I have also included a list of supplies that will be needed for a classroom of 24 students for easy planning.