Link to student poems.

What did students create and share? 

Students wrote a poem personifying an object they chose. They revised their writing with peers and the teacher before recording and editing their poems using Soundtrap. Then, we put together an ArcGIS Storymap with photos of the students and the audio of reading aloud their poem. 

Goals/Objectives

• Students will effectively identify and use personification to personify objects in their writing. 
• Students will record a spoken word poem and edit a poem using music and editing techniques to enhance the listening experience.
  

Audio recording: Zoom H1n recorders or Zoom H5n with a condenser mic obtained through a DonorsChoose.org project. Students could have completed this project using their Chromebook microphone or headphones with a built-in microphone. 

Audio editing: School-provided Chromebooks and headphones to access Soundtrap for editing.

I’ve received training on Soundtrap from KQED and completed the Soundtrap Educator Training. I feel confident with this tool, and my students find it easy to use as well.

Context and Classroom Roll-Out 

What: Personification is a type of figurative language students can quickly access. Poetry is a more accessible form of writing that doesn’t judge a student as harshly as more formal writing styles. Poetry invites creativity and encourages writers to communicate first instead of fixating on grammar and mechanics.

Why: I wanted students to select an object to personify that was emotionally and culturally relevant to them. I did not put any constraints on that aspect of the project. I did ask each student to check with me before drafting to confirm what their item was and to gauge how confident they felt about personifying it.

A media project is only as good as the planning that goes into it. I emphasized to students that preproduction is the most crucial phase of any media project. Superb editing or effects cannot cover a poorly designed project or weak writing and concept.

Project Outline

Step 1: Define personification using  Introduction to Personification Graphic Organizer with its image of a bristlecone pine tree as an example. 

Step 2:  A Personification Conversation to get students out of their seats and talking with peers to practice personifying objects. I set 7 cards around the room, each with three questions per card. I asked students to think of an object that was not a person and to quickly respond to the questions on each card with their peers. Students rotated around the room in groups of 3 or 4 to each card to discuss. 

Step 3: Students wrote the poem using Personification Poem Template, then created the audio recording.

Modifications

I have two English Learners. The primary modification made for them was working with them as they started to draft their poem. We used the graphic organizer with questions to get them started on drafting. We also reviewed the exemplar poem to make sure they understood the concept of personification. The least amount of scaffolding was needed for the recording and editing using Soundtrap. This is a platform that is largely independent of language and more reliant upon navigating software that is very intuitive. 

Working with my SPED students as they began drafting was key. This helped them get started on the right track from the outset and avoid lengthy revisions or the need to completely start over.

This project was done completely in class. Recording and editing took place in class, because of access to Zoom recorders and Sorber sound panels that help reduce ambient noise. All students had access to Chromebooks they could take home if they chose to. Some students opted to continue editing their recorded poems at home. 

Finding a place to record: Students would record in our portable sound booth made of Sorber sound panels standing on end with two smaller sound panels acting as a roof. Inside the booth is a small stand holding a student Chromebook and recorder. Students would record one at a time with me in the booth. I would monitor recording and coach them on whether they were speaking too fast or slow or incoherently. We would do multiple takes until we got a clean recording on an SD card with minor mistakes that could easily be edited out. 

While students were recording with me, other students were rehearsing their spoken word poems outside the class or working on other tasks that were “may do” or “must do.” 

I wanted students to recognize personification and use it in their writing to create an in-depth connection to a non-human object.

I used a single-point rubric to formally assess students’ written and recorded/edited personification poems. 

• Complete project plan   
• ArcGIS StoryMap containing all students’ work
• Introduction to Personification Graphic Organizer 
• A Personification Conversation
• Personification Poem Template
• Rubric for Personification Poem