Collective Poem

Social Emotional Learning bolsters self-expression and group communication.

This activity offers students an opportunity to share personal reflections of a poem by deconstructing it and discovering connections with their peers. The final result is a collaborative piece that the group can take ownership of together.
Greeting/ Check-in. (2 min)

Chairs in a circle or around one table.

Introduction: Activating our Bodies (10 min)
  • Physical Chair Warm-up.
  • Breathing Grounding.
Deconstructing Poetry 1 (20 min)

materials: poem print-out, Scissors.

  • The leader or a student reads a poem that has been shared individually and on a board in front of the group. 
  • Students take a moment to re-read the poem and cut out phrases or words that stand out. They choose 3-5 of their cuttings and put them in the center of the circle or table face down. The leader mixes them up.
  • The leader pulls out the cuttings of the phrases one by one and arranges them in that order. The group reads the resulting "poem", and edits it together and moves phrases to make it their own.
  • They finish it by adding any connecting words or punctuation that they feel would help the result.
Deconstructing Poetry 2 (20 min)

materials: poem print-out, blank piece of paper, pencils, pens, erasers.

  • The leader or a student reads a poem that has been shared individually and on a board in front of the group. 
  • Each participant picks 3 words or phrases that stand out from the poem and writes them down.
  • Ask participants to fold a sheet of paper in thirds. In each of the three sections, we write our words.
  • Use the spaces in the paper to show what the word or phrase means to you, outside of the context of the poem. We can write a sentence with the word, define the word, or illustrate it with a doodle.
  • Share: Go around the room and share your words and what you created.
  • The leader writes down the initial words or phrases in the order they were shared. This becomes the Collective Poem
Collective Cut-and-Paste Poem (10 min)
  • Read the “poem” created by the group.
  • Discuss. What are some phrases that repeated? Are there themes that stood out to all of us? What differences or similarities are there between the original and the final version?
Conclusion (2 min)
  • Grounding breathing.
  • Go around the room and say one thing you took away and will take into your week.