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Week One |
Students
and nursing home residents read and discussed “Knoxville, Tennessee”
by African American poet, Nikki Giovanni..
After
discussing Nikki Giovanni’s poem, students and nursing home residents
were asked to think about which season they liked best, and to
write a poem in which they recalled specific experiences, times,
places, etc.
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Week Two |
With
lights out and a candle burning in a holder on each table, students and
nursing home residents were led through a “meditation” on the
candle focusing on the wick, the wax, the flame, and the holder,
thinking about the part each played in the role of the candle.
The task was to write a poem in which you tell what part of
the candle you are most like and explain why, if possible.
Students and nursing home residents were encouraged to also
tell what part of the candle they’d most like to be, if it were
something different.
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Week Three |
Students
and nursing home residents were asked to choose a color and
brainstorm a list of whatever comes to mind at the mention of that
color. They were then
requested to write a color poem using the ideas they had gathered on
their list, being as detailed as possible in their descriptions.
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Week Four |
The
students and nursing home residents were introduced to a bit of
background about Sei Shonagon, a Japanese lady-in-waiting, who kept
lists of many things in small books which they placed under their
pillows. These lists
were in the form of a poem, yet there was no set punctuation or
capitalization.
After
discussing Rubert Brooke’s poem, students and nursing home
residents were asked to write a list poem of their choosing.
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Week Five |
Students
and nursing home residents were introduced to Mexican poet,
Francisco X. Alarcon and his poem
“In A Neighborhood in Los Angeles.”
After
reading the poem, they were asked to think of someone who is or
was close to them and to remember something special they learned
from that person. The
task was to
write a poem of tribute to that person, in which you tell the
reader about this loved one and, perhaps, what you learned from
him or her.
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Week Six |
Students
and nursing home residents brainstormed quiet places and spaces.
They
also shared stories of situations that made
them quiet.
Then they were asked to write a poem about quiet moments in
their lives, describing times and places as much as possible.
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March 12. 2004 | Students
visited the residents at the nursing home and presented them with a
framed photo, a rose and the anthology of poetry entitled
"Breathing Through Time - from sunrise to sunset" with the
poems that they and residents had written. A Powerpoint
presentation of the 6-week experience was shown. Refreshments were
served.
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March 15-17, 2004 | The students presented this project to 300 other students at the NYS Service Learning Conference at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson, NY. |