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Poetry Portfolio

© Rebecca Kojetin

I remember having to write poetry for my English teacher in eighth grade. I hated it. He had specific expectations for each poem and if the final draft didn’t fit his traditional format, it received a failing mark. Then, I had a course in creative writing in high school. It was a little better, but still the work was graded in a traditional format. In college, as an English major, I was told by one teacher that I didn’t know how to write; thus, I was required to rewrite my case study. I changed the name of some of the children and used synonyms for a few words and was told it was much better. With my love of literature and my love to write, I vowed that I would make a conscious effort not to put any of my students through this. As a teacher, I wished to instill the desire to read and write poetry beyond what the course outline required, and not threaten the students with a grade. Thus, I created my poetry portfolio.

The student’s poetry portfolio was a collection of a variety of different pieces from the complete unit. The portfolio was evaluated with a rubric that would easily translate to a numerical grade of 100 points. (My district requires points that are convertible to percentages.) Some of the portfolio’s contents are creative, some analytical, some student directed learning, and some direct teaching.

The portfolio was required to have a colorful cover that had something to do with the poetry unit. It could focus on poetic themes, figures of speech, the required poems, the poets, or their personal poems (10 points). The organization of the portfolio’s contents was up to each specific student and was to be shown in a table of contents. This page needed each individual page number and what was on the page (5 points).

The analytical and direct teaching contents included the classroom notes on each required poem, completed study guides for each poem. The notes were to be complete, but the study guides, which had been corrected in class, could have been altered to contain the correct information.

The creative contents of the portfolio consisted of the exercises that focused on figures of speech, the poems assigned to write, and a collection of 5 of their favorite poems. Each item was to have been reproduced in a neat, final copy.

The student directed learning contained the notes they collected while searching internet sites for further information about the required poets. After reading the poet biography selections within the classroom anthology, the students were allowed to utilize the internet and library to acquire 5 additional facts about each poet we were going to be studying.

The copyright of the article Poetry Portfolio in Teaching English Lit is owned by Rebecca Kojetin. Permission to republish Poetry Portfolio in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.