After reviewing the “I Poetry” powerpoint, I see more in depth the benefits of using poetry, specifically the “I am” format, to transfer ideas. Students can read many texts, but unless they can connect and transfer those ideas, reading is not as beneficial. The quote at the end of the powerpoint sums this process up best:
“Students understand and remember ideas better when they have to transform those ideas from one form to another. Apparently it is in this transforming process that author’s ideas become reader’s ideas, rendering them more memorable” (Pearson & Fielding, 1991, p. 847)
The goal of teachers should be for students to understand and retain ideas, not simply memorize facts for an upcoming test. I want my future students to be able to apply what they are reading and transfer those ideas to writing. This powerpoint shows step-by-step the method to accomplish this goal.
Thank you for posting Chrisi. Did you feel this was the case for you when you wrote your Blackbeard poem…do you remember the factual information you transformed?
I definitely had to do more thinking beyond memorizing facts. Using factual information applied to an I Poem requires a new, more in depth level of thinking and understanding. I can see how I used this process to create my I am Blackbeard poem.