Choral readings of Carl Sandburg's poetry could be heard emanating from an unexpected setting...our own school planetarium. In unison 7th grade voices were dramatizing Sandburg's famous poem, Fog.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Interpretive renditions of other Sandburg poems like Harvest Moon, Summer Stars and Child Moon were offered and then discussed by responsive and enthusiastic students from Ms. Dara Jacob's and Ms. Jennifer Mattson's 7th grade English classes. Students accompanied their classmates with flutes and drums to set a musical backdrop. The children analyzed Sandburg's style for a variety of poetic devices such as simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia and repetition. As the planetarium dimmed and the sky's spinning sphere emerged on the darkened surface of the 30-foot diameter dome, students settled deep into their seats and lifted their eyes to view the universe as Sandburg might have seen it from a scientific perspective.
Mr. Walter Sanford, our planetarium teacher, then began to guide the students through a unique blend of astronomy and poetry. He immediately drew a distinct parallel between our view of the world as an integrated whole and our approach to Sandburg's poetry as an interdisciplinary study. His scientific explanations of fog, dew, phases of the moon, and various constellations enabled the students to make comfortable links between the scientific reality of the sky and Sandburg's metaphors, images and overall poetic message. Mr. Sanford deepened their appreciation of the poems by using the Internet to make hyperlinks from key words from Sandburg's poems to actual images projected on the sky dome. Inspired by these strong visual impressions from their planetarium experience, the students then began writing their original sky poems.
After returning to the classroom, the children shared their poems in small peer-editing groups. Each student perfected a final draft in the computer lab before entering into the last phase of artistic interpretation in the enrichment room. In his poem, Star Song, 7th grader Stephen Crandall created a strong sensory appeal through his use of simile, metaphor, personification and repetition.
Stars...
Too many to count,
Too many to touch,
Too many to hear,
When they speak
all at once,
Singing their mysterious
song of the night,
Singing the past
and the future.
The stars are guardians,
like gargoyles
frozen in the icy, black sky.
Tiny lamps
lighting the path
on which our feet will walk
into the unknown
distant future.
As a culminating activity, I introduced the classes to several famous paintings like Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, Georgia O'Keeffe's Red Hills and Sun, and Arthur Dove's Sunrise III to provide artistic inspiration for illustrating the poems. The students used metallic paints and paper, sparkles and pastels on black construction paper to illustrate the beauty of their sky poetry. From this interdisciplinary study our students now understand Carl Sandburg, our middle school namesake, and his poetic legacy with new meaning and deeper dimension. For more student-authored sky poetry please visit The Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness sky poetry Web pages.
As part of the Integrated Services Delivery Model, Sandburg's enrichment program is in its second year. It is based upon the Renzulli Schoolwide Achievement Model (S.A.M.) which is designed to promote and develop the gifts and talents of all children. The enrichment specialist functions as a resource, support system and communicator, combining the talents of Sandburg's innovative teaching staff and coordinating an overlay of disciplines. A variety of TYPE I, II and III enrichment activities combine to offer gifted-quality education to the entire school population.
In TYPE I exploratory activities, TYPE II process skills and TYPE III independent studies Sandburg students are "compacted" from their regular classes and are invited to explore new topics, solve real life problems and create unique products. Students may work independently or in small high interest "clusters" to complete research, develop their skills and challenge their creativity. Under the supervision of Mrs. Sabrina Fraunfelter, our librarian, and Mrs. Gudrun Martyny, Foreign Language Department Chairperson, students have formed a Web Document Design cluster to create Web pages. Mrs. Fraunfelter also supervised independent research clusters formed from the Learning-to-Learn elective classes of Mrs. Barbara Sears. Each quarter a different cluster of students studied famous mathematicians, endangered species or famous people from the Civil War and the Wild West eras. After their research was completed the clusters created unusual presentations and instructional videos to be shared with their classmates in all the core disciplines. This semester some very popular clusters include calligraphy, sign language and handwriting analysis.
Whether Sandburg students are encouraged to "touch the sky" in an integrated study of poetry, art, science and technology or experience a unique opportunity to build on their personal strengths in an independent enrichment investigation, they will realize a higher level of academic achievement and a stronger sense of well-being. Carl Sandburg Middle School's administration, faculty and student body celebrate our growth and success with our new Schoolwide Achievement Model Enrichment Program.
