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POETRY FOR SELF-EXPRESSION

From Arlene Carter-Pounds, "The Sugar Lady"
Axton, Va.

Though all of "Sugar Lady" Arlene Carter-Pounds' poems express specific observations and truths, one in particular may help students in inclusive classrooms understand the value of the varied students they learn with. Carter-Pounds recommends having the students recite the third line of each stanza after the presenter reads the first two. "This poem has been used in various classroom settings as a springboard to talking with students about accepting and respecting all people," she says.
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READ MORE ABOUT IT
"POETRY LADY" SHARES ART OF REACHING SPECIAL KIDS
October 21, 2000
STUDENTS LEARN TO:
  • accept and respect differences in people
  • express themselves and their emotions positively
Can You Love Me Still?
If I can't walk now -- for my legs are gone
And a wheelchair is my mobile home,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

When my speech is unclear -- yet it's not my fault
And sometimes I wish I could better talk,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

When I must take a bathroom break
And a bag is necessary (make no mistake)
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

If I don't celebrate the occasions you do
But what I honor is what I hold true,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

If you find it strange -- my last name,
And it's not phonetic -- but it's mine the same,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

When my style of clothes is part of tradition
And it's how I dress with no restriction,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

If the place where I live I call my home
Is not metropolitan, but yet my own,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

When my code of living -- the choices I've made
Contradict your standards and rate a low grade,
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

Brown eyes, blue eyes, black eyes, green,
And all the many hues in between
Blend right in on somebody's child
Who lives each day in a different style.

Can you respect mankind and erase the label
From those who are different -- are you able?
Can you love me still -- I hope you will.

 

Another poem to use in class:

Grandma Hippy Toe Sat On My Bed One Night
Shoes by the bed,
You'll do fine.
Under the bed,
It's praying time.

Grandma Hippy Toe
Came one night,
Sat on my bed
Caused me fright.

I hollered, I screamed,
No sound came out.
The dreaded woman
Scared away my shout.

With a wide, wide bottom,
She covered my feet.
I gave up
And admitted defeat.

No warning, no nothing,
She began to slide.
Grandma Hippy Toe was GONE
And I hadn't died.

Shoes by the bed,
Way to go.
Under the bed,
Sh-h-h Grandma Hippy Toe.

Ideas for using this poem:
  • Act out the parts of the poem; dress up as the characters and demonstrate the "wide, wide bottom."
  • Prepare a video dramatization.
  • Use the poem as a guide to write an original pattern poem; use it to introduce rhyming words, descriptive words and other elements of good writing. Publish the poems in the classroom or elsewhere in the school.
  • Do timed readings of the poem to promote fluency; establish reasonable guidelines and keep a running record of results. Choral reading in groups may work for students who are reluctant to read aloud independently.

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