Words and Popcorn: How are they alike?

“I Love the Look of Words,” is a great introduction to the concept of metaphoric thinking. This elegant poem is suitable for students of all ages. Imagine this lesson:

The teacher walks in with a bag of popcorn freshly popped in the school microwave. The fragrance of popcorn floats into the air as the teacher begins reading:

Popcorn leaps, popping from the floor of a hot black skillet and into my mouth.
Black words leap, snapping from the white page…

As children hear the words of Maya Angelou, read emphatically by the teacher, children experience first hand the metaphor created in the poem. Angelou’s rich text fills the imaginations of the children as the smell of popcorn fills the air.

Once hooked, students are presented with a two-column chart: one titled “popcorn” and one titled “words.” The teacher asks, ” What is popcorn like? How can we describe it?”
As students contribute their thoughts, the teacher notes them on the chart, and then enlists the children’s help in describing “words.”

The teacher says, “In the poem, the poet compares popcorn and words. Let’s read the poem together and find out why she thinks that popcorn and words are similar.”

As the children and teacher read the poem together, the teacher adds the comparisons presented in the poem to the chart.

When the children are finished reading and their ideas have been recorded, the teacher can talk about poetic comparisons, similes and metaphors.

The teacher introduces a Venn Diagram, and enlists the students’ help in place “same” and “different” concepts in the appropriate places.

The lesson closes with another simile:

The children will read lines of the poem. The teacher assigns groups of children to read lines from the poem, and directs each group to practice its line until they can read it with expression.

“Now we will read like “popcorn.” As your turn to read comes up, please stand, popping up like popcorn!

The lesson ends as the children conclude an exciting rendition of Maya Angelou’s poem.

“I Love the Look of Words” is one of many wonderful poems in the book Soul Looks Back in Wonder, editied and illustrated by Tom Feelings.