Reading in the Negative Space; using poetry and art to create community when technology is not an option

This project uses Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air as a way to help incarcerated youth engage with literacy in a way that is free from the judgment so often associated with the reading and writing that occurs in the classroom. This book, based on the wrongful incarceration of Yuseef Salam, was chosen in the hope that students would find solace in Yuseef’s ability to survive and cope with his incarceration through art and that they might use art and writing as a way to reflect on their own, often painful, experiences. Additionally, our project purposely takes place outside of the classroom to help nurture a love of literature based on play and relationship building. For many of our students, many of whom are two or more grade levels behind in reading proficiency, this sense of freedom to explore words and stories in a safe space affords them the confidence to rethink their assumptions about what reading is and who qualifies as a “reader.”
To complete the project, the team works with students for three sessions. Each session lasts about 45 minutes. Students are given individual copies of the books to read. Working on a timeline that suits the residential communities, the team, composed of educators, counselors, and security staff visits the unit after students have read the book. The team visits each housing unit for approximately three sessions. During each session, a variety of literacy activities that are based on the book are presented to students. Most sessions begin with a brief discussion of the book and include questions about what in the book resonated with the students and comments on the form of the book.
After this brief discussion, the focus of the session turns to a combined writing-art project. The art teacher provides an explanation of the project along with several examples of black-out poetry that students have completed. Our art teacher also takes great care to underscore the art references in the book, including Picasso and DaVinci. Armed with this background knowledge, the students and teachers each work to create their own art project. The students can select a project based on their personal level of comfort with expression, from creating a black-out poem taken from a page from a discarded library book and editing it, to creating an image using a calligram, to actually writing a poem of their own. While the project encourages students to explore their own emotions, thoughts, and experiences through the creation of individual artwork, many actively seek out the adults in the room to partner with them in this project. In these organically formed pairings and groups, adults and students discuss art; the meaning of words; connections to other books, life experiences and the lessons that have been learned. The book and the project provide a springboard for the students and staff to learn more about each other in a way that pushes past the roles the facility, by its very nature, assigns to these individuals. We learn to connect with each other as humans beyond the labels of resident and teacher.
Due to the wide variety of student comfort, experience, and ability with reading and writing in the facility, the team has incorporated several support structures to ensure that all students who participate in the sessions feel accomplishment at having completed a literacy-based project and embraced as an important part of this literacy-based community. To that end, teachers offer read-aloud sessions to the students prior to beginning the art component of the project. This enables students, who may feel uncomfortable or lack the confidence to read on their own, a path to come to the project feeling equipped with the same level of knowledge and skill that their peers do. In addition, for those students and units whose interest in writing has been sparked by the sessions, the team provides a follow-up writing period. During this time, students and teachers work together on simple, fun writing exercises designed to help students further explore the multiple dimensions of words.
As a culminating activity to the project, an exhibition of the student artwork is planned. The artwork created during the sessions has been collected and will be displayed in a gallery-like outlay during a specific time period. Students, adults, and staff will be invited to walk through the exhibit to view the students’ creations.