Have students self-publish their poetry in chapbooks This will be a short post, but I wanted to briefly fill you in on a culminating activity my high school poetry class completed last spring. Our final project of the year was to create a poetry chapbook, a small(ish) book that contained the many poems they createdContinue reading “Poetry Chapbooks for High Schoolers”
Category Archives: Poetry Lessons
“Mending Wall” for High School
“Mending Wall” suggests that we reevaluate the walls we erect among ourselves, so we can instead draw closer over the values that we all treasure.
“The Chambered Nautilus” and Aaron Douglas
Poets and painters speak across generations and races. #poetry #aarondouglas #art #education
Ekphrastic Poetry Roundup
Integrate art and poetry For a twist on poetry that merges art study with creative writing, introduce students to ekphrastic poetry. Ekphrasis — the description of artwork in a poem — brings art into your classroom and into your students’ lives. I’ve taught ekphrastic poetry on several occasions to high school students in both EnglishContinue reading “Ekphrastic Poetry Roundup”
Poetry Out Loud: Best High School Poetry Activity Ever
Poetry Out Loud builds students’ untapped talents Have you heard of Poetry Out Loud, (POL), the poetry recitation contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation? If you’re needing to inject some excitement into your ELA curriculum, dedicate some time to this contest. Last year, I made Poetry Out LoudContinue reading “Poetry Out Loud: Best High School Poetry Activity Ever”
New Poetry Lesson for High School: Poetry Transcription
Transcribing, slowing down, reading the poem word by word, and pausing to clarify something allowed the poem the time needed to sink in and brew, so we could contemplate the poet’s choices and her reasonings for those choices.
The Sonnet for High School (part 2)
Use these student-written mentor texts inspired by Terrance Hayes Two weeks ago, I posted about a unique sonnet writing exercise inspired by poet Terrance Hayes that I tried with my junior-senior poetry class. Click here to read that post. This new exercise took repetition to an extreme degree, and in so doing, demonstrated the literaryContinue reading “The Sonnet for High School (part 2)”
The Sonnet for High School (part 1)
The power of repetition in Terrance Hayes’ “Sonnet” If you’ve ever worked with students and sonnets, you know how difficult writing a sonnet can be. In a word, it’s complicated. In fact, these little box-shaped poems offer all kinds of challenges for young writers (and their teachers–ha!). For example, when my British Literature students studyContinue reading “The Sonnet for High School (part 1)”
Creative high school poetry idea: Poetic Art
If you want to give your high school students a new angle on poetry that allows them some hands-on and screen-free time, this might be a good activity to try. #poetry #NationalPoetryMonth #poeticart
Ukrainian Poetry: Words for War
It goes without saying that students are also aware of the invasion. I even overheard students last week discussing the draft and how it works. However, I don’t want students to worry. I want them to instead feel fully informed.
Can poetry help students in this regard?