It’s okay to go with the flow… or not Concrete Prayers Concrete prayers Repel, repel A doomed self-regard & remake common children into Hydrangea tides. When creating a headline poem, it’s okay and good to let the words find you. Another way to say it: don’t insist on finding the word you think you need.Continue reading “Headline Poetry and Serendipity”
Category Archives: Poetry Lessons
A Mentor Text for Treasured Object Poems
“Poem to My Yellow Coat” by Lucille Clifton Last winter, I wrote a post about a fun, creative activity called Treasured Object poems. Click here for that link. In that post, I included three student-written poems that former students had written. One was about turquoise Converse shoes, another was about a piano, and another aContinue reading “A Mentor Text for Treasured Object Poems”
The Favorite Place Poem
Have students create content with a poem about their favorite place Many of my students are reading poetry. On Instagram. Okay, okay… I know. But whether or not you take verse found on Instagram seriously, poetry is experiencing a resurgence in popularity… thanks to social media, where many poets, including Rupi Kaur and others, gainContinue reading “The Favorite Place Poem”
Poetry Activity: The Cold Within
James Patrick Kinney’s poem meets Frost’s “Mending Wall” Looking for a poem to generate a rich and engaging discussion with your students? I recently came across a post in one of the Facebook Groups I belong to. As I scanned the comments on a particular post, I learned about a poem called “The Cold Within”Continue reading “Poetry Activity: The Cold Within”
Headline poetry: capture 2020 with found words
2020 Tattle-Tale Truths Where have you been lately? Home cookies story hour A briefly noted breakthrough What are your symptoms? Untrue advice: A subtle silence A war of persuasion What tests should you expect? Action equities fire Next-level knowledge The might-have-been modern world A week ago, I started collecting about 100 words to make aContinue reading “Headline poetry: capture 2020 with found words”
Headline poetry: At a loss for words? Let the words find you
Ever feel that words don’t exist to describe summer 2020? Ever feel as if words simply don’t exist to describe the summer of 2020? Here’s an idea: search through magazines, newspapers, mail, anything, and… let the words find you. I started this headline poem last night. I’m on step 1… searching and clipping. I haveContinue reading “Headline poetry: At a loss for words? Let the words find you”
“Where I’m From” Poems: download these mentor texts written by students
This post shares Where I’m From poem mentor texts written by students.
Corona Virus Acrostic Poems Perk Up Distance Learning (updated 2021)
Students create acrostic poems to document Covid-19 My students learned at home from March 17 through May 14, 2020 when the school year officially ended. As part of their distance learning back then, I asked students to write a couple of paragraphs every other day or so for a “Life in the Time of Corona”Continue reading “Corona Virus Acrostic Poems Perk Up Distance Learning (updated 2021)”
Mending Wall: Writing Prompt
Something there is that doesn’t love a pandemic Holed up at home at my dining room table, I’m continuing with my lesson planning as scheduled during our two-week school closing. After our recent Ernest Hemingway unit concluded last week, my plan was to introduce my juniors to Robert Frost. Lucky them. Frost’s poetry is poignant,Continue reading “Mending Wall: Writing Prompt”
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Happy Friday Eve! This is a quick pic of Austin Kleon’s book,Steal Like An Artist. In this book, Kleon, the inventor of black-out poetry, discusses creativity, the values of unplugging from technology to create, and tips for producing more. He offers up some solid ideas that I found particularly helpful. Here are two: Don’t throwContinue reading “Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon”