Poetry through the Generations

Grade: 9–10
Objective: To encourage generations to share love of poetry.
Directions: Students write poetry on a topic and then visit a nursing home and share their poems with the residents. They also write poetry with the residents.
Comments: Many nursing home residents write poems and love to share them with students.

Winifred Toring
Fort Dodge Senior High School
Fort Dodge, Iowa

 

The Autobiography
Grade:9–12
Objective: The activity provides a focus for a unit or an entire creative writing class.
Directions: Students compose poems about childhood, the present, and the future. For Chapter One, they write about a picture of themselves ages 3 to 7, draw (in crayon) their first house to capture an image of one room or event, and describe their best childhood friend, a teacher they remember from elementary school, a special family holiday. They also respond to a number of poems and prose pieces about childhood. Then, I ask them to revise their best two pieces and find a companion piece by another author. I follow similar procedures for collecting material about Chapter Two (the present: an interview of a good friend, a field trip to their favorite hangouts, a week-long daily diary, a response to their favorite song lyric) and Chapter Three (the future: describe your graduation, imagine yourself in twenty years, respond to pictures of senior citizens.) As a final project, students put all the chapters together and illustrate or display the final product in a creative way.

Comments: The chapters can focus on different topics. One autobiography had chapters on fruits, dogs, and music—the story of his life. Students come up with unusual ways to display the autobiography. One student turned hers in on a movie reel; another typed the poems and attached them to ballet slippers; a third integrated his words into the words and pictures on a Led Zepplin record album.

Nancy Swanson
Daniel High School
Central, South Carolina

 

Cut-up Poems

Grade: 11–12 (creative writing class)
Objective: To understand the power of words, to see how a limited number of words can be positioned to create a variety of poems, and to provide an exercise in verbal dexterity as students manipulate words.
Directions: Photocopy enough short, famous poems for two students to work on one poem. (Enlarge the poems a couple-hundred percent to make working with them easier.) Then, cut each poem up into words, putting each individual poem in an envelope. Prepare an overhead of the original poem to show after the students have created their own version. Have the students work with a partner, and give them an envelope—tell them there is a great poem in the envelope, but direct them to use the words to create their own great poems. When they are done (this takes almost a half hour), have them write their poem onto an overhead. Either that day, or the next if you run out of time, share with the class their poems, and then the original poems that were prepared on the overhead.
Comments: Allow the students three cheats— either to add or remove a small word such as a, an, the—since it sometimes requires too much time to try to match words exactly. Students always have such a good time with this—both putting their poems together and seeing other poems. It's also fun to have two groups with the same words in an envelope—to see how
differently their poems turn out.

Vicky Edwards
Willowbrook High School
Villa Park, Illinois

 

Around-the-World Poetry

Grade: 9–12
Objective: Given one of six literary elements on which to focus (personification, imagery, alliteration, simile, onomatopoeia, and metaphor), each student will be able to learn better how to use his or her given element, enhance other students' writing, and identify elements in poetry.
Directions: (1) Give each student a card as he or she enters class. On each card is one of the following six literary elements: personification, imagery, alliteration, simile, onomatopoeia, and metaphor. (So, for a class of 24, four students will have personification, four others will have imagery, etc.) (2) Sitting in a circle, the students receive a piece of paper and begin a poem—on anything—using the literary element they were assigned. For example, if a student receives a card with personification written on it, she might begin her poem with the words, "The sun smiled on the glistening waters." (3) Then, at your instruction (you are also part of the circle), the students pass the poems clockwise. (4) Students then add a line of poetry to their neighbor's poem; however, the line must use the element on their card. Therefore, the student with the personification card will create several different lines of poetry using personification (depending on the number of students participating.) Practice makes perfect! (5) After the poems have traveled completely around the circle (or as far as time allows,) the students pair up and read their poems to their neighbors. (6) Then, ask for a few volunteers to read their finished product to the class, and have the class try to identify the elements used—line by line.

Comments: This is a great, nonthreatening way to begin a poetry unit. Most of my students would not admit to being a poet or admit to enjoying the writing of poetry; however, through this activity, my students see poetry as nonintimidating, they grow as poets, and become more familiar with the literary elements. I then jump into a mini-unit, stressing a different element each day. When we look at onomatopoeia in depth, we study Robert Frost's, “Out, Out” and John Updike's “Player Piano.”

Beth Hughes
Upper Dublin High School
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

 

Cool Word Poetry

Grade: 9–12
Objective: To use new vocabulary in student poetry and to use computers.
Description: All students access the Web site www.cool-word.com to find their assigned word or phrase. After reading the extended definition, students must incorporate the cool word into a poem. Directly or indirectly, their poems must reflect the definition of their word. Students' assigned word must appear in their poem or be the title of their poem, or both.
 
Example:
infracaninophile (n. IN-fruh-kuh-NIN-uh-fyl)
 
An infracaninophile is a person who favors
the underdog. This word, which is absent
from many dictionaries, was coined by
Christopher Morley, a novelist and poet who
died in 1957.
 
The word has three parts. The Latin prefix
infra- means "interior to, below, or beneath."
Related words include under, inferior, and
inferno. The middle part, -canino- is from
Latin canus (dog), and -phile is from the
Greek philos (beloved, loving.)

 
Infracaninophile
The foamy sea green water,
sparkled like gems in the sun.
The day was perfect for the beach.
Except the crabs!
I think they're horrible!
My mother, the infracaninophile,
always roots for the underdog.
She loves the crabs.
All day, in awe, she
watches them.
One day she'll learn,
when she gets pinched.
And I'll feel no pity.
 
Comments: My students enjoy this
assignment. Not only do they write great
poetry, but they enhance their vocabulary.

Cyndi Aiello
Ridgway Middle/High School
Ridgway, Pennsylvania

Poetry Journals

Grade: 3–8
Objective: To have students appreciate the eloquence and style of poetry.
Directions: Throughout the school year, students explore a variety of poetic styles such as haiku, diamante, sensory, free verse, by the numbers, acrostic, I used to . . . , etc. Students place their final copy of their poems into a poetry journal that the students make by hand (covering a composition book with fabric, and decorating it.) This poetry journal becomes personal and meaningful to the student.
At the end of the year, have a poetry festival in the form of POETRY CAFE night. Parents and community members are invited to sit and relax at the cafe while they eat a snack and drink juice. Students dress in all black and wear dark sunglasses and berets. Have a student beat a bongo drum at select intervals. Students then read one or two of their poems for the audience. The audience response will be to snap their fingers instead of clap their hands at the end of each poetry recitation.
Comments: Students love to share their poems and enjoy the off-beat event as something out of the ordinary and extraordinary! The students feel close to their poetry journals and are supportive of each other. In the poetry journal, students may illustrate their poems and take their journals home at the end of the year as a keepsake. The journals make a colorful and impressive display at parent/teacher conferences!

Rachel Rubinoff Pasichow
Franklin Park School
Franklin Park, New Jersey

 

Art-Through Poetry

Grade: 8
Objective: To connect our study of haiku poetry with a landscape art exhibition.
Directions: Locate a local art exhibit that contains scenes from nature. Prepare to take a trip to the exhibit by viewing slides of some of the paintings. Students then write haiku in one sitting to capture the poetic moments in nature in writing as these landscape artists had done with paint. When you view the paintings at the museum, have docents, chaperones, and student writers read the haiku aloud. Organize the haiku by painting, and publish them in a chapbook.
 
 
 
Please enjoy these excerpts from

"Haiku: Green Woods and Crystal Waters"
 
A blurry vision

Of the reaching tree branches

Caused from crying clouds.

Rachael M.

 
Kamikaze whirl

As sun rays reflect in color

And the water splashes.

Abby K.

Comments: The exhibit we attended was called "Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition" at the Davenport Museum of Art. The exhibit was organized and circulated by The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, but the activity could be used with many collections of paintings. It is
particularly suited to artwork with natural subjects, since haiku tries to capture a fleeting moment in nature. So many students enjoyed hearing their haiku, they requested a copy of the chapbook. It was made available at no cost to participating students.

Sandra L. Beisker
Jefferson Junior High School
Dubuque, Iowa

 

Found Poem

Grade: 6 –Whole class or smaller groups
Objective: To help students find poetic language in every-day writing.
Directions: Students read a short story that has very descriptive language with lots of sensory details. They then write a phrase they found that best gives them a word picture. They must not share their phrase with anyone else. Students randomly form a line and read their phrases out loud while I script what they have written. Next, they confer to rewrite their found poem by reassembling their group. I script their final choice, and we compare poems, discuss repetition of lines for emphasis, effectiveness, etc. Finally, we share the poems that other classes or groups have made using the same text, and compare products. "Did each group create a poem with similar images? What feelings were aroused by the different poems? Do any of the poems evoke images or feelings that were evident in the original text?" If students choose to refine their poems, or rewrite what the group wrote, to make the poems more effective or personal, some time will be given to share the results!

Barbara Pearce
Griswold Middle School
Rocky Hill, CT

 

Conservatory Field Trip

Grade:9–12
Directions: Have your students take an unguided walk through the school grounds or any local park and do the following: (1) Select one plant or flower and get out an index card and a pen. (2) On the lined side, write the actual name of the plant/flower and 10 facts you can determine just by looking at it (such as color, size, scent, etc.). These are your objective observations. Feel free to sketch your selection. Take at least 5 minutes for this section. (3) Turn the card over and on the unlined side write about how this plant/flower makes you feel or what sort of qualities or character it seems to have. These are your subjective observations. Take at least 5 minutes for this section. (4) Return to the classroom for the writing assignment. Brainstorm on the words objective and subjective. Determine definitions for each. (5) With the index cards and a blank piece of paper in front of you, write a poem/essay/letter about your selection. You may want to begin with "I chose you from all the others, because..." [Allow 15 minutes for this section. Taped music may be added here.] (6) Break into small groups and read each piece aloud. As each person reads his or her selection, discuss the ability for the others to see the plant/flower depicted. Allow 10 minutes for this section. (7) Revisions based on suggestions and comments can be made at this point, and papers and index cards turned in to the teacher for evaluation.

Comments: This activity teaches students to (1) recognize the difference between objective and subjective observations; (2) put into words their process of selection; (3) observe nature; (4) become aware of community resources; (5) put all their senses into their writing. Multiple intelligences are employed, including verbal linguistic (talking notes and writing); logical/mathematical (gathering concrete information); visual/spatial (writing from observation, drawing plant selected); body/kinesthetic (walking); musical/rhythmic (taped music), interpersonal (class discussion), intrapersonal (process of using your senses for selecting and writing about it).

Interdisciplinary Possibilities: This lesson could be linked with a course in biology, art, music, and/or local history.

Linda DeCicco
John Adams High School
South Bend, Indiana

 
 
The Effects of War: A Poetry Anthology

Grade: 10
Objective: To express thoughts and feelings regarding war in words and pictures.
Directions: Students will have read war poems written by Wilfred Owen about World War I. The students then use the Internet to locate scenes of WWI battlefields. They will use the themes in the poetry and the images in the pictures to create their own poems about war. Once the poems have been written and typed, the students will set to work drawing pictures that illustrate the themes and images contained in their poems. The final aspect of the project involves the students collaborating on putting together an anthology of poems and pictures. The bound book can be shared with the class and kept on display as an exemplar for future classes.
Comments: This lesson takes more than one class period to complete, but it is well worth the time spent. The kids are extremely proud of the results of their efforts!

Margot Diekmann, English Teacher
Donna Schibani, Student Teacher
Glen Cove High School
Glen Cove, New York

 

I Don’t Have Anything to Write About

Grade: 7
Objective: Write in a variety of poetic forms. Activate or build on background knowledge through individual strategies (look in the
newspaper).
Directions: Each student brings in a header from a newspaper article. This does not have to be weighty or serious, just the first caption to catch the eye. The header is the title of the poem they will write. The title is merely a starter. No more "I don't have
anything to write about!"
Comments: I have never had a student not turn in this assignment, and the poems usually range from outlandishly silly to sincerely heart wrenching. In addition, I have each student do an illustration of some aspect of the poem.

Jill Brown
Drew Central Junior High School
Monticello, Arkansas

 
Using Sensory Details to Describe Your World
Grade: 1–8
Objective: To encourage students to use their imagination.
Directions: Teacher should read "Write About a Radish" to the students.
 

Write About a Radish
Too many people write about the moon
 
The night is black
The stars are small and high
The clock unwinds its ever-ticking tune
Hills gleam dimly
Distant nighthawks cry.
A radish rises in the waiting sky.

By Karla Kuskin
 
Directions for the students: Put on your imagination hat and turn yourself into a radish. You have been sleeping for many months in the cool brown earth. You wake up and peek your head out of the ground for the very first time. Describe the world you see. What sounds do you hear? What do you smell? What are the
colors? Describe everything you see, hear, and smell. Write nonstop for five minutes.
While you are writing. . .
1. Keep your hand moving.
2. You will be specific. Use vivid details.
3. Don't think. Just write.
You are planting seeds, and from these seeds beautiful flowers will grow. You are planting a garden of words. You will watch your words grow into beautiful flowers.

NOW START WRITING, AND SHOW ME ON PAPER WHAT YOU SEE AS YOU PEEK YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GROUND.
After five minutes have the students draft their words into a poem.
Comments: Before you do this activity with your students, make certain that they have had some other poetry writing activities. They will need more direct instruction if they are in the lower grades. Their journal writing could
culminate in a story rather than a poem if this is too advanced for them. By the seventh and eighth grades, however, they have had many poetry writing opportunities.

Maria Liadis Faskianos
Dover Middle School
Dover, New Hampshire

 

Operating Rhyme Scheme

Grade: 8
Objective: To teach the concept of rhyme scheme, to encourage the use of vivid word choice, to encourage word play and inversion.
Directions: Have students read a few poems that have a consistent rhyme scheme. Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods..." are not only accessible to students but also are good examples of rhyme scheme. Discuss with students why some poets rhyme and others do not. Discuss how to mark the rhyme scheme of a poem. "The Road Not Taken" follows an ABACB, DEDDF, GHGGH, IJIIJ rhyme scheme. Challenge your students to write several rhyming poems that model Frost's scheme. I have students write five poems that consist of five lines each. Generally, I give students choices—ten rhyme schemes and they pick five, etc. You could have students write their poems focusing on your current theme of study or allow them the creative freedom to choose their own topics.
Directions for the students:

Sample Student Handout
Write five five-line poems that follow five different rhyme schemes from the list below. Label each poem's rhyme scheme.
 
ABACB ABAAC ABAAB ABABA AAAAA
 
AAABB ABABC AABBA ABCAB ABBBA
 
Comments: This activity is certainly adaptable to any need or desire. I have even begun to continue this intensive poetry instruction by assigning weekly poetry activities that follow this format. The activity allows students the opportunity to play with words and compose poems that are often both fun and nonthreatening. Students begin to develop an appreciation for the complexities of the genre without forgetting that poetry can and should be enjoyable.

Scott A. Deisley
Warwick Middle School
Lititz, Pennsylvania

 

Picture This!

Grade: 4–6
Objective: To create a poem based on a randomly chosen photograph.
Directions: Look for photos of animals,
people, or advertisements that are eye-catching. [Editor’s note: The board game “Picture, Picture” by Golden a Western Publishing
Company offers numerous stimulating pictures for this activity.] Cut out part of the photo or ad and laminate it on construction paper. Make one photo card for each student you teach. Number it. Have a raffle where the children pull a number, and then you give them the corresponding photo. They have to write a poem based on their picture.
Comments: My class loved this activity. You could also tailor the activity for different areas of study—nature pictures for ecosystems or pictures of famous people for social studies or current events. When kids have a directed start, their enthusiasm bubbles into their poetry.

Poem
Little mouse upon my head.
I wish you were somewhere else instead
I wish I may, I wish I might
Take just one little bite.
 
But woe is me, my mouth won't reach.
My teacher uses this to teach
Us all to take out our paper
And write a poem about this caper!

Bonnie Zotara
Kadimah School
Amherst, New York

 

Following in Our Foosteps

Grade: 2–6
Objective: For students who are leaving a grade level to write a poem giving the next year's students advice and tips for success.
Directions: Toward the end of the school year, read to students literature where someone older gives someone younger some advice about ways to be successful in the future (Oh! The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss; the song, Follow Me, by John Denver). It's preferable that the example has something to do with following in someone's footsteps or shoes to lead to success.

Brainstorm with the students how they can give advice to next year's students so that they will be successful. Encourage students to use elaboration devices in their poetry such as simile, metaphors, onomatopoeia, etc. After students have written their poem, have them make a stamp of their footprint using a black stamp pad, the side of their fist for the bottom of the foot and then their fingertips for the toes, so it looks like a baby's footprints. Make several footprints on the poem. Now you have a beautiful poem and artwork to go up on a bulletin board!

Beth Ellis
Gullett Elementary
Austin, Texas