All posts in Timothy David Rey

‘Because everyone has a right to…’ Because-style Poems

Students read Shirley Geok-Lin Lim’s poem ‘Learning to Love America’ before they wrote their own ‘Because’ poems. Lesson Note: Born in Malacca, Malaysia, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim was raised by her Chinese father and attended […]

‘And the tape wears off and the streamers…’: Party Poems.

Students imagined life as a party and wrote poems using that metaphor based on Jason Shinder’s poem, ‘The Party.’ Lesson Note: “Find some humility, or it will find you.”― Jason Shinder, poet Mrs. McClain, […]

‘Remember that love is free’: Poems on Memory

Students wrote memory list poems based on Joy Harjo’s poem, ‘Remember’. Lesson Note: Harjo’s work is often autobiographical, informed by the natural world, and above all preoccupied with survival and the limitations of language. […]

‘impossible….good’:Blackout Poems

Blackout Poetry: A blackout poem is created when a poet takes a marker (usually black marker) to already established text–like that from a newspaper–and starts redacting words until a poem or image is formed. […]

‘Apple.Apple.Apple.Apple.Apple.’: Concrete Poems

Students created concrete poems, which rely on their visual depiction to express meaning more clearly. Here are some of their beautiful examples of that form! Lesson Note: “Art has a way of bringing to […]

‘Withdraw/ Deposit/Invest’: Diamond Poems

Students created Diamond Poems using parts of speech and their wonderful imaginations. Lesson Note: A diamante poem is a poem in the shape of a diamond. It can be used to compare and contrast […]

‘Por eso es mi felicidad mirar…’: Concrete Poems

Students created concrete poems to showcase shape and style. Below are the first drafts, which were hand-drawn and written! Lesson Note: “I think you should be intuitive and playful in your choices and determined […]

‘sometimes stare’: Self-Portrait Poems

After reading student poet Noor S.’s poem ‘Self Portrait with my Loose Hijab, ‘ students wrote self-portrait poems focusing on one aspect of themselves! Self-Portrait with my loose hijab  By Noora S.  Trying to […]

‘when there’s more in the world?:’ Self Portrait Poems

After reading student poet Noor S.’s poem ‘Self Portrait with my Loose Hijab, ‘ students wrote self-portrait poems focusing on one aspect of themselves! Self-Portrait with my loose hijab  By Noora S.  Trying to […]

‘Quinceañera’: Poems of Play

Students made the old-school paper game called a ‘Cootie Catcher,’, which is a form of origami used in children’s games. Parts of the catcher are labeled with words that serve as options for a […]

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I’M FROM THE CITY LIGHTS / STREAMING OUT IN THE NIGHT / AND HUGE SKYSCRAPERS / TOWERING OVER THE LAKE – MELISSA E., 7TH GRADE POET