All posts in Haines

‘jellyfish, sharks, and sea anemone’: Aimee Nezhukumatahil Imitation Poems

What were our favorite TV shows when we were young? What did they teach us? What makes a hero (both real and imagined), and how can we learn from them (even the villains) and […]

‘It felt like a trip I wanted/ to go back to:’ Meditaiton Poems

Students participated in a short meditation and breathing exercise. I read them. I Close My Eyes by David Ignatow. After the meditation, they were asked to write whatever came to mind. Classwork was conducted […]

‘A family is…’: Abecedarians

Students wrote “Abecedarian” poems that use the entire alphabet as the lefthand spine of the poem. Lesson Note: Abecedarian poetry offers a structured framework to explore complex ideas. It allows the poet to navigate […]

‘Something on my mind…” Simile Poems

Students read Mike Taylor’s poem, ‘Thinking About You,’ and experimented with rhyming, exploring their daydreams and creating similes. Lesson Note: “I learned that the only way to get a thing done is to start […]

‘And, of course, Adidas’: Odes

Students wrote Odes, using personification, after reading Francisco X. Alarcon’s poem, ‘Ode to My Shoes.’ Lesson Note: “If it were up to me, everything I love would have a poem in praise of it. […]

‘I like the way Jacky says my name’: Name Poems

‘I celebrate and sing myself…’-Walt Whitman Students explored names through a series of prompts, which began with a reading of ‘a girl named jack’ by Jaqueline Woodson. What occurs when someone or something is […]

‘Some things are meant to keep still/Stopped’: Potion Poems

Students read Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem ‘Truth Serum’ and then talked about wishes, wants, and dreams that might come true if they made a special serum of their own! Lesson Note: “Writers don’t need […]

‘And steal a lollipop to eat.’: Age Poems

Students shared childhood stories before writing their own poems, reflecting on their younger selves, as the speaker did in Billy Collin’s poem, On Turning Ten. Lesson Note. “I think one of the strengths of […]

“The/ Feeling felt like denser snow…”: Narrative Poetry

Our class began with a discussion of food and memory in preparation for studying Gary Soto’s Narrative-Style poem, Oranges. Nostalgia and feelings came up frequently in our discussions. What emotions are attached to memory […]

‘I woke up early, the sun barely bright’: Talking With…

A lesson on Personification, giving human qualities to something non-human via the poem: A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island. We looked at Frank O’Hara’s touching and somewhat mystifying poem. […]

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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