All posts in Poems

Snow Ball Poems

This week we had in indoor snowball fight! Well, sort of. We used a fabulous lesson plan by fellow CPC poet-in-residence Fulamusu Bangara where students write down responses to winter-inspired writing prompts on different […]

Spring Break is only a week and gone in a flash.

For our 11th week of poetry, O-School students shared their thoughts about Spring Break. Usually during Spring Break, people take vacations or stay at home for self-care and rest. A few students mentioned how […]

Lights! Camera! Action!

This week the young vikings explored cinematic approaches to poetry. They read “Please Refrain from Talking During the Movie” by Robert Polito and “Movie” by Eileen Myles. It was the toughest week to narrow […]

Call ‘Em

Alice Walker’s poem “Calling All Grand Mothers”, inspired Lawndale to make their own calls this week. The theme was Calls To Action, bringing people together to make things happen. After having students brainstorm all […]

Blue, do I know you? Color Poems

Colors, colors, colors. There are many poems, songs, and paintings devoted to particular colors and how they show up in our lives. So during out 14th session with Waters 7th graders, we explored colors. […]

Ears like an elephant – Self Portrait poems

Last week, Waters 6th graders read and wrote self-portrait poems. First, students drew a “cartoon” self portrait of themselves, some of them in human form and some in the form of a different creature. […]

‘For fortitude fills each word that I speak.’: How We Talk Poems

Students read Langston Hughes’ poem, ‘Motto,’ and then wrote their short poems using modern slang.  “Motto” by Langston Hughes I play it cool And dig all jive That’s the reason I stay alive. My […]

Writing Through Tradition

In Social Justice High School last week, we read Jane Wong’s “After Preparing the Altar the Ghosts Feasts Feverishly.” We discussed the layered meaning of food, cultures, and how this was reflected in the […]

Remembering Our Childhoods (8th Grade)

There are some realizations you can only come to by reflecting on your past. This is what the 8th graders of Clinton did as we explored our childhoods with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When […]

Remembering Our Childhoods (7th Grade)

There are some realizations you can only come to by reflecting on your past. This is what the 7th graders of Clinton did as we explored our childhoods with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When […]

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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