All posts in Poems

“The Poetry Vault” Poetry Books with South Loop Poetry Club!

Today at South Loop Poetry Club, our poets got to work on our own handmade poetry books. Some of us paired up, while others worked on themed poetry. Some wrote new poems, and others […]

‘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 […]

Centomental Education

Our inevitable last classes occurred this week. I brought in one of my own poems to share, giving students the opportunity to quiz me on its particulars. “Finding Bigfoot,” inspired by the TV show […]

Maybe We’re Metaphors

Hello again, dear reader! Last week, Grissom’s 6-8th grade students turned into cosmic metaphor explorers. This lesson was inspired by Joy Young and began with a quick question: what’s something you wish you could […]

When Is the Right Time to Write Poetry?

It’s exciting to be back at Shoesmith again. I saw familiar faces, met new students, and was greeted warmly by teachers and staff. Last Friday for their first session of poetry, 5th and 6th […]

“Unique in its own way” Poetry Reflection and Centos with South Loop Poetry Club!

Last week at poetry club, we finished up our unit on poetic forms and took some time to reflect on our work in the past few weeks. Then we used lines from our previous […]

Ode Poems

This week Ms. Murray’s 4th graders explored the ode, a popular poetic form used to celebrate a person, place, thing, or even an idea. We started off by talking a bit about Pablo Neruda, […]

‘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 […]

Befriended

After a few weeks off, we reunited for our penultimate sessions, reading and discussing “maggie and milly and molly and may” by E. E. Cummings. I suggested that this poem was a kind of […]

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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