All posts in Poems

‘You have to put water in it:’ Name Poems

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

Praise You Poems

Ms. Widman High School Creative Writing   This week the young Viking writers discussed odes and what they celebrate about themselves. We read the classic “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton and […]

Home Is What We Eat

Hello, poetry lovers 🙂 I believe it’s important to bring what’s happening in the greater world into the classroom. In a lesson largely inspired by Stuti Sharma, this week we talked about what students […]

Eating Words

As always, it was a pleasure to be back with the students at Skinner West! Everyone was excited and eager to begin. I introduced myself as well as the program and went over what […]

“The sweet sounds of Morning are…” Sounds and Noises with South Loop Poetry Club!

Last week at South Loop Poetry Club, we read “Sounds of the City” by Rita A. Simmonds. Even though she was writing about New York, we found that we heard very similar sounds in […]

Butterflies Cannot Lie

This week, Smyser’s 4th graders and I wondered how it might feel to step into someone or something else’s shoes for a day. We read Advice from a Raindrop by Kim Stafford and then […]

Hearing Our Names (5th)

Today in Ms. Shah’s class, we read Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s poem “On Listening to My Teacher Take Attendance.” The students really read deeply into the poem and the symbolism of the imagery—they noticed some things […]

Hearing Our Names (8th)

Today in Ms. Krasic’s class, we read Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s poem “On Listening to My Teacher Take Attendance.” The students had incredible insights on the imagery she used and what she was able to express […]

‘A war in my heart’: Name Poems

Students explored names through a series of prompts, which began with a reading of ‘a girl named Jack’ by Jaqueline Woodson. What occurs in the naming of someone or something? How does it sound […]

Yum! Our Food Poems (Kindergarten)

Mrs. Icho’s kindergarten class was finishing up some yummy looking breakfast as I walked in today. They were all pretty excited to share about their cinnamon donuts and milk, which was a perfect lead […]

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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