All posts in Skinner West

Me a Name I Call My Selfie

This week, we read a poem by the current US Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera called “Dolphinating.” Students immediately noted the strange title, and looking at the poem on the page recognized that something […]

I Heart _______

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I chose “Valentine, Valentine” by Landis Everson as this week’s poem. Before we heard it read aloud, however, I introduced the literary device of alliteration to the students, […]

The Shadow Knows…

Last week, we read our second translated poem by an international poet, Italian Carlo Betocchi‘s “The Shadow.” I asked the students if the poem rhymed, and we talked about the poet’s use of half […]

You Say You Want a Resolution

After more than a month away, I returned to Skinner West this week to begin the second half of my residency. The students were happy to see me, and I was also glad to […]

Now Ear This!

Our final classes of the year began by reading and briefly discussing N. Scott Momaday‘s “The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee.” Students noticed quite a bit of repetition in the poem, and I explained that […]

Plainspoken

This week’s poem by Wallace Stevens, “The Plain Sense of Things,” prompted different responses and discussions in each classroom. Students grappled with certain aspects of its vocabulary, which proved harder than to simply provide […]

A New Leaf

“The Shapes of Leaves” is the title Arthur Sze‘s poem we read and discussed last week. The poet argues that “our emotions resemble leaves and alive / to their shapes we are nourished,” so […]

A Tisket, A Tasket

This week we read Robert Creeley‘s poem, “A Wicker Basket.” Continuing our discussion on similes, we talked about the three in the poem—“hands like a walrus,” “face like a barndoor’s,” and “street like a […]

Breaking Good

Dorianne Laux describes “What’s Broken” in her poem of the same name. Before reading it, however, we talked briefly about metaphors and how they differ from similes. Discussing the poem, students noticed the metaphor […]

Doors of Perception

In response to last week’s longer and more lexically challenging poem, our selection this week was Carl Sandburg‘s “Doors.” This deceptively simple nine-line poem employs personification, which the 2nd graders had already been introduced […]

Donate

Support our student poets today!

CONNECT WITH US!

Twitter Facebook-f Instagram

STUDENT POETRY

Click on a school name below to browse student poems from current school partners.

POETRY ARCHIVE

Click on a school name below to browse student poems from our archive.

RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS

TESTIMONIALS

“Writing poetry makes me feel like I can see myself, like I can see my reflection, but not in a mirror, in the world. I write and I know I can be reflected.”
-Oscar S.

“Writing poetry makes me feel free.”
-Buenda D.

“Writing poetry is like your best friend.”
-Jessica M.

Search

CONTACT US

General Inquiries
info@poetrycenter.org

Programs (School & Organizational)
programs@poetrycenter.org

Reading Series and Events:
curator@poetrycenter.org

The Chicago Poetry Center is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
FEIN: 23-7400515

SEND US A POSTCARD

Chicago Poetry Center
1448 E. 52nd St, #256
Chicago, IL 60615

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