All posts in Skinner West

Heaven Cento

This week—alas!—we had our final classes. After returning the prior week’s poems, I said we were going to do something different—a class poem, or more specifically, a class cento. According to The Academy of […]

Good Night

For our penultimate classes, we read Robert Frost‘s famous poem, “Acquainted with the Night.” I asked right away if anyone knew what acquainted means—familiar with, known to—and we discussed how that’s different from being […]

Listen to the List

Last week, we read Wendy Xu‘s “Inventory for Spring.” One of the first things we established is what inventory means (a complete list of items, such as the contents of your desk); I then […]

Aimless and Irregular

Previously at Skinner West, we read Sandra Simonds‘ “There was this bear cam.” One of the first things we established is where the poem takes place; there’s strong imagery regarding an “enormous river rushing […]

Fast Forward

Last week, we read John Yau‘s “Something to Look Forward To,” and right away students recognized the use of repetition—not just words or phrases this time, but whole lines! What was especially interesting was […]

Here Be Dragons

Kay Ryan‘s poem “Token Loss” is super short and compact, but it nonetheless sparked some very lively conversations. The ‘story’ of the poem seemed familiar to some students, with its echoes of The Hobbit […]

To Bee or Not to Bee

In classes last week we read Jean Toomer‘s poem, “Beehive.” We first clarified who was speaking in the poem, then discussed what a drone is (and does). There’s a lot of repetition in the […]

Shhh!

Library Lovers Day coincides with another, more famous holiday, so this week we read “In the Library” by Charles Simic. The poem starts, “There’s a book called / ‘A Dictionary of Angels,’” and one […]

Ask the Dust

This week, we read Julia Alvarez‘s poem, “Dusting.” I asked the students who was speaking, and when they said a little girl, I responded how did they know? If the poem didn’t have the […]

Articles and Incorporation

Last week, I began my residency with the 4th graders. I had many of these students in 2nd grade, and it was interesting to see what a difference two years can make! I recognized […]

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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