All posts in Taft

On Blankness (pt. 2)

It was concluded in class today that boys are gross, but they can also be cute. Mrs. Asvos 7th Grade, 6th Period “On Friendship” Prisila D. Friendship is a temporary thing Born alone, live […]

On Blankness (pt. 1)

This week we were looking at Aracelis Girmay’s poem “On Kindness.” I would ask the students afterward to write a list of five abstract ideas (we would help each other brainstorm abstract ideas) and […]

Home is where I want to be (pt. 2)

I liked in this batch the glimpses of other countries through the students’ eyes. In the words of another exceptional poet, Elizabeth Lemon, “I want to go to there.” Also, Adrian has the best […]

Home is where I want to be (pt. 1)

This week we are reflecting as honestly as possible on our homes through the lens of Bob Hicock’s “A Primer.” I love BH, and this piece does a great job of taking the language […]

Stop Saying Beautiful (pt. 2)

Also for this workshop I made a rule that they can’t write about people they know as being ugly. I find that it’s too easy for them to just talk about someone they don’t […]

Stop Saying Beautiful (pt. 1)

I had to put a moratorium on the word “beautiful” after this workshop. It’s based off of Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Valentine for Ernest Mann” – a poem where Nye talks about poems hiding in […]

Animale Carnivale (pt. 2)

The freedom the students had with this assignment with just the music and the animal name was truly amazing. I am definitely going to teach this workshop again, and others, inspired by music without […]

Animale Carnivale (pt. 1)

As part of a partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, I too get to teach the Carnival of the Animals to all of my students. I was able to play the music for “The […]

Michiko Alive Twice (pt. 2)

And here are the rest of the poems. There was a pretty even balance between happy and sad poems, and I hope that they see that there are ways to talk about important things […]

Michiko Alive Twice (pt. 1)

This week we were looking at Jack Gilbert’s “Michiko Dead” to dicsuss imagery and similes. The whole poem is the image half of a simile Gilbert has created about his wife, Michiko, dying. Li […]

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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