All posts in Twain

Letters delivered to you from Twain 6th graders

For their 8th week of poetry Twain 6th graders explored epistolary poetry. Epistolary poems are poems that can be written as letters, notes, or diary entries. We discussed the different ways people communicate with […]

Who? Where? What? Why? When? How? Twain 6th graders want to know!

For their seventh week of poetry Twain Elementary 6th graders explored the purpose of asking questions. They were asked “Why do people ask questions?” and “Does every question have to have an answer?” Most […]

“”My voice is a squirrel with wings: Slam-Style Voice-Themed Poems

Students wrote and performed short group ‘My Voice”-themed slam-style poems after watching a poetry slam teen performance video! Lesson Note: “You don’t need permission to make your art. No one needs an artistic license […]

Alternate Names for 6th graders

Fort their sixth week of poetry, Twain Elementary 6th graders explored ideas when it came to names and their meanings. Names give us a sense of identity, but names are powerful, they can also […]

“My name means a country”: Name Dropping

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

Twain 6th graders get emotional

Twain Elementary 6th graders got very emotional for their 5th week of poetry. We did a warmup theatre activity, where three volunteers were given situations from their classmates such as a dog eating their […]

Too Cool For School: Gwendolyn Brooks-inspired Poems

Students read Gwendolyn Brooks’ classic poem, ‘We Real Cool’ before crafting their own ‘cool’ poems using their own words and ideas for what is cool, rhyme repetition, and the short form. We Real Cool […]

Planets Beyond this Earth

Twain Elementary 6th graders visited other planets for their fourth week of poetry. We discussed how we can create the ideal world. Most students thought it would be great to have a world where […]

“The background should be es grande y brilliosa como un sol “: Portrait Poems

Students drew their faces with closed eyes, talked about portraits, and read Instructions to the Artist by Billy Collins before crafting their own portrait-inspired poems. Lesson Note: According to findings by the leading researcher […]

Speak Up

For their third week of poetry, Twain 6th graders learned the importance of speaking up. We discussed how using our voices can help us communicate our feelings, thoughts, and opinions with others. Which is […]

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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