All posts in Skinner West

This week’s classes were structured a little differently. First, I made sure the students had their paper prepared with proper headings for the writing they’d do later; I then asked them to flip the […]

For the second week of our residency—the first handing out, reading and responding to a poem—I brought in Philip Levine‘s “A Story.” First thing, I asked the students to number the lines; since it’s […]

This week, I began my residency with the 4th graders. I had a majority of these students back when they were in 2nd grade, and it was amazing to see what a difference two […]

Last week was our final (!?) classes for the 4th grade poetry residency. To celebrate, I brought in “The Republic of Poetry” by Martín Espada, and five different students from each classroom read one […]

Last week, we read and discussed Carrie Fountain‘s “Theory of Perfection.” One of the first things we did was define theory; I then asked if it was really possible to be ‘perfect’? Most likely, […]

This week, we read Jack Spicer‘s poem, “Any fool can get into an ocean…” It begins: Any fool can get into an ocean But it takes a Goddess To get out of one. Many […]

“Life, friends, is boring.” So begins John Berryman‘s “Dream Song 14,” which was the focus of our poetry classes this week. My initial question was “who is speaking?” and while some students felt it […]

When I read Sandy Florian‘s poem, “House” to Skinner’s 4th graders, I paid special attention to the poet’s odd use of periods and capitalization. Afterward, I asked why she might’ve done that, and we […]

Classes fell on Valentine’s Day this week, so I brought in Lorna Dee Cervantes‘ wonderful poem, “Valentine.” Before I even read it, students acknowledged its unusual format, resembling half-a-heart. I asked if the poem’s […]

Personification is when you treat non-human things as if they were people. “The weeping of the guitar begins” opens Federico Garcia Lorca‘s “The Guitar,” and one of the first questions I asked students last […]

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