- BY: Joy Young
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Monday March 17th was a magnificent day for the Poetry Out Loud 2025 Illinois State Competition. In Illinois this year, 48 high schools were part of Poetry Out Loud, 200 teachers, and over 7,900 […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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What were our favorite TV shows when we were young? What did they teach us? What makes a hero (both real and imagined), and how can we learn from them (even the villains) and […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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At Henry Elementary, we looked at Chen Chen’s poem “When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities” and explored our own list of future possibilities! Following Chen Chen’s model […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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At Social Justice HS, we studied how to incorporate conversational language into poetry by analyzing Anis Mojgani’s “To Where the Trees Grow Tall.” How can conversations be a doorway into another world? How can […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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In our recent sessions, Swift 2nd graders were counting down the hours before spring break began! We read “Ode to My Shoes” by Francisco X. Alarcón, and talked about giving non-human things – like […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”—Elmore Leonard This week, instead of reading a new poem or introducing a new concept we discussed the importance of revision and editing in poetry. It was […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week we had in indoor snowball fight! Well, sort of. We used a fabulous lesson plan by fellow CPC poet-in-residence Musu Bangura where students write down responses to winter-inspired writing prompts on different […]
- BY: Joy Young
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For our 11th week of poetry, O-School students shared their thoughts about Spring Break. Usually during Spring Break, people take vacations or stay at home for self-care and rest. A few students mentioned how […]
- BY: Russell Price
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This week the young vikings explored cinematic approaches to poetry. They read “Please Refrain from Talking During the Movie” by Robert Polito and “Movie” by Eileen Myles. It was the toughest week to narrow […]
- BY: Claire Scott
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The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop at Haymarket House, 800 W. Buena. Our April featured readers are Ayokunle Falomo and Viola Lee. The […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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Alice Walker’s poem “Calling All Grand Mothers”, inspired Lawndale to make their own calls this week. The theme was Calls To Action, bringing people together to make things happen. After having students brainstorm all […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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Colors, colors, colors. There are many poems, songs, and paintings devoted to particular colors and how they show up in our lives. So during out 14th session with Waters 7th graders, we explored colors. […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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Last week, Waters 6th graders read and wrote self-portrait poems. First, students drew a “cartoon” self portrait of themselves, some of them in human form and some in the form of a different creature. […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Students read Langston Hughes’ poem, ‘Motto,’ and then wrote their short poems using modern slang. “Motto” by Langston Hughes I play it cool And dig all jive That’s the reason I stay alive. My […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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In Social Justice High School last week, we read Jane Wong’s “After Preparing the Altar the Ghosts Feasts Feverishly.” We discussed the layered meaning of food, cultures, and how this was reflected in the […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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There are some realizations you can only come to by reflecting on your past. This is what the 8th graders of Clinton did as we explored our childhoods with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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There are some realizations you can only come to by reflecting on your past. This is what the 7th graders of Clinton did as we explored our childhoods with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When […]
- BY: Teresa Dzieglewicz
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In Ms Reed’s class, we wrote poems that make wishes! We talked about how we could write with our five senses and all of the different types of wishes we can make. We had […]
- BY: Josie Levin
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This week in class we read “My earliest memory is telling myself stories without” by Diane Seuss and expanded on some of the history of poetic forms we started with odes. We discussed how […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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This last week at Henry, we looked at Ayokunle Falomo’s “#BlackBoyJoy” poem. We learned about personification as a further expansion of metaphors and imagery. Check out some of our poems from this week! Mrs. […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week I introduced students to some of the tools I like to use on a regular basis in my personal writing practice. As a teaching artist, and “professional” writer, I like to let […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Today Swift 2nd graders talked about (1) things they know how to do well; (2) the recipes they know how to cook; (3) and how to give someone expert instructions. We passed around different […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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Two weeks ago, before illness took this poet away from the 4th floor of Hyde Park High School, we all sat around a table in Ms. Gholston’s art room and discussed magic. How would […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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After being ill last week, I could not have been more excited to return to Lawndale this week, which was all about reimagining the past and revitalizing our power, our magic. After a game […]
- BY: Josie Levin
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This week in class we read “Everyone who happens to live where” by Kimberly Alidio. We talked about our names, what they meant in the past and what they might mean in the future. […]
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“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.”
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