All posts in Joy Young

Things To Do If You Are a 4th grader

For their sixth week of poetry Twain 4th graders learned about making a “To Do” list. With responsibilities school and work, this type of list can help someone keep track of all the tasks […]

Registration is Now Open for Poetry Out Loud 2026 !!!

The Chicago Poetry Center is pleased to serve in its 9th year as the Chicagoland Regional Host Organization for the Poetry Out Loud Teen Competition. Poetry Out Loud is a national program that encourages high school […]

My Family is a Zoo

Twain 4th graders start the month of November thinking about family. For our 5th session of poetry we talked about what family means and where we fit in our families. Some students like me […]

Wanted: A Wizard’s Assistant

Halloween is this week, a time of candy, costumes, and spooky fun. For their 4th session of poetry I asked Twain 4th graders, “What is something that you want, that seems impossible? How can […]

My smile is a bright orange

Our third session of poetry was all about body positivity. I asked Twain 4th graders, “What’s one thing that you love about yourself? What makes you unique?” Students mentioned their eyes, hands, arms, emotions, […]

Colorful Memories

For our second session of poetry, it was a gray rainy Wednesday but just like after a rain shower there’s a chance of spotting a rainbow. Twain 4th graders discussed how colors can express […]

How to write a fantastic poem

I’m excited to return back to Twain Elementary this Fall to teach poetry to 4th graders. During our first session of poetry this past Wednesday, we read a delicious poem by Eve Merriam, titled […]

The Shape of Poetry

This week was the 10th and final poetry session for Twain 5th graders for the school year. Since, I know the 5th graders are fantastic artists, to celebrate our last day we explored concrete […]

Paint Chip Party

This week for our 10th and last day of our residency, we celebrated with color. Together we read and discussed the poem “What You Need for Painting,” by Raymond Carter, based on a letter […]

What poetry means to me . . .

O-School students celebrated the last day of our residency this week. Together we ate delicious Dum Dum suckers, while each group created Ars Poetica poems, poems that describe the art of writing poetry. I […]

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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