All posts in Ola Faleti

Writing & Rewriting, pt 2

Ah, the joys of revision! As every great poet knows, much of the “work” of poetry takes place through the revision process. With Waters 6th graders, we talked about some different ways to make […]

Writing and Rewriting

Ah, the joys of revision! As every great poet knows, much of the “work” of poetry takes place through the revision process. For Waters 7th graders eighth week, we talked about some different ways […]

Being 6 is gone in a blink of an eye

Oh, nostalgia. It’s a powerful feeling, and one that 7th graders at Waters explored with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When I Was 6”. Before we read the poem, I asked students to think back […]

The clock was always there

Oh, nostalgia. It’s a powerful feeling, and one that 6th graders at Waters explored with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When I Was 6”. Before we read the poem, I asked students to think back […]

Dear _______,

​For our 6th session with Waters 7th Graders, we explored the epistolary poem (ie, a poem in letter form). Our mentor text was “Dear P” by Victoria Chang. We talked about who P might […]

I am from life

We are all composed of the many places, people, things, and experiences that make us who we are. Which is why I love the George Ella Lyons poem “Where I’m From” and subsequent variations […]

If the world was pink

For our last session before the winter break and new year, 7th graders thought about ideal worlds. We discussed the fact that poetry can be a powerful tool for envisioning the world you want […]

Sorrow is not our names

Before the break and subsequent new year, Waters 6th graders had an opportunity to consider the power of imagery. Ross Gay is a great poet in that respect, one who combines optimism with vivid […]

as man as pink

For our 4th week with Waters, we revisited the simile. I say revisited since I worked with most of these students last year, and we’ve reviewed the simile before. This time, I was inspired […]

How to Sneak Like a Snake

For our 4th session with Waters 6th graders, we delved into the wonderful world of similes. Like metaphor, similes are all around us, especially in music. We saw similes in action when we watched […]

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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