All posts in Poems

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

This week in class we read the poem “The Gift” by Ocean Vuong and talked about the way this poem uses repetition and how to incorporate it into our own poems. Students wrote about […]

‘First of all, I am thankful for Beyonce’: Thanks Poems

Students read ‘Thanks’ by W.S. Merwin before crafting their poems and musings on thanks! Lesson Note: “Being grateful is linked to higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, vitality, helpfulness, empathy, forgiveness, and positive affect. […]

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 […]

‘Some things are meant to keep still/Stopped’: Potion Poems

Students read Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem ‘Truth Serum’ and then talked about wishes, wants, and dreams that might come true if they made a special serum of their own! Lesson Note: “Writers don’t need […]

First Poem

Happy New Year Greetings!Being invited to return to Swift for my 6th year brings me feelings of joy and humility. This year I have the pleasure of joining Ms. Pendola’s and Ms. Brist’s 2nd […]

Science! Industry! Haiku!

Lawndale’s poets were not in the classroom for our usual Monday workshops this week. Instead, they were visiting the Museum of Science and Industry for a field trip! And what better way to encapsulate […]

Funny Ha Ha Poems

This week the young vikings read David Berman’s “The Moon” https://poets.org/poem/moon-1 The poets were then challenged to brainstorm a typical day in high school but to subvert it with surrealism. I’m so proud of […]

Food for Thought

As always, it was a treat to be back with Skinner West students. I introduced myself as well as the program and went over what to expect for the next several weeks. There were […]

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 […]

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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