All posts in Haines

‘that I can’t get off my mind.’: Meditation Poems

Students participated in a short meditation and breathing exercise. I read I Close My Eyes by David Ignatow. After the meditation, they were asked to write whatever came to mind. Classwork was conducted in […]

‘Steal alone with tears’: Poetry & Images

Students explored the world of images, community, and protest, as they wrote both individual and group poems after reading, Paul Robeson, by Gwendolyn Brooks. and my poem, 9 Minutes (for George Floyd) . Students […]

What If?

On February 10, Haines after-school poetry group spent time wondering and asking questions after reading Langston Hughes’ poem “If-ing Around,” and “Whatif” by Shel Silverstein. Langston Hughes’ poem is written in the voice of […]

’20:46 PM’: Time-of-Day Poems

Students read Peggy Trojan’s deceptively simple poem, Noon Hour, We talked about the two-word title, the two stanza poem, short lines, putting big ideas into small containers, empathy, marginalized characters, and the one period […]

Haines Wishcraft

After a break for munching snacks, students at Haines showed me how to get to our after-school meeting place for poetry where we got acquainted and wrote “Wish Poems.” Enjoy! Brooklynn T. I wish […]

‘painted precisely’: Portrait Poems

Students read Instructions to the Artist by Billy Collins before crafting their own portrait-inspired poems. Lesson Note: According to findings by the leading researcher on the power of writing and journaling for healing purposes, […]

‘He turned on his light…’ and ‘one last gaze/one last whisper’: Star Struck!

Students began in creative play by wishing on a star for their deepest desires. Then they heard and read Choose Something Like A Star by Robert Frost, before trying their hands at their own […]

‘the child is being pulled away…’: Shell Game

Inspired by Wallace Stevens’ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, students examined a sea shell from different angles and then used similes to describe it in verse. Lesson Note: ‘My approach to writing […]

‘it serves us’: Tablescapes

A common household object became the focus for this lesson while studying Joy Harjo’s poem, Perhaps The World Ends Here. The poet James Merrill once commented that ‘we understand history from the family around […]

‘cut the snowflakes wrong’: School Poems

Students read a school memory-themed poem, by student poet, Connor S., (below), talked about using the stanza as a container for creativity in a poem, and then crafted their own poems on school memories. […]

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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