All posts in Poems

Performance Poetry!

For our last session at Smyser, we broke into groups to create performance pieces based off our poems! Each poet contributed one poem to the group. Every group had to include the following in […]

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 […]

Editing as Practice

This week at Smyser, we spent time editing and revising our poems! We talked about how with most things, you have to keep doing it to get better: soccer practice, theater rehearsals, returning to […]

The Blank Page

For their 9th week of poetry, Twain 6th graders revised and completed their past poems from our residency. Together we read the poem “The Blank Page” by Chetana Kamath. In her poem Kamath is […]

Snap, Snap, Snap!

For our final week at Henry Elementary, poets took to the stage and shared their work with their fellow 7th graders! Check out these photos from our last session as these brave poets snapped […]

Personification

The first step to building empathy is putting ourselves in the experiences of another, especially if that other can’t speak. The 7th graders of Nettlehorst asked themselves what inanimate objects, animals, or fictional characters […]

The Power of Revision (8th Grade)

All the best poets know that a writer is not judged by their writing alone, but by their ability to rewrite. The 8th graders of Clinton reflected on the power of revision as we […]

The Power of Revision (7th Grade)

All the best poets know that a writer is not judged by their writing alone, but by their ability to rewrite. The 7th graders of Clinton reflected on the power of revision as we […]

‘Lilac/ Dreams’: Making Poems from a Game!

Students made the old-school paper game called a ‘Cootie Catcher,’, which is a form of origami used in children’s games. Parts of the catcher are labeled with words that serve as options for a […]

Ready… Set… Rewrite!

Twain 5th graders are so close to the end of our poetry residency. For week nine, students prepared to reach the finish line. Together we read the poem ” “The Finish Line,” by Laura […]

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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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I’M FROM THE CITY LIGHTS / STREAMING OUT IN THE NIGHT / AND HUGE SKYSCRAPERS / TOWERING OVER THE LAKE – MELISSA E., 7TH GRADE POET