All posts in Poems

Food Memories

Many of our 5 senses are deeply connected to memory. This week the 7th graders of Nettelhorst reflected on their favorite foods and the people, places, and things connected to them. After reading “The […]

I am…

Metaphors allow us to transform ourselves, if just for a moment. The students of MLA asked themselves what they could become after we read “The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee” by N. Scott Momaday. Upon […]

Concrete Poetry (7th Grade)

Sometimes words are not enough to convey what we are trying to say. The 7th graders of Clinton thought about what objects, animals, or ideas meant a lot to them before reading “Our Tree’s […]

Concrete Poetry (8th grade)

Sometimes words are not enough to convey what we are trying to say. The 8th graders of Clinton thought about what objects, animals, or ideas meant a lot to them before reading “Our Tree’s […]

Introduction to “The Blues”

Last week Brennemann 5th graders talked about the blues as a feeling of sadness, and as a musical form created by African-Americans in the late 1800s. We watched video of our example blues song, […]

“Our Ideas of a World”

For our 4th sessions, I asked Nettelhorst 2nd graders to think about the kind of world they want for themselves and others. We talked about serious hopes – such as safety for all children […]

‘When I was 5 /my parents gave me the choice…: Choose Your Own Adventure Poems

Students were instructed to grab a book and find words and passages that stood out to them, or to use random words as the starting point for a poem. They were then instructed to […]

Exquisite Corpses

One of my favorite forms of poetry is the exquisite corpse (beautiful body) — a poem written by multiple poets, often without knowing what the previous poets have written. Last week, Hyde Park wrote […]

The Hands

This week, we read an incredible poem by Gina Valdes, called The Hands. We talked about the concept of symbolism in poetry and what hands symbolize in Valdes’s poem. Our discussion about this poem […]

A Celebration

This past Monday was a bittersweet day at Lawndale. Our last session marked the end of a residency full of games, conversations, and yes — poetry. We also had the entire 8th grade reunited […]

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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