All posts in Poems

“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 […]

Chicago State of Mind

This past Monday at Howe, we merged poetry & rap with their intuitive collaborator — basketball. We began by defining poetry — getting creative with words to express emotions. Then we explored other places […]

I remember . . . .

For our week 18 of poetry, O-School students explored ideas about memories. We discussed the importance of remembering. Whether it’s remembering happy moments such as birthday parties or family vacation, or sad memories like […]

Heroes

Students read Gwendolyn Brooks, “Young Heroes II | For Don at Saalam”, and we talked and wrote about what a hero is an where we find ours. There is no one mold for a hero […]

Almost There

Students read Nayyiryh Waheed’s poem “fresh” and wrote about what it means to be on the way or almost to something —maybe a goal, maybe an event— and what we might think about to […]

I Was Scared, Not Anymore

Students read “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou, and wrote poems about their fears, overcoming them and ways they will help help protect others and help them overcome fear. In the words of […]

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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