All posts in Chicago

Odas | Odes

We read Poem for the Tin-tun-teros, by Brenda Cárdenas, and we talked about a poem called an Ode: this is a poem you write for or about someone or something special. Here are our […]

Un Año para Recordar | A Year to Remember

Leímos el poema, fresca, escrito por Nayyirah Waheed y nos da la inspiración de pensar en lo que pasará. Entonces, estamos pensando en este año y en lo que podría ser. Primero respondimos preguntas […]

Símil | Simile

We are thinking about similes and practicing writing them. Here are some of our similes and soon we will share poems that we’ve written inspired by them! Estamos pensando sobre símil y practicando escribiendo […]

Veo Veo… Poemas I Spy…Poems

¡Nos divertimos mucho practicando la escritura de poemas con descripción y detalles cuando escribimos estos poemas! Pensábamos en el juego de ‘Veo Veo…’ y pensábamos en maneras de usar nuestras palabras para describir y […]

‘A family is…’: Abecedarians

Students wrote “Abecedarian” poems that use the entire alphabet as the lefthand spine of the poem. Lesson Note: Abecedarian poetry offers a structured framework to explore complex ideas. It allows the poet to navigate […]

‘Something on my mind…” Simile Poems

Students read Mike Taylor’s poem, ‘Thinking About You,’ and experimented with rhyming, exploring their daydreams and creating similes. Lesson Note: “I learned that the only way to get a thing done is to start […]

‘For 100s of sleep unders and overs’: Letter-Poems

Students wrote letter poems called Epistolary poems after reading Kobe Bryant’s poem, ‘Dear Basketball.’ Lesson Note: “When you make art, and you don’t know what’s going to happen, you’re involved in the mystery that […]

‘I remember now. Aha!’: James Tate Imitations.

Students read James Tate’s poem, ‘Untitled,’ where the speaker embellishes their accomplishments…just a little. Lesson Note: “I love my funny poems, but I’d rather break your heart. And if I can do both in […]

‘And, of course, Adidas’: Odes

Students wrote Odes, using personification, after reading Francisco X. Alarcon’s poem, ‘Ode to My Shoes.’ Lesson Note: “If it were up to me, everything I love would have a poem in praise of it. […]

‘I sift my hands through the sail sand I see’: Poems of Observation

Students read ‘Along the East River and in the Bronx Young Men Were Singing‘ by Ariel Francisco, in a nod to the opening lines of Fredrico Lorca’s ode to Walt Whitman, ‘ By the […]

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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