Kathryn Mincey, an Associate Professor of English, and Glenn Rogers, former Professor of English at Morehead State University, currently Associate Provost at Georgetown College, have worked in the field of exploring and creating poetry with students since receiving a grant in 1992 from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, Inc., entitled "Poetry in Elementary Whole Language Learning." Following the pilot project conducted in fourteen classrooms throughout the 1992-93 academic year, they have presented numerous professional development workshops on interactive and interpretive reading, performance, and analysis of poetry with students, as well as strategies for generating student poetry writing in area schools.

Mincey is the author of "Poetry in the Portfolio: Some Principles and Practice," Kentucky English Bulletin 43.1 (Fall 1993): 54- 66.  She has served as Project Director of two grant programs: "Exploring and Creating Poetry With Children," funded by the Witter- Bynner Foundation for Poetry, Inc. and Morehead State University, and the "Volunteer Writing Coach Project," funded by MSU's Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. Another workshop from this project, "Writing Poetry With Students," was presented at the 1994 Kentucky Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts Conference, followed by the workshop, "Assessing Student Poetry," at the 1995 KCTE Conference. This workshop, "Poetry in Elementary Whole Language Learning," was presented at the Sixth Mid-South Whole Language Conference in Birmingham in June of 1995.

I. Rationale, Background and Review of Literature

A. Poetry in Whole Language Learning
B. Poetry in the Development of Literacy
C. Project Description
E. Bibliographies

II. Reading and Thinking About Poetry Across the Curriculum

A. Texts for a Sample Thematic Unit
B. Guides for Locating Poetry Texts by Subject
C. Inferences About Poetic Language

III. Invention Techniques and Writing Activities

A. Observations About Writing Poetry With Young People

1. The Reading-Writing Connection
2. Poetry Writing as Process

B. Samples of Writing Activities Across the Curriculum

1. What makes language poetic? --> Geography
2. History
3. Science
4. Grammar

C. Exploring the Poetic Process

1. From Concrete to Abstract: A Collaborative Writing Activity
2. From Abstract to Concrete: An Individual Writing Activity

---

---

RATIONALE, BACKGROUND, AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Poetry in Whole Language Learning

Gregory Denman quotes Carl Sandburg's definition of poetry as a "series of explanations of life" and goes on to say that:

"...poetry is primarily concerned with the experience of living. Human beings, whether ancient hunters dressed in rawhide or technological engineers in three-piece suits, have always had the inner need to find meaning and purpose in their lives, to experience life as fully as they can....Poets through the ages have created, by means of their own resources, observations, and genius, poems that are capable of fulfilling the human need to live more fully and meaningfully....

The poets have left a record of humankind's joys and loves, failings and misgivings, greatest accomplishments, and worst disasters. From this record modern human beings can come to sense their kinship with the past and their place in the world today, as well as to stretch their minds to the unimagined and, as yet, unattainable realms of the future.

Poetry is as much a part much a part of human beings as is their cultural history. It is the gift of cultural memory. But we are not born understanding and appreciating this legacy. The gift must be taught, passed gently and joyfully from one generation to the next. To deprive individuals of an understanding of poetry, as of any art, is to deprive them of one of the most satisfying aspects of their own human nature" (7).

1. Manageable Text: While some lengthier poems provide sustained narrative, most texts appropriate for young readers are brief, "bite- sized" portions that are not overwhelming to developing readers but still stretch their comprehension skills. This principal applies to w the writing process as well. Paradoxically, students find the brevity of poetic expression more within their control yet the condensation of thought and feeling more intellectually challenging. Moreover, the visual configuration of a typical poem not only seems more limited and accessible but also lends itself to classroom display and easier collection in student anthologies.

2. Range of Subject Matter: Many students and teachers are surprised to find that stereotypical notions about the availability of themes and subjects in poetry no longer apply. Classic and contemporary anthologies of poetry for young people provide the full range of human experience in subject matter to support a holistic and across-the-curriculum approach.

3. Compression: The concentration of poetic expression models the desirable economy of good writing in any genre. The intensity of poetic language provides rich distillation of meaning and feeling, offering opportunity for microcosmic language learning.

4. Vocabulary: Poets use fresh, unconventional diction and syntax. Consequently, reading poetry presents students with excellent opportunities for word study in creative discourse, including the exploration of synonyms, metaphor, simile and other figurative language; writing poetry challenges students to stretch their vocabulary and imaginative expression.

5. Sensory Involvement: More than any other type of discourse, poetry employs engaging sensory experiences that young readers and writers enjoy. The musical qualities of rhythm and rhyme, when present, and other sound devices such as alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia make the oral interpretation and choral reading of poetry delightful to young people. Moreover, exploring sensory imagery adds a concrete dimension of tactile, olfactory, auditory, visual and gustatory and kinetic involvement that enhances learning enjoyment.

6. Critical Thinking: While some may consider poetic discourse as foreign to the discourse of critical thinking, nevertheless we find many similarities. One conventional measure of cognitive skills is the ability to recognize analogy and to perceive accurately the relationship of the concrete to the abstract. The comprehension and appreciation of metaphor requires acute observation and analytical skills. Moreover, the achievement or recognition of artistic unity in a poem (seeing the relationship of the parts to the whole) exercises the cognitive ability to synthesize and perceive the gestalt of experience.

The Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, Inc., funded a pilot project from July 1, 1992 - June 30, 1993, in the Rowan County Schools, Morehead, Kentucky. Three faculty members of the Morehead State University Department of English, Foreign Language and Philosophy and two members of the MSU education faculty collaborated to offer the program to fourteen K-5 classrooms in three Rowan County elementary schools.

The pilot project began by identifying interested teachers and surveying the quantity and quality of poetry use in their classrooms. A team of two or three consultants made four visits to each classroom throughout the school year to model prototypical interactive reading and writing activities with poetry. In addition, participating teachers received thematic packets of poetry texts to complement their whole language units, bibliographies of recent literature on poetry in the classroom, and numerous resources to support poetry reading and writing activities. The goal of the project was to raise teachers' and students' enthusiasm for the variety and potential of poetry across the curriculum in whole language learning.

Project Format and Elements

After ascertaining through a survey the thematic units each of the fourteen teachers planned to employ throughout the school year, the project director, with the help of the resource consultants, compiled thematic packets of poetry texts to support most of the indicated topics. The team of presenters visited each classroom in October, December, March and May to demonstrate or conduct the activities described below. These four sessions have been adapted as presentations for professional development/in-service workshops approved by the Kentucky Department of Education. Additional funding from the Bynner Foundation and Morehead State University has underwritten the project "Exploring and Creating Poetry With Children" for the 1994-95 academic year, targeting preservice teachers and fostering the formation of related professional development workshops, "Writing Poetry with Students," and "Assessing Student Poetry." The sessions described below are the activities of the original grant project.

SESSION I
Focus: (1) anthologies (2) a model thematic unit emphasizing oral interpretation, interactive reading, sensitive listening, and across-curriculum research

Anthologies
An introduction to sources of poetry, types of anthologies and collections; discussion and model of student's personal anthology for favorite and original poems.

Model Thematic Unit
A thematic packet of poems for the month of October includes high-interest, interactive autumn and Halloween poetry. Participants are led through the process of webbing sensory images to be found in sample texts that are read interpretively with choral interaction. Discussion of across-curriculum topics arising from poems, including science, history, culture, etc., suggest individual and collaborative research projects. Poetic analysis emphasizes sound devices and sensory experience especially rich in autumn and Halloween images. Participants receive suggestions for follow-up writing activities and sample texts for their personal anthologies.

SESSION II
Focus: 1. Analysis of four common elements of poetry: repetition and refrain; alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia; comparisons (metaphor and simile); structure 2. Writing a poem with a unifying element

Common Elements of Poetry
Using a seasonal theme, presenters demonstrate the musical, imitative and unifying qualities of sound repetition in favorite winter poems, such as Frost's "Stopping By Woods." Other seasonal poems demonstrate comparisons, visual or shape poetry and other unifying principals.

Writing Activity
Participants are shown samples of handmade seasonal greeting cards that contain poems employing each of the elements above and are given suggestions for invention techniques to create original poetry for greeting cards.

Group Writing Activity
Employing the movement from concrete sensory experience to abstract cognitive and emotional response, the presenters lead participants in cataloging sensory observations of an object such as a painting or photograph through the process of converting those observations to lines of poetic expression and interpretation of meaning. The product is a class poem.
Individual Writing Activity
Employing the movement from abstract feeling or thought to concrete sensory representation, presenters demonstrate the process of webbing sensory images that convey a particular emotion and then lining those images into poetic expression that employs elements of comparison, sound devices and other unifying techniques. Participants then work from a prompt to create their own emotion-to-image poem.

A follow-up writing activity, "Finding a Poem Outdoors," and other invention techniques are suggested.

SESSION IV
Focus: "A Pocketful of Poems," a final look at the variety and flexibility of poetry in whole language learning

Review of Personal Anthologies
Participants are reminded of the "pocket" folder collections they are encouraged to create and continue to enhance with a miscellany of collectible poems that students enjoy:

1. Poems that are fun to read together - choral readings
2. Poems that help us remember things - traditional mnemonic verses with practical value
3. Poems that tell stories - a sample narrative poem, such as "Casey at the Bat" during baseball season, is "acted out" by presenters and participants.
4. Poems that make us guess - Rhymed riddles are introduced as a stimulating and fun tool for critical thinking.
5. Poems that make us laugh - limericks (with pattern analysis) and other humorous poems
6. Poems that are fun to remember - Presenters and participants share favorite memorized poems from childhood and encourage participants to consider the value of memorizing poems for (a) cognitive exercise, (b) personal enjoyment, and (c) entertainment of others.

Poems to Remember
Participants receive samples of all these types of poems for their anthologies and are encouraged to choose one or more for memorization.

Andrews, Janice Hayes. "Poetry: Tool of the Classroom Magician." Young Children May 1988: 17-25.

Practical suggestions for using poetry with children three to seven years old, including the development of a 3x5 card "recipe box" for a poem file. Excellent bibliography.

Baskin, Barbara Holland, Karen H. Harris and Colleen C. Salley. "Making the Poetry Connection." The Reading Teacher 30.3 (December 1976): 259-265.

Concrete examples of how to use specific simple texts in the lower grades. Bibliography includes many potential anthologies and resources.

Carroll, Donald Glenn. "Poets Who Don't Know It: Teaching Grammar Through Haiku." English Teaching Forum 30.1 (January 1992): 54-56.

Just one example of a pragmatic use of certain poetic forms, not only in learning grammar but also vocabulary building and syntactic benefits.

Coats, Glenn G. "The Child Who Knows Splendid." E.T. Ideas 27.5 (January 1994): 1-2.

A brief description of practical and successful use of poetry with developmental fourth and fifth grade readers.

*Collom, Jack and Sheryl Noethe. Poetry Everywhere: Teaching Poetry Writing in the School and the Community. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1994.

Over 200 pages of exercises with examples of poetry by students in grades 1-12. From Preface to Appendix, this book illustrates and supports one of the authors' tenets: "Poetry is a basic tool of learning."

de Fina, Allan. "Poetry Pages: In Praise of Pets." Instructor February 1992: 64.

Brief but helpful example of topic focus with poetry, providing suggested activities and resources with pet poems.

*Duthie, Christine and Ellie Kubie Zimet. "Poetry is Like Directions for Your Imagination!" The Reading Teacher 46.1 (September 1992): 14-24.

In tune with a whole language approach, these authors offer a most useful experience-based set of suggestions and ideas. In addition to helping teachers prepare for poetry units, they provide mini-lessons with reproductions of student writing of shape poetry, alliteration, similes, lining, invented words, sound words and stanzaic poetry. They discuss learning about anthologies and creating student anthologies and offer a great list of anthologies of children's poetry as well as a bibliography on poetry and literacy.

Fuhler, Carol J. "Learning with Literature: Teaching the Pleasures of Poetry." Instructor Middle Years February 1994: 56-61.

"From picture books to poetry anthologies, one teacher's plan for helping young adolescents discover the joy and power of verse."

Glazer, Joan I. and Linda Leonard Lamme. "Poem Picture Books and Their Uses in the Classroom." The Reading Teacher 44.2 (October 1990): 102-109.

Title delivers. The authors follow a look at poem picture books with excellent suggestions for uses in the classroom: oral reading and chanting, adding music or sound effects, poet study, artwork and illustration, integrating poetry with content areas. Bibliography includes not only excellent pedagogical references but an extensive list of children's book references as well.

*Graves, Donald. Explore Poetry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992.

This and Koch's Wishes offer probably the best preparation for writing poetry with children. After discussing the value of reading poetry aloud with children, Graves leads teachers through the process of writing poetry with children, offering examples of poetry mini-lessons, case studies, using choral speaking and learning of poems as well as suggesting uses across the curriculum.

Harms, Jeanne McClain and Lucille J. Lettow. "Poetry for Children Has Never Been Better!" The Reading Teacher 36.4 (January 1983): 376-381.

An introduction to a variety of contemporary poets and texts including imaginative uses of language and different forms as well as suggested choice collections. Helpful bibliography.

- - . "Recent Poetry for Children." The Reading Teacher 45.4 (December 1991): 274-279.

A sequel to their article above, updating information on poets of the 80s, established poets, new images, poetry cycles, and new compilations and collections. Very useful bibliography.

*Koch, Kenneth. Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?: Teaching Great Poetry to Children. New York: Random House, 1973.

Ten sample lessons using "classic" poetry texts of Blake, Herrick, Donne, Shakespeare, Whitman, Stevens, and others, followed by an anthology of great poems and suggested teaching and writing activities.

*- - - . Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry. New York: Vintage Books, 1970.

An excellent introduction to many invention techniques that free children from conventional barriers of rhyme and meter but still provide unifying formal devices. Includes an anthology of children's original poetry generated by these techniques.

McClure, Amy A. and Connie S. Zitlow. "Not Just the Facts: Aesthetic Response in Elementary Content Area Studies." Language Arts 68 (January 1991): 27-33.

*Parsons, Les. Poetry, Themes and Activities. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992.

"Organized around the widely taught themes in the primary program, [this text] offers original poems, annotated fully-referenced bibliographies, and a wide variety of stimulating activities" (Heinemann).

*Rubin, Dorothy. "Creating Poetry." Teaching Elementary Language Arts. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990: 242-247.

Explores techniques to help children write poetry through the senses, music and poetry and the use of simple poetic forms such as haiku, cinquain, concrete or shape poetry, newspaper poetry, limericks and others.

*Sweeney, Jacqueline. Teaching Poetry: Yes, You Can. Scholastic, 1993.

This text comes highly recommended by an outstanding elementary teacher whose students produce excellent poetry. It reviews elements of poetry in laguage for 4th-8th graders but is applicable to primary as well. Great generative suggestions.

Temple, Charles and Jean Wallace Gillett. "Responding to Poetry." Language Arts: Learning Processes and Teaching Practices. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman, 1989: 197-201.

A brief but inspirational list of poetry-based activities including rhythm movement, movement to word images, dramatizing poems, choral reading, combining music and poetry and art and poetry, and writing poetry, each accompanied with references. Excellent bibliography of poetry anthologies and collections by individual poets.

*Wicklund, LaDonna K. "Shared Poetry: A Whole Language Experience Adapted for Remedial Readers." The Reading Teacher 42.7 (March 1989): 478-481.

Although it focuses on methods to motivate remedial readers, this article offers challenging language experiences adaptable to any students, including sight word building, creative language play, individual and class composition of poetry. Bibliography on poetry and literacy.

*Wilson, Lorraine. "Positively Poetry." Teaching K-8 Nov/Dec 1993:54-55.

An Australian middle grades teacher who affirms, "Not once did any student say, 'I can't write poetry,'" points out that, "Persuading children to write original poetry doesn't have to be difficult. Share a few amusing examples and watch them take off."

*Bizzaro, Patrick. "Evaluating Student Poetry Writing." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 17.1 (Feb. 1990): 54.

*Collom, Jack. Moving Windows: Evaluating the Poetry Children Write. New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1985.

With over 300 poems collected from students, Collom offers a poet's perspective on what makes a successful poem.

*Denman, Gregory. When You've Made It On Your Own: Teaching Poetry to Young People. Heinemann, 1988.

Denman demystifies poetry for the teacher and offers extensive poetry activities and suggested texts. His description and exemplification of the elements of poetic language could well be used to develop a list of characteristics by which poetry could be taught and assessed.

Duke, Charles and Sally A. Jacobsen. Poets' Perpsectives: Reading, Writing and Teaching Poetry. Heinemann.

This book is addressed to teachers who seek to understand how a poem is created.

Dunning, Stephen; M. Joe Eaton; and Malcolm Glass. For Poets. Blanchard Press, 1975.

A one-month reading-writing poetry unit for eighth-twelfth graders.

Fagin, Larry. The List Poem. New York: T&WC.

Explores one simple way to introduce poetry writing in the classroom.

Grossman, Florence. Listening to the Bells: Learning to Read Poetry by Writing Poetry. Heinemann, 1991.

A middle-school poetry text with contemporary poems chosen to inspire children's own writing.

Heard, Georgia. For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry. Heinemann, 1989.

For teachers of all levels, especially those who feel they can't understand poetry. Provides detailed, organized information to help teachers feel knowledgeable and affectionate about poetry and to pass those feelings on to students.

Higginson, William. The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share and Teach Haiku. Kodansha Press.

Hinchliffe, Jo. "The Magic of Green: Poetry Through the Senses." Primary Education 24.5 (1 Oct. 1993): 36.

Kazemek, Frances. "'there is a goust in the house': Children Responding to Poetry." National Association of Laboratory Schools Journal 15.4 (Summer 1991): 39.

Koch, Kenneth and Kate Ferrell. Sleeping on the Wing: An Anthology of Modern Poetry with Essays on Reading & Writing. Vintage.

A guide to the best modern poetry--how to read it and how to write it.

Koch, Kenneth and Kate Farrell. Talking to the Sun: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems for Young People. Holt.

A selection of the world's great poetry matched with art treasures from the Metropolitan Museum.

Lockwood, Michael. "Getting Into the Rhythm: Children Reading Poetry." Reading 27.3 1 Nov 1993): 51.

McClure, Amy. Sunrises and Songs: Reading and Writing Poetry in an Elementary Classroom. Heinemann, 1990.

Explores the process of two elementary teachers in a multi-age, rural classroom to make poetry an important focus of each day.

*Miller, Judith. "Evaluating Student Poetry." English Journal 78.2 (Feb. 1989): 35.

Morice, Dave. How to Make Poetry Comics. NY: T&WC, 1983.

Nyhart, Nina and Kinereth Gensler. The Poetry Connection: An Anthology of Contemporary Poems with Ideas to Stimulate Children's Writing. NY: T&WC, 1978.

A collection of teaching ideas that explore the connection between reading and writing.

Padgett, Ron, ed.. Handbook of Poetic Forms. New York: Teachers & Writer's Collaborative, 1987.

"Poetry Place for Kids!" Instructor 103.8 (1 April 1994): 68. [Jack Prelutsky]

Tsujimoto, Joseph. Teaching Poetry Writing to Adolescents. NCTE/ERIC.

Discussions of models and teaching designs along with eighteen assignments and student samples.

Wilson, Lorraine. Write Me a Poem: Reading, Writing and Performing Poetry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994.

Exposes children to many different types of poetry, emphasizing free verse to avoid the constraints of rhyme; presents ideas and strategies for reading, writing, and performing poetry.

1. Perspective: The poet frequently establishes

- a distinctive voice, persona, speaker - a clear or purposefully ambiguous tone - a fresh or surprising perception of the extraordinary in the ordinary

2. Conceptual Complexity: The poet frequently achieves

A. Tension in words and ideas through

- an engaging challenge, conflict or paradox
- effective ambiguity, multiple meanings
- suggestion of connotations beyond the literal
- defiance of predictable syntax
- use of balance, parallelism, contrast

B. Compression through

- avoiding unnecessary words
- economy of meaning per word
- distillation, condensation of ideas or feelings

3. Sound: The poet frequently employs

- rhythm, melody, perhaps rhyme
- consonance, alliteration, assonance, perhaps onomatopoeia
- repetition, refrain
- awareness of the oral-aural connection

4. Diction and Imagery: The poet frequently and effectively

- uses fresh, uncommon vocabulary
- selects and arranges concrete sensory detail
- employs images to represent abstract feelings, ideas
-suggests uncommon connections between images and figurative meaning
-demonstrates "metaphoric thought"(Denman 39) through implied analogy
- includes similes, personification and other figurative language

5. Spatial Design: The poet frequently demonstrates a visual concept through

- the arrangement of words, phrases and lines
- choices of spacing, enjambment, punctuation, caesura
- indentation, upper/lower case letters, typography
- stanzaic pattern

6. Artistic Unity: The poet frequently achieves

- form that supports content
- surface features that enhance meaning
- sound and/or shape that provide clues to mood or ideas
- individual elements that complement each other
- a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts

Brewton, John Edmund. Index to Poetry for Children and Young People, 1964-1969. New York: Wilson, 1972.

- - - - - . Index to Poetry for Children and Young People, 1976-1981. New York: Wilson, 1981.

The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry, 9th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Sell, Violet, et al. Subject Index to Poetry for Children and Young People. Chicago: American Library Association, 1957.

EveryPoet

All of Yeats and Shakespeare plus (searchable)

The CMU Poetry Archive

Don't expect students to be inherently excited about writing poetry in a vacuum, but be prepared for the burst of enthusiasm and creative energy that follows effective oral interpretation, interactive reading/participation in the poetic experience, and discovery of relevancy through whole language, across-the-curriculum learning with poetry.

"Analysis" of high-interest models allows observation of what makes language poetic (beyond rhyme and meter) and identifies several characteristics of poetic language that become formal or unifying devices in student's writing.

Invention - techniques to stimulate imagination and direction

Drafting - attempts at poetic expression through the removal of conventional barriers and freedom to explore

Revision - responses that focus intentionally and intensively on achieving unity through refinement of poetic elements (listed earlier)

There are many features of poetic language, but three we will focus on for this activity are:

As you know, all great writing depends upon vivid details that create specific images in the mind of the reader. Read Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish" and discuss why it is more interesting than the general statement, "I caught a big, old fish that had been caught before, but I decided to let it go."

Poets are especially skilled at re-creating images through the five senses: sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste.

Another sound device we enjoy is onomatopoeia, or a word that sounds like what it means, such as buzz, splash, boom, growl, tinkle, and pop.

To help a reader imagine a vivid picture or to point out a surprising similarity, poets will often compare something unfamiliar or unusual to something more familiar or more easily pictured. A comparison that uses words such as like, as, or seems is called a simile. Examples are "I wandered lonely as a cloud," or The soldiers "sank like moles/ Into the clammy earth." In the following examples, come up with new and fresh comparisons instead of the old, worn-out ones we usually hear. For example, instead of saying, "hot as fire," try "hot as a horseshoe just drawn from a blacksmith's coals." Or instead of "green as grass," try "green as a shining emerald deep in a rainforest."

Cold as...
Blue as...
Frightened as...
Happy as...
Noisy as...
Quiet as...
Warm as...
Cozy as...
Grumpy as...
Delicious as...

Comparisons that do not use the words like or as but just indirectly call one thing by another name or give the characteristics of one thing to another are called metaphors. They are still considered comparisons because the speaker or writer sees similarities between the two. For example, if you say "Dad is a bear before he's had his morning coffee," you are comparing him to a bear probably because he's grumpy, clumsy and growly before he's fully awake. "Dad is like a bear before he's had his coffee" would be a simile. In the lines, "I walked through autumn woods today/ And cupped my hands along the way./ Great trees shook down rich coins of gold...." the poet compares falling autumn leaves to gold coins because she sees the similarity in color and value. A metaphor is rather like a riddle in which the reader needs to take time to guess the hidden comparison.

The previous activity was presented at a time that a fourth- fifth grade class had completed individual research reports on various countries. Using a prompt, "If I could ______ to ______" (using a substitute for "travel" in the first slot that creates alliteration with the country), the students were asked to first create an image web of sensory impressions of their respective countries and then generate a poem that used as much alliteration (or consonance) and assonance as possible as well as some comparisons.

If I could glide to Greece,
Soaring through the sky,
Climbing the clouds lost in flight,
My soul would surpass
The heights of Olympus
And the voices of the opera,
A vision of vibrant color
From various art forms.
My eyes envision eloquent structures,
Greek architecture never surpassed in beauty.
Oh, if I could glide to Greece,
These are the sights I would see.
-- Kristen

If I could leap to Liberia,
It would be so much fun.
Friends, like neighbors,
Playing soccer, singing songs,
Like dreaming delightfully all day long.
The fresh, free trees swaying
Like a little girl swinging,
Making mournful music as wonderful
As listening to the birds singing.
The heat of the sun beating down
Feels like being in the middle of a fire.
The summer is the hottest season,
And I was there, stuck,
Strongly, stressfully, sweaty,
Trying to cool off.
The country's a good place,
Now don't get me wrong,
But when it comes to weather,
I'm gone.
-- Valerie

If I could slither to Sudan,
Like a wild snake in the water,
I could see helpless people that speak Arabic
Trying desperately to survive
In the hot, burning sun.
Death comes too soon.
Caravans of camels
Slogging through the sand
In a long line as far as the eye can see,
Coming straight at me!
I want to go and feel
The sand beneath my feet
And see how it really is
In that sandy wasteland called Sudan.
-- Suzanne

To Table of Contents

Suggestions by Donald Graves, Explore Poetry (Heinemann, 1992):160-62.

Ken Burns, the producer of the popular series, "The Civil War," on public television has shown how historical events affect real people's lives. "He asked that we connect history with our own lives and become aware of our own participation in it. History is both past and present" (Graves). To illustrate, Burns shares letters of Civil War soldiers, many of whom were killed in battle. One such letter was written by Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife just before his death in the first battle of Bull Run. Donald Graves says that, to understand history, we must "see events from different points of view. For example, the Civil War can be viewed through the eyes of privates, generals, mothers, wives, and children at home as well as through those of statesmen and people of other nations."

Activity 1
"Imagine yourself as a character in history (e.g., Robert E. Lee) and write a poem. Try one stanza from one side, the next stanza from an opposing point of view (e.g., Ulysses S. Grant)."

Activity 2
Select a past event or historic person you have researched to brainstorm about. Make a list poem of interesting words about your subject. Try to create unusual comparisons to describe your subject. Work for the repetition of sounds.

Activity 3
After reading Witter Bynner's "A Justice Remembers Lincoln" and "A Farmer Remembers Lincoln" and Eve Merriam's "To Meet Mr. Lincoln," imagine meeting a famous person and describe the experience with poetic language.

Activity 4
"Bring the daily newspaper [or weekly news magazine] to class and...select an article to write a poem about. Consider your own personal reaction or knowledge of the event as you write" (Graves).

This activity helps us understand that today's news is tomorrow's history. Such events as California earthquakes, major snowstorms, Russians and Americans traveling in space together, and the Olympics will be history a few years from now. How exciting to be able to record your ideas about them in poetry now!

Activity 5
"Examine an issue and write a poem to provide specific examples for one or more of the following issues:
Poverty
War
Peace
Great decisions
Blunders
Heroes
Discovery
Invention
Argument
Injustice
Social conflict"

(Graves)

Activity 6
Examine a painting or photograph of a historical event or person. Use all five senses to create an image web from which you can compose lines of poetry. Add your feelings about it. Try to use comparison, sound repetition, and unusual words to create your poem.

To Table of Contents

This activity shows that a poet uses the senses as carefully as a scientist, noticing and recording many details. But a poet can use interesting word, sounds, and comparisons to describe feeling, thoughts or questions about such "discoveries." This suggestion comes from Donald H. Graves, Explore Poetry (Heinneman, 1992).

Students may go outside in teams of two to choose one or more of the following:

1. Find something very small that you have never looked at closely before. Describe it.

2. Find something growing. How is it growing?

3. Find something broken. How did it get broken?

4. Look for people. What are they doing? How are they using the outdoors?

5. Find something and ask, "Suppose this didn't exist. What then?"

6. Sit very quietly for two minutes. List all the sounds you hear.

7. Feel the weather touch you, first with your eyes open, then with your eyes closed. What do you feel? What did you wonder about?

When you have recorded some words and ideas, return to the classroom and work with your partner, or alone if you prefer, to turn your observations into a poem. Remember that it does not need to rhyme. Try to use many details that include all your senses. Maybe a comparison will help (what is it like?) Use strong verbs (words that show action) and interesting words. Play with sounds that you enjoy repeating. Place your words on the page so that the reader notices your interesting word groups. Most of all, have fun!

The formula poem referred to as a "diamante" has been used for years as a creative way to reinforce the distinction between parts of speech. Although there are many variations, the form usually begins with one noun, followed by two adjectives, followed by three present participles, followed by two verbs, ending with one noun that renames or qualifies the first noun. The result is a diamond-shaped, highly condensed form not unlike the haiku. See Donald Glenn Carroll's "Poets Who Don't Know It: Teaching Grammar Through Haiku." English Teaching forum 30.1 (January 1992): 54-56.

The following poem by a seventh-grader was written to demonstrate a creative understanding of a unit on prepositional phrases. It also provides an opportunity to teach the rhetorical technique of a climactic arrangement of ideas.

Along the dusty, worn dirt road,
Beyond the turn or fork of field,
Past hundred rows of rich, green corn,
By rolling hills of soft, green grass,
Beneath the gentle, creamy clouds,
Around dark, never-taken paths,
Throughout the twining rope with thorns,
Below the swaying willow's branch,
Until the dusk sky hugs the land,
Three timeless crosses stand.
-- Sarah

For this activity, we selected several large posters of natural scenes that would seem engaging to young people. One is a photograph of a pack of wolves with their heads raised back as if howling, surrounded by a frozen, white expanse of snow and a few sparse trees. Another shows a full, white moon over a bridge spanning a large river. Cars are crossing the bridge, boats travel the river, and darkened city buildings silhouette the far side of the scene. A third photograph features a beautiful waterfall crashing down rocks in the depths of a thick rainforest.

The first step was to allow the students to choose by voting for the picture they wished to write a poem about. Since the kindergartners were learning about the ocean, we offered them a poster of dolphins and one of all kinds of whales (they all chose the whales).

After selecting the poster, we began to record on newsprint an inventory of sensory images the students noticed or imagined in the scene. Sometimes we moved from sight to sound to touch to smell to taste; sometimes we focused on a variety of sensory impressions surrounding one feature or element of the scene. As the students volunteered observations, we constantly encouraged them to specify details of colors, shapes, etc.. to stretch for precise, powerful verbs, and to make comparisons. When words and phrases with alliteration, assonance, or onomatopoeia appeared, we noted them with admiration. We were always amazed at not only what the students saw in the pictures, but also at what they didn't see but imagined or embellished.

Having completed an exhausting catalog of sensory impressions, we would invited speculation and interpretation about relevance or meaning of the events or situations in the scene, jotting down their most interesting observations.

Then it was time to negotiate suggestions for a title and to begin to "line out" the poem. It may sound a bit frightening to stand before a class with a list, a marker and a blank sheet of newsprint to fashion a poem, but it's easier than you might think. We would find a dominant feature of the brainstorming to begin a focus for the first line, and move from feature to feature, amplifying and detailing the images. As long as we stayed with the language the students had offered and remained open to the chemistry of the language as we moved, we always found delightful surprises and additions that would achieve some of the aforementioned elements we had come to look for in poetry.

By the time the poem seemed to be winding down, we would shift attention to some of the cognitive or emotional reactions the students had offered and negotiate toward some sort of meaningful closure for the piece, and before they knew it, the students were looking at the first draft of a real, live poem, and they had written it!

This process offers several options for revision. One is collaborative revision. With a list of poetic features posted nearby, the teacher may ask, "How can we make our poem even better?" and field suggestions for more precise verbs, more specific adjectives, comparisons, sound devices, and other improvements, perhaps even noting rhythmical passages or an occasional potential rhyme.

An alternative is to allow each student to personally revise the class poem, adding elements he or she may not have had opportunity to include in the earlier brainstorming, and then compare the various revisions. Since we did not have time to lead students through the whole process, we left the revisions. Since we did not have time to lead students through the whole process, we left the revision stage to the classroom teacher. The texts printed here are the first drafts of the respective classes.

Winter Wolves

Winter wolves howl
On a snowy night,
Calling to their young
Because there's danger near.
In the beautiful nature,
In the great wild,
The wolves are safe
With their pack.
But when wolves are near,
We're filled with fear.

--Mrs. Trent's Primary (2-3)

---

Howling in the Snow

Lifting their heads and
Looking at the bright yellow full moon,
The wolves howl in the cold snow.
They play-fight and growl
With the hoot of the owl.
We shiver with fear
Because wolves are near.

-- Ms. Kittle's Primary (1)

---

Winter Wolves

In the winter
White wolves are howling
At the yellow full moon.
Tired and hungry, they walk
Through the dark and scary woods
In the deep snow,
Leaving their footprints behind them.
We hear the hooting of an owl,
But not as frightening as a howl.

-- Mrs. Stewart's Primary (1-2)

---

Howling Wolves

When the dangerous wolves howl,
It sounds like the wind
And I shiver in the cold and dark.
I'm very, very, very scared.

-- Mrs. Hick's Primary (1)

---

The Howling Wolves

Winter wolves make a path
In the cold, white, crunchy snow.
They call to the pack to hunt for food.
Heavy snow bends the branches
Of tall, brown, bare trees.
When we hear the howling
Of hungry wolves
We shiver and shake With cold fear.

-- Ms. Pratt's & Ms. Stacy's Primaries (K-1)

---

The Winter Wolves

Gray-white wolves howl and yowl
At the full moon.
The hungry pack runs through
The cold and crunchy snow,
Hunting for food.
Bare, dead trees and pines
Bend with heavy snow
As they stand in front of the mountain.
We hear the hooting of an owl,
And the chilly wind
Makes icy goosebumps on our skin
As we wait safely inside.
When we wake in the morning,
The wolves will be gone.

-- Ms. Jones' Primary (1-2)

---

Bridge at Night

The shiny full moon is so bright
It lights the blue sparkling water,
Helping boats find their way in the dark.
The windows of the shadowy skyscrapers are faceless.
The night wind whistles
While the water splashes the shore
The cars rumble across the long black bridge
Carrying tired people home
And night people to work and play.

-- Mrs. Ackerman's Primary (2- 3)

---

Bridge at Midnight

The full white moon
Sits upon the open sky
Reflecting on the shining blue water.
Crickets chirp under the moonlight.
Tugboat horns hum quietly
To the sloshing of the water.
The city is peaceful.
The midnight bridge
Guides the travelers home

-- Mrs. Oddis' Primary (2-3)

---

Moonlight Bridge

In the dark blue night,
The big, full shadowed moon
Shines through the foggy mist
And glitters on the sparkling water.
Darkened buildings in the distance
Join in shadowed shapes.
By the bridge supported by long cables,
We hear crickets and frogs and
The moan of tugboats and foghorns.
As the water splashes against the shore,
The cars rumble rhythmically across
The ridges of the bridge,
Carrying sleepy people on moonlight rides.

-- Ms. Allen's 4th Grade

---

Moonlight on the Bridge

The big, full, bright moon
Shines over the shimmering, sparkling blue sea.
In the distance, dark, deserted buildings
Peek through the misty fog.
The chilly wind whistles
Over the smooth, rippling water.
Cars thump across the bumpy surface of the bridge,
Their motors humming
With the foghorns of tugboats.
Tired travelers and sleepy truck drivers
Are thankful to be going home.

-- Mrs. Sharp's 4th Grade

---

Spring Falls

Enormous, luscious trees
Bend in the damp, misty valley.
The rushing water crashes and splashes
Against the mossy, rocky cliffs;
The cool, clear, refreshing breeze
Whispers secrets though the trees
In this paradise.
With the birds chirping mesmerizing melodies,
I feel free, relaxed, refreshed
And immortal
In the dark green rainforest.

-- Mrs. Wheeler's 4th Grade

---

Forest Falls

A tall, tall waterfall
Rushes down the rocks
Into the bubbling foam.
Fresh air smells like beautiful pine.
Bright sunlight flashes through
The moist and foggy mist.
A cool breeze blows across the water
Crashing through the rocks.
A deer moves carefully
While a squirrel scampers carefree
Through the bright yellow and green leaves.
We hear birds and crickets chirping
And frogs croaking in the water.
We feel relaxed, comfortable and peaceful
In this pure and wonderful world.

-- Mrs. Brock's Primary (2-3)

---

Playing Whales

Some are white, some are blue,
Some are black and gray.
They raise their heads above the water
And dive, deep down, to play.
Their great big tails splash and crash,
Turning water into foam.
After a night of fun and play,
They take their babies home.

-- Mrs. Collins' K(am)

---

Whales

Whales, whales, whales,
Waves of wonderful whales.
Killer whales and blue whales,
Humpback whales and beluga whales.
Some have sharp teeth.
Some do not.
Some have horns like unicorns.
They push up through the water
And dive down under to eat and play.
They splash with their flukes
And bubble and whoosh
And make us happy all day.

-- Mrs. Collins' K(pm)

---

This activity moved the students to generate a concrete representation of an abstract feeling or thought. Before we asked them to write this kind of poem, we demonstrated the writing process for a couple of prototypes.

The first step was to generate on newsprint a Venn diagram of emotions ("feelings" for younger students), indicating "good" and "bad" emotions overlapping, in order to lead students to think past the obvious to more specific kinds of feelings. Then we chose the emotions "happy" and "embarrassed" to demonstrate. We already had a chart mapping or webbing each of these emotions. The web recorded a variety of concrete images to convey the emotion.

To re-create the process for the students, I told them that I would look at the word "happy" in the middle of my web, close my eyes, and imagine a few pictures that made me happy. After I had tried several images, I chose one to map further, in this case, the image of fireworks. We then revealed the poem that had been written from the webbing and used the same prewriting procedure for "embarrassed."

When I am happy.
I feel like fireworks.
Soaring up, up, up
Squealing high with joy
Until--BOOM!
I explode and scatter
In many colored patterns
And shower

Slowly

Slowly

To sighs of

"Ahhh

h

h......

The following samples, again, are first drafts, in most cases, but I have edited toward conventional use. Many found it helpful to illustrate their poems with visual renditions of the verbal images they chose, especially the kindergartners who sometimes needed help transcribing their sensory images into the language they wished to use but may not have been ready to write.

When I am happy,
I feel like running through
A yard full of fall leaves
While the crunching sound
Of the leaves under my feet
Mixes with the whispering breeze
In my ear.
It sounds like heaven.
That's how I feel when I'm happy.

-- Scott, grade 4

---

When I am mad,
I feel like a stump,
An ugly little brown stump.
Whenever someone sits on me,
My back starts to hurt.
Whenever someone sits on me,
I wish I were never born.
No one ever notices me because
I'm only a little brown stump.

-- Sixtus, primary

---

When I am frustrated,
I feel like a car that can't start,
Trying my hardest,
But my engine won't start.
I think and think, but I'm out of gas.
Then when I think a little harder,
It's like the key just turned in the ignition.
Then slowly but surely

putt

putt

putt.

My engine revs up and I'm

O

F

F

!

-- Ben, grade 5

---

When I am happy,
I feel like a rollerskate
Skating through the air
Skating up and down
The rink on rollerskates
Skating, turning all around
Making me feel happy.
Skating up, up, up,
And down, down, down,
All around.
That's what makes me happy.
I think about my mom
And think how she skates backwards
Going wardkcab, wardkcab, wardkcab.
That's what I think is fun.

-- Kelli, primary

---

When I am loving,
I feel like a flower bloomimg.
While I bloom with love,
It feels like the sun peeping
Through the rain clouds,
Trying to struggle
To make it a bright day.
Finally when I have bloomed,
I show my beautiful, glamorous, colorful buds
All over the garden.

-- Lindsey, grade 4

---

When I am scared,
I feel like talking to someone,
Playing with someone.
I feel like I'm all-ll alone,
Shadows covering me
Like a soft, dark blanket.
Animals waiting in the forests,
Waiting for someone to come,
Like ME!

-- Lauren, grade 4

---

When I am left out,
I feel like a tiny speck of sand.
The people around me
Have buckets of me
When they'd build their castle.
I'd think it would do better with me.
So when it fell down,
People would say,
As I've said all along,
Wouldn't it do better with me?

-- Taylor, grade 4

---

When I am being loved,
I feel like a cup of steamy tea.
People like to snuggle down
In a warm blanket
And sip down my warmness.
While I go down their throat
I give them a feeling of love and joy.
Then after they finish me,
I keep them happy at night...
And give them a feeling of love.

-- Jon, grade 5

---

When I am cool and refreshed,
I feel like I am in my secret place,
With a misty, dripping background.
I take a nap on a damp hill of moss.
When my eyes are closed,
I feel the breeze
Whispering secrets through the quiet trees
And flowers sprouting up around me....
It is my secret place
And will always be.

-- Jon, grade 5

---

Go to Home Page

---