Writing About Art: Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Look closely at Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise

Look closely at Impression, Sunrise. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Fancier Figurative Language: Use the Opposite

Let’s start with “As cold as fire.”

Writing About Art: The Scream

Your students will turn the iconic painting The Scream into a vivid, sensory poem.

Remixing A Holiday Poem

Let’s take a classic Christmas poem and remix it to work with another holiday!

Writing Seuss Style Poetry

Sure, Dr. Seuss wrote for young students, but can older students analyze his writing and learn to mimic his style? THEN, they can produce Seuss-style poetry about any topic: Ancient China, the electromagnetic spectrum, Pride and Prejudice, and (yes) fraction division!

Fancier Figurative Language: Advanced Repetition

Is your students’ use of repetition limited to, “The girl was very, very, very fast.”? Let’s borrow some ideas from Shakespeare!

Advanced Alliteration and Consonance

When students learn about alliteration, it’s hard to steer them away from goofy tongue-twisters. Certainly, there must be more powerful and practical ways of using alliteration. In this lesson, I draw on delicious examples from Shakespeare to show how a very advanced writer used alliteration. Then, I break those ideas down so students can try them out.

What’s In My Brain: Cute Baby vs Fast Cheetah

Can students spot similes vs metaphors?

Identifying Author’s Voice

What if… Edgar Allen Poe wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

Studying and Remixing “The Raven”

Ready to push kids beyond the boring, old ABAB rhyme scheme and into something a bit more complex?

Literary Technique: Juxtaposition

Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!