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Your youngest students will learn to write Japanese Haiku poetry.
Students will look at the holidays through the lenses of order and chaos, eventually re-writing a favorite song.
First students will brainstorm as many holiday characters, items, and activities as they can think of.
Next, they’ll pick several of those ideas and decide which ones represent order and which ones represent chaos.
Then they’ll look for evidence of the opposite trait. Where is the chaos in orderly items? Where is the order in a chaotic item?
Finally, they’ll use this thinking to rewrite at least one verse from a favorite holiday song to show the order and chaos during the holiday season.
Students will re-write a nursery rhyme using increasingly difficult letter restrictions.
First, students rewrite “Mary Had A Little Lamb” without the letter O.
Next, they try without the letter A. Yep, that means four of the five words in the title are gone!
Now, students rewrite the poem without the letters T or S.
And finally, for an extreme challenge, students can try without half of the alphabet: B F G J K O Q U V W X Y Z.
Students will re-write a nursery rhyme using increasingly difficult letter restrictions.
First, students rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle” without the letter A.
Next, they cannot use the letter E. Goodbye “twinkle” and “little”!
Finally, they’ll rewrite the poem without using A or E.
For a final, optional challenge, can students rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle” without half of the alphabet: B F G J K O Q U V W X Y Z?
Starting with an old photo, students will write about a holiday scene from a particular person or item’s point of view.
Students spend time noting details in their photo.
They brainstorm possible perspectives within their photo.
Next, they write down sensory details using that perspective.
Finally, they write in free verse (or any structure you’d like) about the scene using their perspective. Repeat using a second perspective!
Students will consider what makes something a “holiday photo” and then write a short, structured poem.
First, students will simply look at the photo, noting interesting details that pop out to them.
Then, they’ll consider how this photo is both a strange example of a holiday photo, but also a perfect example.
They’ll write a draft of a five line, structured poem about this photo.
Finally, they’ll revise their writing and add some sizzle.
Students will sum up their breaks using a one-syllable word and then rewrite the song Help! based on that word.
First, students will come up with a one-syllable word (like “help”) to sum up their experiences away from school. They’ll rewrite the intro to Help! using this word.
Next, each student will write about their own experiences around the one-syllable word and rewrite a verse of Help!
Then, groups will rewrite the chorus of Help! to be about their experiences.
Finally, students can create artwork, do a photoshoot, film a music video, or even learn semaphore!
Students will write a structured piece of poetry based on details in Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons.
First, students just notice interesting details about this piece.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions to get them thinking deeper.
Now, using a six-line structure, students will write the first draft of their poem.
Finally, they will revise their writing to make it sizzle!
Students will write a structured piece of poetry based on details in Impression, Sunrise.
First, students just notice interesting details about this piece of art.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions to get them thinking deeper.
Now, using a six-line structure, students will write the first draft of their poem.
Finally, they will revise their writing to make it sizzle!
Students will write a sentence (or more) in which each word’s length matches the next digit of pi.
Students come up with at least one six-letter word to finish my sentence.
Now, then are free to write as much as they’d like in Pilish.
Students will write a structured, sensory poem based on a woodblock print from Japan’s most famous artist.
First, students just look at the print and notice interesting details.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions.
Now, your students will use a six-line structure to write a brief poem based on the print.
Finally, they revise their writing to add some sizzle!
Students will write a structured poem about Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.
Students notice interesting details about the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.
They answer several questions to focus their thinking.
Then, students will write six lines about the painting.
Finally, students will improve their writing with small revisions.
Students will create a piece of poetry based on the painting Twilight in the Wilderness.
First, students just notice details about the painting.
Next, they answer three questions to focus their thinking: what might be right outside of the image, what does this scene smell/sound/feel like, what might happen next?
Now, students write a six-line poem using the structure provided in the video.
Finally, they add a little sparkle and upgrade some of their writing.
Students will write a sensory poem inspired by The Scream.
First, students simply notice interesting things in the painting. Encourage them to take their time and keep looking.
Students will answer a few questions about the painting to help to transition to writing.
Next, students write using a specific structure which I model.
Finally, they look for places they can add a bit more detail to make their writing sparkle.
Students will use the patterns of A Visit From St. Nicholas but rewrite the poem to work with another holiday.
Students note patterns in A Visit From St. Nicholas.
Students look for moments when the poet deviates from his rhythm.
Students choose a holiday and brainstorm vocabulary for that holiday.
Students break those words and phrases down into their stressed and unstressed syllables.
Finally, they rewrite at least one stanza from the original poem to fit their holiday.
Students will write a poem about a topic of your choosing in the style of Dr. Seuss, focusing on his use of rhythm and stressed syllables.
Students analyze Dr. Seuss writing, looking for the details that make him sound Seuss-y.
After picking a topic, students brainstorm a list of words related to that topic, break them into syllables, and underline the stressed syllables.
Students create a Seuss-style stanza using his line length, rhyme pattern, and (most importantly) rhythm.
Students compare and contrast poetry and prose, examining how lines differ from sentences and how stanzas are kind of like paragraphs. They go on to create a script in which Poetry and Prose meet each other for the first time and have a conversation.
Students compare and contrast lines of poetry with sentences from prose.
They compare and contrast stanzas with paragraphs.
Then (using their ideas from steps 1 and 2), students create “topics” that Poetry and Prose could discuss if they met at a party.
They write the actual script for the exciting encounter between Poetry and Prose.
Using Lewis Carroll’s poem Jabberwocky, students will try to infer the parts of speech and meanings of nonsense words. Then they can try their hand at their own nonsense poems.
First students will try to define nonsense words from stanzas three and four.
Then they rank those words based on how certain they are of their meaning.
Finally, students can try their hand at writing their own nonsense poetry (and test their context clues on other students).
Students will dig into the complex structure of Poe’s classic poem, The Raven.
Students observe the tone, structure and rhythm in “The Raven.”
Students learn the stressed-unstressed rhythm pattern in “The Raven” and question how it contributes to the tone. Then they are asked to investigate the rhyme scheme of the poem.
Students learn about internal rhyme and review the rhyme scheme of the first stanza questioning how it contributes to the tone. Then they look for repetition and alliteration in the poem.
Students review the alliterations and repetitions of the first stanza and question how it contributes to the tone. Then they are asked to choose a new tone to remix the poem.
Students choose a refrain and begin remixing it using a new tone focusing on the final line.
Students work backwards through the stanza and remix two additional lines.
Students finish remixing the first three lines of the stanza using Poe’s structure to create their own unique poem.
Students will use the highly structured form of haiku to write summaries.
First, students summarize a story’s plot as a haiku, using the three lines of the poem to summarize the beginning, middle, and end.
Next, they’ll write a haiku from a character’s perspective.
Then, they’ll write a different character’s perspective.
Now, they’ll sum up a dramatic moment in the story from a particular character’s point of view.
Finally, they will revise their haiku.