Writing Poems

Teaching your students about poetry by having them write

poems

Why have students write poems?

it’s fun for the students it develops their understanding of

the ways in which poems work it develops their skills in

using language, observing closely and describing

precisely, and using such poetic elements as rhyme,

rhythm, and imagery

Things to do before they begin writing

lay out the rules for that sort of poem (including rhyme, rhythm, line length, total number of lines [if fixed], and anything about subject matter)

make sure they know what is really important in the process

Things to do before they begin writing

provide one or more models for students to study; these should be available to students as they write

talk about the models at some length

Things to do before they begin writing

give them time to brainstorm give them clear directions about

what they should include as they do so (e.g.: be sure to use all five senses in

brainstorming for a Dream Poem)

Things to do before they begin writing

remind them that they can revise--they can wander far away from those things they came up with in brainstorming

Where did this stuff come from?

The information that follows comes from Giggle Poetry at http://gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass.cfm

And the main writer here is the children’s poet Bruce Lansky.

“Roses are red” poems

The form of these poems is very familiar and therefore easy to imitate.

Tulips are red,Hyacinths, pink;I dropped the radioInto the sink.

“Roses are red” poems

Gerbils are brown,Parrots are green.The surgeons by accidentTook out your spleen.

“Roses are red” poems—how to?

You can start off the students with some very simple exercises:

Violets are blue.Roses are green;When we were downtown,__________.

“Roses are red” poems—how to?

Or:

Roses are red.Violets are blue;My cousin Margie____________.

Purpose: give students

practice with rhyme and

rhythm—and with humor

in a poem

“Roses are red” poems—how to?

Then put the students to work.Begin by making a list on the board of color words that are just one syllable long. These will fit the meter when substituted for “blue.”

Let’s make a list now.

“Roses are red” poems—how to?

Remind the students of the rhythm and the form: write the poem on the board.Then let them loose. Let their imaginations run wild!

So now go ahead and write.

And don’t forget:

Always give your students a chance to read what they’ve written.

Always find things to praise in what they’ve done.

Try to find positive suggestions about improvements they might make—but state these in a cheerful, supportive way.

Clerihews

Named for Edmund Clerihew Bentley:

Sir James Jeans

Always says what he means:

He is really perfectly serious

About the Universe being Mysterious

English physicist and astronomer

Clerihews—the rules

1. They are four lines long. 2. The first and second lines rhyme with each

other, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

3. The first line names a person, and the second line ends with something that rhymes with the name of the person.

4. A clerihew should be funny.

Sample Clerihews

Our art teacher, Mr. Shaw, Really knows how to draw. But his awful paintings Have caused many faintings.

Sample Clerihews

The President, George W. Bush,

Gave the Taliban a vigorous push.

But he couldn’t make Osama

Cry for his mama.

Now it’s your turn Choose someone whose last name

you can rhyme with you know something about

Think about something funny you can say about that person

Keep in mind the rhyme scheme: AABB

Try it out

Purpose: give students experience with rhymes and

form in the context of a specific person

Yankee Doodle Poems Like the “Roses are red” poems,

these make use of an entirely familiar form, where rhythm, rhyme scheme, line length, and general situation are all determined in advance

Yankee Doodle Poems

Yankee Doodle went to town

riding on a monkey. He had to take a shower quick, because he smelled so funky.

Yankee Doodle Poems

Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a rabbit. He rode around in circles 'cause it got to be a habit.

Yankee Doodle Poems Y.D. doesn’t have to be riding on

something:Yankee Doodle went to townEating tea and crumpetsSpilled the tea all down his shirtWhen someone blew a trumpet.

Purpose: rhyme, rhythm, form

Yankee Doodle Poems Have the students begin by

choosing an animal. They should make sure that it’s

something they can think of a rhyme for

They should be sure that it will fit in with the rhythm (not “Yankee Doodle went to town / A riding on a Thompson’s gazelle”)

Yankee Doodle Poems Make sure that they keep the

rhythm in mind as they work:

DUM da DUM da DUM da da,DUM da DUM da DUM da.DUM da DUM da DUM da da,da DUM da DUM da DUM da.

Yankee Doodle Poems And give them sufficient time to

brainstorm and to write. Now it’s your turn.

Write a Dream Poem

Here's a poem that's fairly easy to write because it's simply a collection of dreamy images woven together. All you have to do is imagine some dreamy place and write down what you'd expect to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel there. This poem is in free verse, so you don't need to worry about rhyme or rhythm.

Purpose: give students practice with imagery and paying attention to all five senses; some

attention to a poem’s unity

Write a Dream Poem

After tossing and turning for what must have been an hour or so,I find myself lying on a tropical beach, the waves gently licking the sand.I gaze up at the sky and notice some pelicans soaring and swooping, looking for lunch.There's a catamaran sailing offshore, swept by the wind that is cooling my brow. etc.

Time to write your own dream poem!

• Brainstorm first!

• Choose a location or situation to dream of.

• Write down the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and tastes you associate with that setting.

“Lunch for your teacher”

This kind of poem can be lots of fun for the students to write

It gives them a little more liberty than, say, a “Roses Are Red” poem . . .

. . . and that means they have more responsibility, so this one is a bit harder

“Lunch for your teacher” The idea is to create a yucky,

disgusting, and thoroughly laughable lunch for a teacher (or anyone else, for that matter).

It would, of course, be possible to create a really nice lunch for teacher: “angel pudding with sunlight cream, / a bowl of smiles and two dollops of dream”

But yucky is probably better

“Lunch for your teacher” Begin by listing the nasty ingredients:

Rattlesnake stew centipede salad seaweed and jellyfish sandwich milk mixed with glue poohberry pie

If your students are having trouble with rhyming, it can be enough just to have them make up an imaginative list—poems don’t have to rhyme.

It may help to have the class make a list of foods that one might eat at lunch:

salads, soups, main dishes, vegetables, desserts, drinks

“Lunch for your teacher”--model

What I’d Serve My Teacher for Lunch (rhyming poem)

If I served hot lunch to my teacher, I’d start off with rattlesnake stew. Then I’d serve her a centipede saladAnd a tall glass of milk mixed with glue.

Next, a seaweed and jellyfish sandwichand a large slice of poohberry pie. When my teacher finds out what she’s eaten, I hope the old bat doesn’t die.

Notice the rhyme: XAXA XBXB

Notice the rhythm: da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

“Lunch for your teacher” Once they’ve looked at the model,

give them some time to think about some sort of funny comment they might use to finish off the poem But nothing too mean!

Now it’s your turn to try writing one. Begin with listing yucky foods.

Backwards Poems give students a chance to have fun by

turning things on their heads. familiar things, situations, and/or actions

that are changed to be ridiculous and funny:

putting up the umbrella when the sun shines and going swimming in the rain

eating breakfast before waking up calling the dog to get her to run away using a paintbrush to eat soup and a spoon

to paint the walls

Backwards Poems I'm going to give you the first and last

couplets of a poem by Doug Florian that's published in Miles of Smiles. It's called, sensibly enough, "Mr. Backward."

Mr. Backward lives in town.He never wakes up, he always wakes down.(Insert your couplets here.)He goes to sleep beneath his bedWhile wearing slippers on his head.

Backwards Poems This assignment really allows students

to use their imagination while thinking about the ways things actually are. They aren’t just making things up at random, they way they might in other poems where silliness is central.

Backwards Poems Be sure to give them guidance and

provide models. Provide a rhythm:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

And tell them if you expect rhyming (probably a good idea here, unless you know the class has lots of trouble with rhyme).

Give them plenty of time to brainstorm.