CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEENAGE SOUL POETRY TIC TAC TOE
The poems in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul are meant to inspire you in some way. You are going to read a few of
the poems (listed on the back of this paper) and analyze them/poetry in some way.
For this tic tac toe menu, everyone will complete the middle square. Then you choose TWO other options. You MUST
read and use a DIFFERENT POEM for each activity. Please complete each activity on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Find TWO examples of
personification or metaphor
in ONE of the poems.
Copy the line(s) that show the
personification or metaphor.
In 2 to 3 sentences, explain
what the author is trying
to say by using this
particular figurative
language.
4. All of the stories and poems
in Chicken Soup are meant to
inspire you.
Write your own inspirational
poem.
The poem should be
a minimum of 8 lines. It may
rhyme, but it doesn’t have to.
Include TWO similes or
metaphors or lines of
personification or hyperboles
or lines of alliteration or a
combination.
7. Find a newspaper or
magazine
(at home).
Cut out words from one/some
of the articles and/or ads.
Then place the words
into a poem format.
(You may not use every word;
you can add words that you
didn’t necessarily cut out).
This is called a found poem.
2. Make up a story about the author
of ONE of the poems.
3. Read “Just Me” (257-258) OR
“Smile” (115-116).
What happened to this person
to cause him or her to write this
poem?
In the form of a comic strip
or storyboard, illustrate the
poem you chose.
You are fabricating (making up)
a personal narrative as told by the
author (so use 1st Person point of view).
As the poem changes
from one scene to another,
you should draw a new panel
(square) in your comic strip/
storyboard.
5. Read any TWO poems in the book.
Then do the following for BOTH
poems:
 Write down 3 words that you
don’t know and define them.
 Copy ONE to TWO lines that show
the theme/message of the poem.
 Add quotation marks to the line
you copy with the LINE # in
parentheses at the end (instead
of the page #).
 Explain the theme of the poem in
one to two sentences.
6. A concrete poem is a poem that is
in a shape.
For example, a poem about
footballs would show the words
to be in the shape of
a football or a field or a goal post.
Choose a poem in the book to
re-write into a picture form.
(The picture should relate to the
poem.)
Examples of concrete poems are
on the back of this paper.
8. Choose a poem from the book
that has a good rhythm.
Write out the words in the way they’d
sound as set to a popular song melody
OR a cheerleader’s cheer OR a rap
OR a chant.
Be prepared to present your rendition
of the poem that you chose.
9. Read the poem, “Please Hear
What I’m Not Saying (174-175).
Make an acrostic, using the
word, aliveness.
Write phrases or sentences
out from each letter of the
word that will help us
understand why “aliveness”
is important and why
“aliveness” is the theme of this
poem.
Find an example on the back.
Poems to choose from:
“After a While” (7); “Please Listen” (41-42); “My New Best Friend” (52-53); “Mama’s Hands” (68-69); “Smile” (115116); “Paint Brush” (143-144); “Please Hear What I’m Not Saying” (174-175); “What Is Success?” (218); “The
Oyster” (229-230); “Passing the Dream” (243-244); “The Girl Next Door” (246-248); “Just Me” (257-258); “If”
(289-290).
The images below are examples of concrete poems:
The poem below is an example of an acrostic: