POETRY
WARM-UP:
WRITING JOURNAL
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In your writing journal, explain your opinion of poetry.
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How would you describe poetry in your own words?
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Is poetry different from other forms of writing? How?
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What kinds of poems have you read in the past?
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Did you enjoy reading/writing poetry or not?
POETRY AND TECH
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Using the websites below,
explore the variety of poets
and poetry found online
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Find at least three poems you
enjoy and list these three
things about them:
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poets.org
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poemhunter.com
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1) Poet and Title
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poetryfoundation.org
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2) Category
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allpoetry.com
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3) One or two sentences
about the subject or theme
of the poem
Approved websites (You
should only be on these
four websites!):
WHAT IS POETRY?
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Written in verse form with groups of lines known as
“stanzas”
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More limited number of words than prose
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Powerful, precise word choice
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Often expresses strong feelings or emotions
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Meant to be spoken or read out loud
COMMON FORMS OF
POETRY
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Epic Poem
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Limerick
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Elegy
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Lyric Poem (Ex: Ode)
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Found Poem
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Narrative Poem (Ex:
Ballad)
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Free Verse
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Prose Poem
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Sonnet
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Haiku
BASIC STRATEGIES FOR
POETRY
• Read several times
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Annotate!
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Identify the speaker and setting/situation
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Purpose, Audience, Context (The rhetorical
situation!)
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Pay close attention to punctuation, capitalization,
structure
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Think about tone, diction (word choice), figurative
“Myopia”
They gave me glasses
and I saw clearly
Sometimes I long
for the kind old mist.
-Jerene Cline
“Gardener”
We gave you a chance
To water the plants.
We didn’t mean that way—
Now zip up your pants.
-Shel Silverstein
“Blood-curdling Story”
That story is creepy,
It’s waily, it’s weepy,
It’s screechy and screamy
Right up to the end.
It’s spooky, it’s crawly,
It’s grizzly, it’s gory,
It’s the awfulest story
(Please tell it again).
-Shel Silverstein
RHYME TIME
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Get into groups of 2 or 3
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Pick one member of your group to be the recorder
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Dump all the words out of your envelope
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Arrange them into groups based on rhyming
COMMON POETIC DEVICES
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Sound patterns:
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Assonance/Consonan
ce
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Hyperbole
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Repetition
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Figurative Language:
Alliteration
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Personification
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Simile
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Metaphor
Rhyme
Imagery
ASSONANCE AND
CONSONANCE
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Assonance-Repetition of vowel sounds anywhere in
words
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Ex. “I rose and told him of my woe.”
Consonance-Repetition of consonant sounds anywhere
in words
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Ex. “Bring back the black jacket.”
ALLITERATION
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The repetition of beginning consonant sounds
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Examples:
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Betty bought a batch of buns at the bakery.
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Sammy swam, sat, and sang, all by the seashore.
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Large Larry Lewis lounges at the lake.
Why do poets use this technique?
PERSONIFY IT!
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Get into pairs or groups of three.
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Using the two wheels of nouns and verbs create
combinations to form phrases.
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Which combinations are effective and why? Which
ones are not?
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List at least five on a piece of paper and pick your two
favorites to share with the class.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
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How do poets present ideas, images, or feelings that are not meant to
be taken literally?
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Literal vs Figurative meaning
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Ex. There’s a fire inside. vs There’s a fire inside my head.
Common forms of figurative language:
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Personification
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Hyperbole
PERSONIFICATION
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A description of animals, objects, or
ideas as if they had human
characteristics
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Identify the personification in this poem:
The snow whispers to me a faint
goodbye
And promises to return
After the seasons have run their
course
And winter reigns supreme again
METAPHORS AND SIMILES
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Simile: A comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”
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Metaphor: A comparison of two things without an explicitly comparative word
such as “like” or “as”
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Discuss and explain the following similes and metaphors:
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It stinks like rotten meat
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Life is a barren field
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Harry fell like a thunderbolt
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Morning is a new sheet of paper
Read William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” and identify examples of figurative
language
IMAGERY
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Mental pictures that are created with words
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Use of sensory words to create images in the reader’s
mind
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Show, don’t tell
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Very important to use precise, descriptive words
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Always think of the five senses:
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Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch, Hearing
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your
hand
And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake
From “Auguries of Innocence”
USING PRECISE WORDS
• The
difference between the right word and
the almost right word is the difference
between lightning and lightning bug.
-Mark Twain
TONE AND MOOD
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Tone: The writer’s attitude toward a subject
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Mood: The emotion a reader feels when reading a
poem
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Ex:The moss covered trees beckoned to me,
Closer and closer I crept.
The black night was closing in
A shrill shriek pierced the night,
A bone-chilling fear drove through my
ONOMATOPOEIA
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Words that sound like the objects or actions which they
are describing
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Ex: The frogs slapped, plopped, and squished across
the swamp.
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Ex: The boom and bang of the storm awoke me late in
the night.
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Ex: I heard the buzzing and murmur of innumerable
bees.
CHARACTER POEM
V FOR VENDETTA
“Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast
vicariously as both victim and villain by the
vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of
vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant and
vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a
bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to
vanquish these venal and virulent vermin
vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently
vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only
verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not
in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one
day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this
vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let
me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet
STRUCTURE AND FORM
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When discussing the structure of a poem:
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Lines and Stanzas
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Meter (The pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables)
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Iambic Pentameter (Set of five “Iambs”)
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Blank Verse and Free Verse
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Rhyme Scheme (Pattern of rhyming)
Poetry Lessons
Lesson Examples
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Definition Poem (Define abstract concept or concrete object, new
vocabulary, what it is and what it isn’t)
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Refrain Poem (Like a song, chorus/refrain repeated)
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Character/Me Poem (Any persona, subject, character, thing)
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Percentage Poem (It all adds up, can’t you see, The total is 100%
Me)
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Preposition Poem
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Non-fiction Narrative Poems
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Found Poem (Gather/give words to/from surroundings or create
from a text)
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List Poem (Gathering details/ideas, no need for full sentences)
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Curiosity Poem (Poses questions about part of life)
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Extended Metaphor
Definition Poem
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Using poetry to reinforce or build vocabulary
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Pick word and create poem from word meanings,
synonyms, connotation, etc.
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Also can be used to define difficult concepts or key
terms (Ex: revolution, racism, envy, etc.)
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Brainstorm what the word:
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does, would, can
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doesn’t, won’t, can’t
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Add sensory details (Use the five senses!)
Extender Words: instead, although, unless, if,
because
Brainstorming Model
Example of Definition Poem
Revolution is hope,
Because it forges a new path.
It is a sweaty crowd,
A ringing bell,
A spontaneous cry.
Revolution cannot be revoked,
Although some will try.
It isn’t easy; it isn’t smooth.
It might be get violent;
It might get crude.
But like Pandora’s box
It is change, and once opened
It cannot be contained.
Character or “ME” Poem
• Pick persona (Any character, animal, thing,
subject)
• “Graceful as....”
• “Rhythmic like....”
• “Dancer is Me.”
• Helps students learn POV (Point of View)
• Multiple versions, add additional
sources/details, expand into formal essay
• Can be applied to social studies, science,
math?
Percentage Poem
• Brainstorm qualities, traits, hobbies,
interests, goals, etc.
• Begin with “I’m....”
• Add percentages to each
• Ends with: It all adds up, can’t you
see.
The total is 100% Me.
Example of Percentage
Poem
I’m 3 percent lucky
And 7 percent snow,
10 percent winter,
No matter how cold.
I’m 8 percent mountains, because I like to ski,
And 12 percent forests—they make me feel free.
...
It all adds up, can’t you see.
The total is 100% me.
Preposition Poem
• Provide students with a list of
prepositions
• Decide on a subject for the poem
• Create prepositional phrases
• Arrange and revise
• Read out loud
Example of Preposition
Poem
Under the sun
Over the grass
Through the air
Upon the left foot
Upon the right foot
Behind the back
Over the shoulders
Between their legs
Down the sideline
Toward the gloves
But before the final whistle
at the last minute
In the dying seconds—
Into the net.
Non-fiction Narrative
• Choose subject currently being covered
• Basic Format:
• Topic Sentence
• Another Sentence
• Unfortunately...
• Fortunately...
• Finally...
• Begin with full sentences
• Revise, looking for the “chiefest” words (Most important)
• Can be used to summarize any story, memory, event, or
fictional narrative
Example of Non-Fiction
Narrative Poem
Found Poem
• Gather words from surroundings or from a
text
• Blackout or highlight a text
• Identify the “chiefest” words
• Good to use with the opening paragraph of
a chapter or novel
• Can be used to re-write another poem
• Great to use outside the classroom
Example of found poem
Elegy for Electricity
There are no guarantees or perfect connections.
And during a performance we may need maintenance,
But despite these breakdowns, we find ways
To bring service to an electrified audience.
We
Have
Power.
List Poem
• Choose a concept or subject
• Use research and objective details to
gather words
• List descriptions, ideas, and images
associated with the subject
• No need for complete sentences
Other Lesson Examples
• Refrain Poem
• Refrain/chorus repeated
• Curiosity Poem
• Questions about a part of life
• Pose thoughtful questions and express
the author’s feelings toward the subject
• Extended Metaphor