Designate one window a poetry window, as an activity centre.

When the
students come to that centre, they must look out, and find one thing with poetry
in it, and write a poem about it. Post all the poems written through the poetry
window on display around the window.
Word Awareness Centre--Post generic sentences. Have students expand on
them.
Generic sentences could include "We had a lot of fun," or, "She was a
good person."
E.g. "It was a nice day" becomes, "The day smelled of freshly cut grass,
as the newborn sun poked its head over the horizon, spreading its lifegiving rays over the landscape."
Parts of Speech Centre--Color code parts of speech, and place on magnets.
Each person using the centre gets a package of color coded parts of speech, and
must create sentences from them, posting the sentences on a magnetic surfaces.
Illustration Centre--Have a collection of small poems copied. Have students
divide up sentences, and make picture books of poem. Students could make
picture books of their own poems.
Listening Centre--Students can record their favourite poems. Other students
can listen to them.
Reading Centre--Display baskets of favourite poems for the students to read.
Editorial Centre--Display interesting, funny, or disturbing news articles.
Students write an editorial poem on an event of their choice.
Line Break Centre--Rewrite short poems without the line breaks. Students
must put in breaks where they think they belong, following the rule that a line
break equals a pause.
Revision Centre--Students take a poem, and must condense it into a story,
taking out all embellishments. Students could also try this in reverse, and
compare it to the original poem.
Poem Analysis Activity--Once the basic poetry elements are taught, give a
poem to the whole class. Split class into these groups: metaphor simile group,

beginning and ending group, rhyme group, repetition and pattern group,
physical form group. Each group gets ten minutes to analyze the poem based on
their topic, and report back. Students should then find their element in one of
their own poems.
Missing Words Activity--Take out the most "poetic" words of a poem, and
leave blanks in their place. Students must fill in the blanks. Share their poems,
and then share the original. Students can then do this to their own poems in
groups, and have other group members brainstorm other picture words to use in
the blanks of each student's poem.
Poetic Description Sheet:
E.g. Description of Trees:
Ordinary Description: (First
words that come to mind):

Poetic Description: (Words that paint

a picture in the reader's mind)

Green

Greener than a coral sea

tall

towering

old

more wrinkled than a 100 year old man's

face

Poetry Toolbox (Image Rooms Tool):

Georgia Heard, in her very practical book called, "Awakening the Heart" talks about
the idea of a poetry toolbox (p. 62-72). Just as a carpenter carries his/her tools in a
toolbox, a poet should carry his/her poetry toolbox to the writing table. The meaning
toolbox includes expressing oneself through visual and sensory tools (e.g image,
metaphor, similie, line-breaks, etc.). The music toolbox expresses feelings and
experience through musical and rhythmic tools (e.g. rhyme, patterns, rhythm,
alliterations, onomatopeia, etc.). Her book includes many practical tools for the
poetry writer's toolbox. One of the tools in the meaning toolbox is the image rooms
tool:
Image Rooms Poetry Writing Tool:
Image: Think of
Light: Think of the same image as the image
something interesting, and
room, but focus on the quality of light in the
describe it as clearly as a
image
photograph
Sound: Are there voices,
other sounds that are part
of your image? Describe

Questions: Do you have questions about the

image?

them.
Feelings: How does the
image make you feel?

Repeating Words(s): Look at the other 5

rooms about this image, and select a word or
sentence that feels most important about this
image, and write it 3 times.

Other rooms can be added, such as smell, taste, touch, similies, metaphors, etc.
The students can then write a poem using the information in their image
rooms. Students could also work from an actual photograph they have been
given.

Search Your Library Catalogue Unders

Some of These Subject Headings

Poetry -- Authorship
Poetry -- Study and Teaching (You can add Elementary, Middle School or
Secondary, to narrow it down)
Search by types of poems: e.g. Concrete or Visual Poetry, Humorous Poetry,
Limericks, Haiku, Nonsense Verses
Poetics
Poetry collections

Use the Poetry Box Activity Kits

Thomas, Sue (1982). The primary poetry box [flash cards]. (808.1 Tho)
Seasonal and theme cards contain a poem on one side, followed by a number of
activities for each poem.

Boultinghouse, Ann (1979). The poetry box [activity cards]. (808.1 Bou)
100 activity cards lead the student through all aspects of poetry writing. e.g.
alliteration, couplet, haiku, limerick, metaphor, rhyme, stanza, etc.

Use "Yes You Can Write Poetry" Binder

Lashmar, Patrick (1992). Yes you can write poetry : a whole language unit for ages
9 through 13. (808.1 Las)
Contains 36 poetry-writing activities, with student handouts for each activity. Some of
the activities are autobiographical poems, acrostically speaking, visual sound poems,
writing limericks, write your own alphabet poem/newspaper poem/ dinosaur poem,
etc.

Use Reader's Theater Activities to Involve Students

Bauer, Caroline Feller (1987). Presenting reader's theater : plays and poems to
read aloud. (792.022 Bau)
A treasure trove of plays and poems designed to read aloud.
Fleischman, Paul. I am phoenix : poems for two voices. (811.54 Fle)
The noise of birds is recreated in these poems for two voices (or two groups of
voices).
Students could also adapt other poems for "choral reading."
AUTHOR Fleischman, Paul (1985). Joyful noise : poems for two voices. 811.54 Fle
The noise of insects is recreated in these poems for two voices (or two groups of
voices).
Hoberman, Mary Ann (2001).You read to me, I'll read to you: very short stories to
read together. (811.54 Hob)
"This unique book in two voices uses traditional reading techniques - rhyme, rhythm,
and repetition - to invite young children to read along with an adult."