Latest Lesson Plans
Writing Our Names
by Madison Stuart Teachers are keepers of names. Some corner of my brain is cluttered with Alexanders and Amanis and…
Black Nikes in Red Weather: A Lesson Plan for “Dream Poems”
T&W writer Matthew Burgess brings us a new poetry activity which uses the poems "Black Nikes" by Harryette Mullen and…
How a Spider Web Can Untangle Memoir Writing
by Kendra Stanton Lee “All I have are Iggy Pop and dirt-biking before I got locked up,” one student shared…
Facts Before Fiction: Writing into Autumn
"Fictional stories and poetry are often held together by fact, and this lesson shows students how they can weave practical…
Season of Virus: Poems Written During the Pandemic
The following poems were written during our year in quarantine, from 2020-2021, by older adults in virtual creating aging programs through Teachers & Writers Collaborative and our partners. The first set is from participants in the oral history and storytelling program with Visions Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a workshop led by Dave Johnson…
How a Spider Web Can Untangle Memoir Writing
by Kendra Stanton Lee “All I have are Iggy Pop and dirt-biking before I got locked up,” one student shared with the class. That sounds like plenty of material to me, I said, as I began to jot some of the student’s memories on the board. First, I drew a large rectangle box in dry…
A footprint on our hearts
Over the last few weeks, we at T&W have lost two poets near and dear to us. We mourn their passing and send condolences to their families, friends, and readers. Gary Lenhart, 73, was Associate Director of T&W in the late 1980’s & early 1990’s. He was the person who wrote the grants that kept…
Teaching Whitman in High School
The following article was originally published in print by Teachers & Writers Magazine. by Bill Zavatsky My first sustained reading of Whitman took place in the fall of 1965 or the spring of 1966. It was his “Song of Myself,” a good chunk of which I read while sitting in a lobby at the New…
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL: HIGH SCHOOL POETRY IN THE AGE OF ZOOM
Paola Capó-García chose to address the challenges of virtual instruction by having her high school students do a deep dive into poetry, allowing them the time and space to explore their own poetic voices.
Voices in the Dark
2021 Bechtel Prize Runner-up Sue Granzella’s elementary school students became enthusiastic poets and wrote their feelings about the pandemic with profound depth.
Facts Before Fiction: Writing into Autumn
“Fictional stories and poetry are often held together by fact, and this lesson shows students how they can weave practical knowledge into imaginative writing.” Educator Diane Conmy shares one of her favorite lessons, inspired by autumn and the book “Autumn Leaves” by Ken Robbins.
30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing Prompts for National Poetry Month
30 for 30: This April, find writing workshop prompts for every day of National Poetry Month.
The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: An Interview with Felicia Rose Chavez
In this interview, Felicia Rose Chavez and poet and T&W writer Amanda Volel discuss Chavez’s new book “The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom” and how to incorporate anti-racist practices and mindfulness into your workshop classroom.
Talk to the Hand: A Creative Exercise in Seeing, Writing, and Making Spontaneous Broadsides
T&W writer Matthew Burgess brings a new creative writing exercise that refreshes “our perceptual apparatus.” Watch your students slip out of self-consciousness and into play and process with this activity.