Category: Lesson Plans
Innovative lessons plans and ideas for teaching creative writing as well as samples of student writing resulting from the lessons.
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The Suitcase in the Mirror
Adventures with Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky.”
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On the Importance of Repetition in Poetry
How the poetry of Robert Hayden and the rap music of Drake can encourage close reading.
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Why Hurts Is a Verb: A 14 Million Year-Long Story
The nebulous origins of one student’s pandemic poetry.
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The Mysterious Bird of Fire
Writing collaboratively with kids.
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The Semester-Long Story
Nurturing perseverance and a sense of exploration.
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Show and Don’t Tell
Using flash fiction to teach personal narrative.
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You Must Change Your Life
Demystifying and remystifying poetry in the classroom.
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The Poetry of Prepositions
Teaching Robert Burleigh’s Hoops.
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Canon in a Flash
Reshaping the canon with flash fiction in the creative writing classroom.
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Escaping the Revision Trap
How gamifying the writing workshop gets results.
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Survival Island
Using a workshop approach with high school writers.
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Remaining Nameless
How writing anonymous personal narrative essays transformed a Bronx classroom.
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Some Victorious Answer to Everything
Bill Murray and Ferlinghetti’s “Dog” as an invitation to write new poetry.
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Walking, Watching, and Writing
How a 17th century Japanese master taught 50 Georgia sophomores the art of contemplative writing and living.
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Multilingual Approaches Toward English Prose
2022 Bechtel Prize Winner Shilpi Suneja’s students make language their subject.
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Voilà!
Raising spirits and conjuring magic in the poetry classroom.
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Birthing Poetry
A window into The Poetry Studio and the new collection, Another World: Poetry and Art by Young People.
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Mixing It Up with Dickinson
Two high school poetry workshops.
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Nature’s Wonder
Finding creativity and connecting writing to the natural world.
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You Never Forget Your Firsts
Making memories vividly present with Mary Kinzie’s “First Passion.”
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It Was the Year of Quiet Cities
Writing poems about pandemic times.
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You Are Who We Love
A lesson plan for collaborative poems inspired by Aracelis Girmay.
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Superheroic Delight Songs
A poetry-inspired mural at Lea Elementary in West Philly.
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Jayne Cortez and the Joyful Anti-Ode
Jayne Cortez’s poem “These New York City Pigeons” inspires student poetry.