Three Words Away a Poem Awaits
Teacher Joanna Fox writes about her experience using typewriters to excite her poetry students and to engage them in generative writing and the power of language.
Lesson Plans
Innovative lessons/ideas for teaching creative writing, as well as samples of student writing resulting from the lesson. See complete submission guidelines here.
Recipe Poems
This lesson introduces the concept of metaphor by inviting young writers to create recipes for abstract things in life.
The Sound of a Color: Writing Poems that Blend the Senses
In this lesson, learn how to create poems that blend the senses. With the help of this fun activity and a poem by Gayway Kinnell, experiment with vivid metaphor and the feel of words.
Odes to Animals
Inspire the most reluctant writers to become excited about poetry with this lesson, which involves a translation of a poem by Luo Binwang, to get students writing odes about their favorite animals!
Collage Poems with “The Jumblies”
Share in the pure joy of language with this lesson which engages word play, collage and poems by Edward Lear and Sonia Sanchez to create original poetry.
JIBSERIA: A Garden Mythology
A school garden becomes the inspiration for a writing project that combines myth-making and art. Winner of the 2020 Bechtel Prize for an innovative classroom project.
Writing the Soul
An activity for writing poetry about the soul, inspired by poems by Mary Oliver and Walt Whitman.
Shout Out Poems
Explore the musical and rhythmic elements of spoken poetry with Sekou Sundiata’s “Shout Out.”
“Spring Poems” with E.E. Cummings
Celebrate any season by writing original and daring poems inspired by E.E. Cummings and his rambunctious wordplay.
The Lune Link
Use family photographs or magazine images to create 3-line Lune poems.