Clear, fun, and engaging “lessons” for writing at home with young people.
This is a fun out-of-the-box exercise by Frank Ingrasciotta in which we visualize and describe the letters of the alphabet as pictures then write poems that riff on these pictures using the letters of our own names. The lesson works especially well for visual spatial learners and reinforces those skills for other young writers.
In this lesson, read William Blake’s “Tyger” poem, experiment with ekphrasis poetry and dive into writing descriptive poems with questions, about an object of your choice!
Here’s an imaginative writing lesson to follow up on your WOWT “Delight Songs” poems. Write lyric “list poems” and use anaphora with the help of Joe Brainard’s “I Remember”.
This lesson introduces the concept of metaphor by inviting young writers to create recipes for abstract things in life.
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.
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!
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.
An activity for writing poetry about the soul, inspired by poems by Mary Oliver and Walt Whitman.
Explore the musical and rhythmic elements of spoken poetry with Sekou Sundiata’s “Shout Out.”
Celebrate any season by writing original and daring poems inspired by E.E. Cummings and his rambunctious wordplay.