As my students continue to write poetry, I continue to look for strategies that can help get them going. In Writing Poetry by Shelly Tucker, there’s a great strategy that always works with middle school students, especially those for whom writing can be challenging. The strategy involves leading lines of a poem with verbs. Begin by reading a poem such as this one by Lisa Stuebing.
Students will notice how each line begins with an action. Tucker explains, “ Verbs that start lines provide direction and momentum. Each one gives a snapshot of the action named” (p. 57). This is the perfect opportunity to discuss the role of imagery in poetry. I ask my students to make a list of their favorite activities and places. Selecting one of the ideas on their list, they brainstorm a list of actions that capture the activity or place in a way that sets it apart from any other. Then, it’s time to write! Here’s some of their great work.
Whenever my students are stuck, I find them returning to this strategy again and again. And each time, they experience success!
Sonja Cherry-Paul has been an educator for the past 17 years. She is a middle school English teacher and co-author of Teaching Interpretation: Using Text-Based Evidence to Construct Meaning. Sonja is a Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards committee member and a part-time instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University where she is also a doctoral student.
Book Ever! by Eva Blank, et al. Students love jokes. And the best part about using jokes to teach grammar is that they are filled with puns, wordplay, and word usage. “Why was the rabbit unhappy?” She was having a bad hare day.
There are even Mad Libs apps and websites now, but I prefer holding the Mad Libs pad and writing them down with my whole class. Not only do they review the parts of speech, but they also review vocabulary. Next time, you do Mad Libs with your students, have them use ONLY words from the word wall or vocabulary list. They will surely get creative.
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