It’s Poetry Month! This month, for our virtual tween writing program, we looked at different styles of poetry, including the always-popular acrostic!
We did an easy activity where kids were invited to look around their spaces and pick an every day object to write about. I shared my own simple example (I firmly believe in modelling activities – kids understand an activity much better when they have a concrete example to draw from):
Pointy
Eraser at the end
Not permanent
Colorful or grey
I love to draw!
Let’s draw together!
Of course, I was writing about the humble pencil!
Kids were invited to share their writing, and while some of them chose not to, several of them proudly shared their poems about pens, books, and even their pets!
One of the reasons I like to invite kids to write about every day objects is that it helps make poetry feel accessible to everyone – poems don’t always have to be about “important” or “serious” things, they can and should celebrate the normal, boring, every day objects, places and people that fill our lives. Even something as simple as a pencil is worthy of a poem.
Happy poetry month!
Jane, thanks for this sweet example of an important prompt, giving voice to all children and their stories, no matter what they are. Hear hear to not having to write poem about important or serious topics. I just have to share with you the prompt we used this morning at #Verselove. https://www.ethicalela.com/an-ode-to-the-unworthy/ If you go visit, be sure to watch Ocevedo recite her “Rat Ode.”
Oh, thank you so much for sharing the link – I had so much fun reading all the odes (there was an ‘ode to a hoodie’ that they would definitely appreciate, seeing as every young person around me seems to live in their hoodies and sweatpants), and now I feel so inspired for a new poetry project with my tweens!
Great example to get kids to try poetry!
And they do like to write about those everyday things, Jane, find connections we might never think of! I like the poem, but especially the title – big smile for “Pointy”!
They do! Everyday things mean so much more when you’re eleven, and your world is smaller but your feelings are bigger. 🙂
Jane, you are singing my song. Kids love writing poetry when we let them know how easy it can be. Thank you for your work.
Isn’t it wonderful when we can help kids unleash their creativity? 🙂
Jane, your poem is remeniscent of Valerie Worth’s ‘All The Small Things.’ Succinct and to the point, A poem task with the essential idea of capturing a clear of the object under review. Well done. ‘2B or not 2B, that is the pencil.’
Yes! Such an inspiration. 🙂
Yay for accessible poetry! Love your example, Jane, and your inviting approach to sharing poetry with “tweens”. 🙂
Tweens are such a fun group, I’m new to working with this age group, and it definitely has its challenges, but they are always entertaining! 😀
You are right, Jane! Accessibility is key for these poets-to-be. Thanks for sharing this post!
100%! I definitely remember being young and thinking poetry was for ‘deep’ people who had profound thoughts, not boring old people like me – and we all know how wrong that is! 🙂
Jane, I love your Particularly-Energizing-Not-Common-Inspiringly-Lovely poem! What a fun and accessible example for kids!
Oooh, I love it! 🙂
Hooray for acrostics! It sounds like you had a great activity Jane. Thank you for sharing!
It was heaps of fun! Working with kids is definitely the best part of being a librarian. 🙂
Hooray for modeling and for accessible poetry, Jane!
It’s so important! I always say, never ask your students to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. 😉 It’s especially helpful when I’m doing art projects, because by all measures I am a terrible artist, so I like to show my kiddos that what matters is having fun and enjoying the process, however….unusual the results might end up being. ;-D
Jane,
This: “I firmly believe in modelling activities – kids understand an activity much better when they have a concrete example to draw from: I do too. It is so critical. I also like sharing other student work from previous years as examples.
Absolutely! I was a teacher for a few years before becoming a librarian, and I remember one of my mentors teaching me to “show AND tell” when giving instructions, because we all learn in different ways, and if we teach in different ways, we can connect with as many of our students as possible, in the ways they need us to connect with them. <3
Inviting the kids to write about everyday objects is a wonderful way to share that poetry IS for every day, that the ordinary can be, and is often, extraordinary. ❤️❤️
It’s such an empowering experience when you make that connection, isn’t it – that we don’t have to spend our lives waiting for extraordinary things to happen, but that the every day is in fact extraordinary. 🙂