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poetrypoetry

MEMORY

To make language memorable, To make language memorable, poets or singers…poets or singers…

• REPEAT SOUNDS

• CREATE VIVID IMAGES

(*vivid = something exciting or surprising)

Written poetry….Written poetry….

To remember…..

• Your history, your family’s history, or the history of your community…

• BUT ALSO……..

Written poetry….Written poetry….

•EXCITES….•SURPRISES…..•MAKES THE WORLD NEW….

Poetry….Poetry….

• Ancient world• Memory (story-telling)

• Modern world

•Memory (story-telling)

•Language that surprises and excites us

B O R I N G

Poetry takes us by surprise…Poetry takes us by surprise…

Sad

strange

VIVIDVIVID

•

Strange!

Some useful terms for poets…Some useful terms for poets…

• A line of poetry is called a verse.

• Several verses together make a stanza

How many verses in this stanza?How many verses in this stanza?

I fell asleep in class today, as I was awfully bored.

I laid my head on my desk and closed my eyes and snored

I woke to find a piece of paper sticking to my face.

I'd slobbered on my textbooks and my hair was a disgrace.

(from poetryforkids.com)

Stanza = Unit Stanza = Unit (like a paragraph)(like a paragraph)

• A stanza is held together as a unit with similar or related

• SOUNDS

and/or

• IMAGES

SOUNDSOUND

• Some poems have end-rhymes—rhyming words at the end of verses:

I woke to find a piece of paper sticking to my face.

I'd slobbered on my textbooks and my hair was a disgrace.

But sometimes poems do NOT have

end-rhymes. This kind of poetry is called:

free verse

IMAGEIMAGE

• While some poems make repetitive sounds, ALL poems offer us surprising, exciting images

• An image = word picture; it can be made using

–simple description –or metaphor

IMAGEIMAGE

• SIMPLE DESCRIPTION:

the bird sings beautifully

METAPHOR:

the bird sings a blue ribbon of air

METAPHOR = ComparisonMETAPHOR = Comparison

• A metaphor compares two things:

=

La la..

Today’s Writing ProjectToday’s Writing Project

A one-stanza poem of free verse

To make your stanza hold To make your stanza hold together…together…

• We’re going to begin and end the

poem with the same verse (the same line of poetry)

Langston HughesLangston Hughes

““Poem”Poem”

I loved my friend

He went away from me

That’s all there is to say

The poem ends

Soft as it began

I loved my friend

10 EASY STEPS10 EASY STEPS

• This is a “recipe” approach to poetry writing.

• It is helpful for getting the hang of poetry-writing, but most poets don’t follow a recipe….

ONEONE

• Close your eyes and quiet your body and just let some images of SUMMER float up inside your head…..

• Maybe you think of a FAVORITE moment you remember from a vacation long ago…or maybe you think of a person or activity that you always do during the summer break …

TWOTWO

• Open your eyes and write a simple sentence that describes what floated into your head. You can help yourself get

going by finishing one of these sentences:

• I like…..

• I remember…..

What I wrote…What I wrote…

I like driving down the highway

because you can see all the

lights…

THREETHREE

• Now, you’re going to turn your sentence into a verse.

• First, draw a line under your sentence

• Then, DROP OUT anything in your sentence that isn’t essential.

For example….For example….

I like driving down the highway because you can see the lights.

• ----------------------------------------------------

• What could I drop out?

Just focus on one image…Just focus on one image…

I like driving down the highway because you can see the lights.

______________________________________

• Driving down the highway

( or )

• See the lights

You have a verse!You have a verse!

• Actually, you’ve got 2 verses: your first and last. Mine is:

Driving down the highway*****************************************************Driving down the highway

Now, we’ve got to fill in the middle verses.

FOURFOUR

• Come up with 3 NOUNS related to your special memory

• DON’T REPEAT ANY NOUN you already have in your first verse….

• Remember: noun = name, place, thing, activity….

What I wrote down…What I wrote down…

• Street • House

• Lights

Ask a FriendAsk a Friend

• If you draw a blank—and you can’t come up with any nouns—ask your pen pal or someone else at your table to help you brainstorm a little bit….

FIVEFIVE

• Add a TOUCH or SOUND word to the front of your noun (or nouns):

• Slick Street

• Quiet House

•Liquid Lights

It doesn’t have to make sense!

SIXSIX

• ADD a SIGHT or FEELING word to what you’ve written already:

•Black Slick Street

•Kind Quiet Houses

•Rolling Liquid Lights

SEVENSEVEN

• Put those middle verses inside our opening/closing verses:

Driving down the highway

Black Slick Street

Kind Quiet Houses

Rolling Liquid Lights

Driving down the highway

EIGHTEIGHT

• OPTIONAL: ADD some ACTION WORDS (VERBS) to your middle verses. They are written on PINK slips of paper.

Driving down the highwayBlack Slick Streets JUMPKind Quiet Houses SLIDERolling Liquid Lights FLICKERDriving down the highway

NINE: Let’s Add a Little ZingNINE: Let’s Add a Little Zing

• We’re going to ADD A METAPHOR (actually a “similie” which is a metaphor introduced by the word LIKE or AS…..)

• First TAKE AWAY the ACTION WORD in one of

your middle verses…• Add the word LIKE to the end of the verse • For example:

Kind Quiet Houses Like…

The metaphor I made…The metaphor I made…

Kind quiet houses like snow falling on snow

Remember: a metaphor is a comparison.

My metaphor suggests that the kind, quiet houses are LIKE snow falling on snow

TEN: YOU’RE DONE!TEN: YOU’RE DONE!

• PUT IT ALL TOGETHER (add / delete as you desire):

Driving down the highwayblack slick streets jump bykind, quiet houses like snow falling on snow--Rolling liquid lights flickerDriving down the highway

Holiday Greeting CardHoliday Greeting Card

• Write your poem on the INSIDE flap of the card.

• Decorate the front of the card.

• Address the outside of the envelope to someone you want to make happy!!

Olvier’s poemOlvier’s poem

Climbing in the presents

Jolly, huge Christmas tree

Pretty soft stockings

Little oval gameboy

Climbing in the presents

BibliographyBibliography

Some of the ideas presented in this seminar were adapted from:

Any Child Can Write Harvey S WeinerOxford University Press 4th ed. 2003

Poem-making: ways to begin writing poetryMyra Cohn Livingston Harper Collins 1991

A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children Write PoetryBarbara Juster EsbensenHenry Holt 1995

Assignment….Assignment….

• Keep a word book….

• Fill it with interesting……

–ACTION words–TOUCH words–FEELING words–SOUND words–SIGHT words