Poetry Activities

Today spend 10 minutes reading the poetry book you selected. As you read, in your journal, jot down 10 words (1 word per minute) from the poems you are reading. Choose the word(s) that you find the most intriguing or interesting. Try to avoid simple abstract or vague words or common ones. Go for the interesting ones.

When the bell chimes, spend two minutes jotting down the titles of the poems you have been reading. We'll use this later.

Get into groups of two. Alternatively, select a poem from your book and read this to your partner. The partner should listen. After reading discuss what you remember or imagined during the reading. Take only a minute or two to discuss this with the reader. Then the listener/describer will read a poem from his/her book and repeat the process. Do this 3 times. When the bell chimes. Stop and move on to the next portion of our exercise.

Choose a new poem from your collection. Then you and your partner follow these steps:

1. Read the poem silently once.
2. Alternate readers so that your partner reads the same poem a second and third time, this time out loud.
3. Take a moment to discuss the poem with your partner.
4. List and define any words that you or your partner may not know or only “think” you know. Write these words and their definition in your own journals. Use the internet dictionary to help you, or a physical dictionary.
5. Separately, list the words in the poem that alone stress the importance of the poem’s meaning.
6. Compare your list with your partner’s list. Which words are the same? Which are different? Write both your lists in your own journals.
7. Separately, which single word summarizes the poem for you?
8. Compare your word with your partner’s word. Write both your words in your own journals.
9. Separately, Examine the poem and describe an image that encompasses the entire poem – describe this image. (in other words, if this poem were a photograph, what would the photograph be of?)

Last, but not least, with the remaining class time, finish your elemental poem draft (hand in to the dropbox when completed). If you finish early, look over your word lists in your journal and write a poem inspired by some of the ideas and poems and words you read in class.