30 Days of Poetry

Teacher Page:

You can teach students to write poetry!

30 Days of Poetry is a series of creative writing lessons designed to motivate students to begin writing poetry. Patterns are provided for the students along with examples students have created in 1997 and 1998 as a result of these lessons. In addition to the lessons, on some pages there are links to the Internet where poetry forms are further discussed or more examples are provided.

Goals:

Students will explore various forms of poetry and develop an appreciation of the poetic form
Students will explore use of language and grammar as used in poetry
Students will use the writing process: prewrite, write, revise and publish
Students will use the Internet to access lessons and to find supplementary materials relevant to the poetic form they are using
Students will demonstrate proficiency in the use of technology to produce a chapbook
Teachers will learn through the use of patterns they can teach poetry as creative writing and the methodology of doing so is quite simple

Time: The time required to complete this project varies. Used as a unit of instruction complete in itself, it takes about 3 weeks to complete. An alternative method of instruction, using the materials throughout the school year, is an option available to the teacher.

Materials required:

Access to the Internet
Word processing software (WordPerfect 6.0+ or Microsoft Word 7.0+ are recommended)
General office supplies

Words of advice:

At the beginning of the unit many students will be hesitant. They will tell you they "hate" poetry and writing it even more. For that reason the first lessons are designed to provide the student with instant success. By following the patterns that are given and seeing what other students their age have accomplished, they will slowly become comfortable with the poetic forms. In fact, don't be surprised when those who groaned at the beginning come up to you privately later on and tell you that they liked doing the unit.

As in all assignments, there will be a broad variety of results. Some of the students will adhere strictly to the instructions. Others will develop a feel for poetry quickly and ask you if they "have" to follow the forms. When students are ready to strike out on their own, let them. In only a few instances should they be required to adhere to the patterns provided. When they are dealing with established literary forms like haiku, tanka, cinquain, and pantoum should they be required to demonstrate their proficiency with the form. Where it is appropriate, links to supplementary materials are provided.

In most instances, a day's lesson can be completed in less than a 40-55 minute period. This gives students time to review what they have written, revise, and rewrite. Often, they can be required to produce two poems of the same style. By doing this, they get practice working with it. They also are forced to think about subjects to write about. Often the second poem is of a higher quality because students are familiar with the form and extend their imaginations to write the second piece.

Publishing:

As with all poets, not everything we write is of stellar quality. At the end of the unit, students are to make a "chapbook." Out of all the poems they have written, they are to choose their best 10-14 for publication. This can be an opportunity for a reflective journal in which students explain their choices.

To make a chapbook, you will need the word processing program. In typing the poems into the computer, students will have to demonstrate operation of the program. The material is typed into the computer in the "landscape" mode with the paper divided into two columns. The pages will be printed on both sides. This will require students to lay out the material before they begin typing. To do this, they need to fold paper in half the long way and write on each page the material they wish to appear on that page. Using this as a guide, they will know what is to appear in each column of the page, which side it will be printed on, and where it is to be placed. When printing, students should print two copies, one for the teacher and one for themselves.

Final publication can come in the form of a school or class literary magazine. Either the teacher or the school publications department can easily produce such a magazine. Late in the summer, 1998, look here for directions on how to reach The Serpents' Journal which will be published on the Internet.

April is National Poetry Month:

This is an excellent activity to do during April. It is a celebration of Poetry Month. At the end of the month, Mother's Day falls shortly thereafter. Many mothers have received these chapbooks as presents from their high school students and cried. Mothers will thank the teachers.

This page was last updated on
04/19/03