Final Poetry Projects

Last year, my students completed a very flowery final project for their poetry unit. As 6th graders, they created Powerpoint poetry books and in some classes, had books made representing the best poetry in their class. This year, I needed to create a different approach. They are getting older, and they have shown they understand different forms and elements of poetry. As 7th graders, the students will create chap books. I explained to the kids that chap books are no-nonsense approaches to demonstrating to a publisher what a writer is capable of. They were asked to for-go the pretty clip art and glitter and produce writing, only writing they are proud of. They created several different form poems for their books. I am excited about the type of writing they are doing. I can tell they are too! Each class last week, we had writing workshop time. I supported the students with a mini-lesson and shared a sample poem I wrote. Each day, they surprised me with their enthusiasm and ability to follow complicated form poem requirements, like the Villanelle! Each day, I wrote along side them and we shared our struggles and asked one another for rhyming words. For the past week, my classroom was really a community of writers. I had to give myself a little pat on the back for that one. Thanks for reading!