JASON REYNOLDS: Imagine if we were just to make space for young people to express their stories as they stand today – at 11 years old and 12 years old and 15 years old. What we do intrinsically and implicitly, it validates their humanity at …
Day 5, Call of Words: January Writing Challenge
A very special thank you to Stacey Joy for supporting our writing lives this month. Please follow Stacey Joy on Twitter for more resources and inspiration all year long @Joyteamstars. We will see you back here on February 15-19 with Allison Berryhill. Please share the …
Day 4, Memories in Dramatic Monologue: January Writing Challenge
Inspiration Today let’s write Dramatic Monologue Poems. Sometimes people ask us to say something to our younger selves, your first-year teacher self, or your before-you-got-married self. Today’s inspiration comes from seeing a picture of me in 5th grade and remembering all the stress from being …
Day 3, Women Wonders: January Writing Challenge
Inspiration Today let’s write Women Wonders poems. Although it isn’t yet Women’s History Month, I celebrate “wonder women” every day. My inspiration comes from the realities of the figurative and literal loads women carry. Process Think about the women in your life — the ones …
Day 2, Hot Lines: January Writing Challenge
Inspiration Today we are writing Hot Lines poetry. Nicholson Baker shared his advice to writers: “Copy out things that you really love. Put the quotation marks around it, put the date that you’re doing the copying out, and then copy it out. You’ll find that …
Day 1, Abuelito Who: January Writing Challenge
Inspiration Today, we are writing Abuelito Who poems! Sandra Cisneros is today’s inspiration. Her quote spoke to me, and I have a feeling it’s inspiring more than just today’s prompt. She said, “When you have your heart broken wide, you are also open to things …
December 5/5-Day Writing Challenge
Thank you for joining us on our last day of the December writing challenge. A very special thank you to Glenda Funk who developed all the poem inspirations and encouraged us each day. Next month, Stacey Joy will guide our writing from January 18-22. We …
December 4/5-Day Writing Challenge
Inspiration Bop: The Bop poem form functions as a poetic argument, much like the persuasive speech we teach in speech and the argumentative essay we teach in English classes. The Bop has a distinct structure, but the refrain, I think, is the glue holding the …
December 3/5-Day Writing Challenge
Inspiration One of my favorite poems to teach is “An Echo Sonnet: To An Empty Page” by Robert Pack. (Scroll to page 2 for the complete poem.) The poem appeared on the 2011 AP Lit and Comp exam in the free-response section, tasking students with …
December 2/5-Day Writing Challenge
Inspiration Fib (Fibonacci poem): A Fib poem marries math and poetry. Gregory K. Pincus created the Fib to commemorate National Poetry Month in 2006. From that first post, a Fib movement began. Fibs are based on the Fibonacci sequence, according to this post from the …