Why do so many young people become disengaged with poetry? Often because it appears to have no connection with their own lives or is seen as “being too hard”. Connecting poetry to students own experiences and focusing on creativity and collaboration has enabled our Stage 4 students at CCSC to develop their ‘Growth Mind Set’ and write some outstanding poetry.
During our study and writing of poetry, students have been finding and including different poetry techniques to create their own poems. As a group they have been enthusiastic and excited about poetry, which has been an inspiring experience for all. To encourage creativity and free verse writing we have discussed that poetry does not have to always rhyme.
We began by writing a poem in small groups titled “What is a Poem?” Below are a few poems by the students which show their increasing skills and creativity in poetry writing. We have also studied metaphors and similes and created poems that include these two important figurative techniques. The images are of our expanding Poetry Wall and collaborative poetry writing sessions.
What is a Poem? by Teodora
A poem expresses feelings.
A poem makes sense,
Paints a picture in your mind.
Present or past,
Acrostic or Haiku,
Persuasive or funny.
A poem tells a story,
Without being boring.
Imagination runs wild
Like a young child.
Fantasy takes over
As you fill the lines,
No punctuation can also be fine.
This is a poem
As told by our minds.
My Metaphor Poem for Ningaloo Reef by Tynan
Whale sharks are very friendly in the same way as a dog,
Manta Rays fly through the water quicker than lightening can hit the ground,
Coral in the bay shines brighter than a thousand stars.
Turtles shells reflect the water graciously.
Fish take off quicker than a jet plane flying through the air,
Stingrays chilling on the bottom just the way people sit on a chair.
The blue-bone fish scales reflect the sun like an image in a mirror.
The vision of Ningaloo Reef showing its true image just the same as a pop-star on stage.
The peaceful sounds of the reef rushing on to shore as crowd watching a match of any kind.
Coral Bay is a very sacred place for seeing coral and as wonderful and equally beautiful as an underwater Zen Garden.
Bilbo by Jesse
There is a boy named Bilbo who is a star.
He was almost killed by the great Smawg Dragon
Who said, “You can’t escape me!
My teeth are swords, my swords are spears,
My wings are a hurricane!”
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