Poetry Chapbooks: STEMM-Revision Reminders and Chapbook Checklists

Poetry Writing Month is nearing a close, and chapbooks (see checklist below) are due at the end of the period on Thursday, May 1. Students have received 12-15 specific prompts to inspire their collections (see earlier post). Students have gone through a peer-revision protocol to reexamine their poems through STEMM-Inspired ideas:

STEMM-inspired Revision:

Poem Engineering: How is the structure working or how might it be improved? Consider: how are the lines formatted/laid out on the page/where would more structure help? How are the ideas flowing, could they be rearranged, or repeated for stronger impact?

Poem Biology: What details are shining from the poem? Where might the poet sharpen, clarify, or brighten words or images? Where are words that are weak or “dead?” This is the “cellular” level of the poem.

Poem Mathematics: Where might the poet add, subtract, multiply, make parallel (or use repetition) in ideas/words/lines?

**Feedback form should be completed with notes to guide your revision, either taken during group feedback or used by yourself as a way to revise on your own. 

Poetry Chapbook Checklist

1. Book Creation: ___/50

___ a. Cover/book format: Creative, artistic, purposefully designed to show your personal “aesthetic”

___b. Table of Contents

___c. Quote page/Dedication page: Quote or quotes that inspire you or this collection, someone/something to whom the collection is dedicated

___d. Introduction to Collection: What inspires you, what you gained, what is your relationship to poetry, what do you hope the reader gets from reading your work, any themes that are in the collection.

___e. Visuals/Creativity: Book uses thoughtful design layout, may include illustrations, collage, borders, designs

2. Poetry Collection: ___/100

___a. At least 10 polished, revised, edited poems. No careless errors. Poems are of varying length (i.e., not 10 haiku)

___b. Each poem uses at least three poetic devices. Ex: alliteration, repetition, rhythm, rhyme, rhyme pattern, metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, irony, dialect, etc.

___c. Purposeful word choice: if poem rhymes, rhyme enhances the poem. No “dead” words.

___d. Poems are laid out on the page purposefully, in lines and stanzas.

___e. Represents challenging, meaningful work that shows thoughtful time and effort.

Poetry Writing Month Prompts~A Poem A Day Keeps the Doldrums Away! UPDATED

Poetry Writing Month Prompts:

Here are the prompts so far for our 30 days of poetry writing, which will culminate in a 10-poem chapbook (fancy word for poetry collection).

Remember: Poetry is about building your skills of observation, to really see, hear, and feel the world around you and then reflect those observations in lines that are rich with specific detail.

Some ways of responding we have discussed are included at the end of the prompt list.

Day 1: "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176056

Day 2: “The Words They Sing” Prose Poem by Pablo Neruda

http://mseffie.com/handouts/neruda.html

Day 3: Periods 1 & 2: Write a poem inspired by your Inquiry Project

Periods 3,5,6: Snapshot poem: Capture a small moment in time by “exploding the moment” and zooming in using sensory details (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, emotion)

Day 4: A STEMM-Inspired poem: use learning from a STEMM class to write a poem (Inspiration for this comes from a Eulogy to a Comet, featured on NPR: http://www.isoncampaign.org/karl/in-memoriam)

Day 5 & 6: Weekend poetry writing—your choice! Capture something using any of the devices we have reviewed or ways of responding.

Day 7: Spring-inspired poem: See “Early Spring” by Rainier Maria Rilke: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/early-spring/

Day 8: Periods 1 & 2: Snapshot poem (see Day 3 above)

Periods 3,5,6: Create-your-own-poem-prompt: Ms. Witham’s prompt: an “Inadequacy Poem”

Day 9: Periods 3,5,6: "Choose-Your-Own-Prompt" poem

Day 10: Periods 1 & 2: Gallery Walk-Inspired Poem (from notes you take on others' Inquiry Projects)
Periods 3,5,6: Inquiry Poem: List poem of questions and wonderings you have that might lead to your Inquiry Topic.

Day 11: Periods 1 & 2: Continue Gallery Walk-Inspired Poem (from notes you take on others' Inquiry Projects)
Periods 3,5,6: Rant Poem, inspired by "Kids Don't Play" spoken word poem

Days 12-20: Spring Break Poems--Any poems inspired by your "Literary Choose-Your-Own-Adventure"

Day 21: Random Autobiography of Spring Break: random collection of events and experiences from your break. 

Day 22: 22 Sounds Poem, Inspired by "22 Sounds of my Father": http://www.teenink.com/poetry/all/article/11644/The-22-Sounds-of-My-Father/
Your poem may be "sights" or "senses" of anyone, anything, or anywhere you want to show in clear, rich detail.

Day 23: Quote/Lyric inspired poem~Use an inspirational quote or favorite lyric to inspire a response poem.

Day 24: Period 1/2: Song-inspired poem: "Blue Jeans and White Tee-shirts"~Choose a line to inspire a poem.

Day 25: Period 1/2: Write a Villanelle to experiment with rhyme and repetition patterns.

Day 28: (Period 5,6) "I Love Poem"--Write in detail about a favorite hobby or place, using sensory detail and rich imagery to convey an "insider's" perspective. Each line starts with love and focuses on a different aspect of the topic.

Day 29: Voice poem, using inspiration from Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son"~http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177021

Possible Responses to inspiration poems/prompts:

Imitate structure

Imitate a device (metaphor, repetition, rhyme pattern)

Have a conversation with the poem/poet

“Steal a line” (always use an attribution, i.e., “With thanks to Billy Collins for “Introduction to Poetry”

Call of Words

Use the title and create your unique twist on the topic

Write an ode (honorary poem, often to an everyday object)

Imitate the syntax (sentence/line structure)

List poem

Story poem

Snapshot poem

Spring Break: Choose Your Own Literary Adventure!

Spring Break Work~Continuing with Poetry Month on your own! 

Please read whole post to understand your "Choose Your Own Literary Adventure."

Remember: Your goal is to have a chapbook of at least 10 poems you have revised and are proud of by May 1st. 

Periods 1 & 2

Congratualations on finishing your Inquiry Project! (Psst...If you haven’t yet, you need to by Monday, April 21. Don't flake.)

Periods 3, 5, & 6

Congratulations on embarking on your Inquiry Project! 

Seek out at least one source that can help you answer your guiding question about your topic. If you don’t know your topic or guiding question yet, figure one out and find a source! Remember, the expectation is TWO book sources (one nonfiction, one fiction or memoir), and TWO non-book sources: a podcast, a movie, a documentary, TV show, an interview, a museum exhibit, a series of songs/poems about your topic, an article, a website. ENJOY the pursuit of answers to your questions!

Final products for Inquiry Project will be due Thursday, May 15th. See earlier posts for more information. We will review the project expectations more when we get back from break.

Now for Everyone’s Spring Break Literary Choose-Your-Own-Adventure:

1. Book-Lovers Unite! Attend the FREE Los Angeles Festival of Books at USC on Saturday 4/12 or Sunday 4/13 for the biggest public literary event in North America. See the authors and info here: http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

The Expo line goes straight there!

Saturday highlights: JOHN GREEN, Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, Graphic Novel panels, Francesca Lia Block, LOTS more!

Sunday highlights: SANDRA CISNEROS, Stephen Chbosky, Sonya Sones, Barbara Ehrenreich, Laura Halse Anderson, LOTS more!

Write a few poems inspired by what you saw/heard/read/observed/or experienced.

2. Write a poem-a-day, using the world as your prompt. Remember the point of poetry writing—to become a better observer of the world around you.

Try a dialogue poem (nothing but people talking—an excuse to eavesdrop!), an ode, a list poem, a haiku series, a “found poem,” a lyric poem (inspired by a song), or any other kind of poem that suits your fancy.

3. Find a “Ghost Poet” Mentor and read as much of his/her poetry as you can (he or she does not have to be decease, just someone you believe can be a kind of wise guide for you in your own poetry writing). Better yet, find a Spanish language poet who has English translation, and immerse yourself in the beauty of poetry in two languages!

4. Read a book of poems. Boom.

5. Try a variation of poetry writing—word/poem art, or something you create that captures poetry to you. See Ms. W’s Pinterest page, particularly the “30 for 30” Roots + Poetry Board or the Samples Board for word art poetry: http://www.pinterest.com/MsWitham/

6. Watch a Poetry-Inspired movies: Dead Poets Society, Poetic Justice, the documentary series “Brave New Voices” about young spoken word artists competing for glory, or a Shakespeare movie. (Hint Hint)

7. Do a Story-Corps inspired interview of a family member or friend who has a fascinating story. Turn the experience into a series of Point of View poems, told in that person's voice. Hear some great interviews at StoryCorps.org and check out their list of Great Questions here: http://storycorps.org/great-questions/

8. Traveling over break, out of state or just within our city? Write a series of place poems that capture the locations you find yourself in. Think sensory details (sight, smell, sound, taste, touch, feeling)~how can you help someone else live through the poetic "snapshots" you create?

9. Something else literary--You decide. Make some poems from it. 

Again, remember: Your goal is to have a chapbook of at least 10 poems you have revised and are proud of by May 1st.