MarcoGram April 2006 -- Poetry: The Art of the Word

Poetry: The Art of the Word
Poetry is like a fine painting or an elegant sculpture. But instead of using a camera, paintbrush or a mound of clay, poets string words together to express emotion, memories, beauty and truth. Poems can be about any topic, from trees and stars to death and taxes. This month's MarcoGram celebrates National Poetry Month by exploring different kinds of poetry. Encourage your students to analyze existing poetry to gain inspiration for creating their own poetic art, no matter what topic, form or rhyme. Use the activities below to jump-start the creative writing process, then scroll down for more lessons and links on this cross-curricular topic.

1. Suggested grade level: 6-8. Many ancient indigenous cultures, like the Mayan or the Aztecs, captured their traditions, beliefs and rituals in the form of poems, songs or folktales. The mystical qualities of nature were very important to their cultures, so their stories often told of animals that could transcend their earthly form to become mystical beings.

What animals are often believed to have spirit-like qualities? (Answers may vary, but can include wolves, eagles, tigers and dolphins.) What country reveres cows as sacred animals? (India) What ancient culture mummified and buried cats with their owners? (Egyptian)

For this activity, ask students to research ancient or foreign cultures through the library or by using Internet resources, such as KidSpace from the Internet Public Library, a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource. Ask the students to indicate the location of their assigned culture on a map, as well as what animals often appear in their assigned culture's stories, poems and songs. Then, have the students write a 12-line poem about their assigned cultures, using dictionary and thesauri to extend their vocabulary. Poems should mention the traditions, folklore and customs and use rhyming end words. Ask some students to read their poems aloud to the rest of the class.

Explore the mystical qualities of foreign and ancient cultures in:

"Animal Spirit and Powers (Nahuales)" (5-8) from ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

"Comparing Cultures" (6-8) from Xpeditions, National Geographic Society

Photograph of a four dollar note from the First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
(Available from American Memory, digital id: icufaw bpc0003)

2. Suggested grade level: K-2. Just as authors, poets and storytellers see beauty in words, many mathematicians and economists argue that they see poetry in numbers, figures and equations. Poetry is an excellent means of communicating information about all types of different subjects, even unlikely ones such as economics.

Download Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart," available as a PDF from the Franklin Institute, a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource. Silverstein's poem is about a boy who trades in his one dollar bill for several coins and ends up with less money than what he started with. Ask students if they think the poem is silly. Why or why not? Was the boy in the poem actually smart, as the poem's title would suggest? What coins are mentioned in the poem? Pass around actual coins to the students and examine each coin closely. What words describe the look and feel of each coin? Does the size of a coin indicate its worth? What words rhyme with penny, dime and nickel? (Answers will vary, but can include many, time and pickle.) Can you think of any words that rhyme with quarter? Ask the class to work together to create a short rhyming poem about coins.

See how poetry is used to describe all types of things in:

"Dinosaurs 1: Where Are the Dinosaurs?" (K-2) from Science NetLinks, American Association for the Advancement of Science

"Number Cents: Trading for Quarters" (K-2) from Illuminations, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

"Scratch Dance" (K-2) from ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

"Toys for Me: A Lesson on Choice" (K-2) from EconEdLink, National Council on Economic Education

3. Suggested grade level: 3-5. While some poets select and manipulate words in an attempt to convey vivid imagery, other poets go one step further and write poems in the shape of the poem's object. For example, a poem about a flower would have lines that curved to form the petals, stem and leaves of a flower.

Consider how shape poems could work in the mathematics classroom. What are the properties of a circle? (A curved line in which every point is equidistant from a fixed center point.) What is an isosceles triangle? (All three sides are of equal length.) What are some "poetic" synonyms for the word "equal"? (Answers will vary but can include same, exact, matched, mirror image.)

Discuss how poetry can make an ordinary object seem special. Ask students to create shape poems about a geometric shape of their choice. At first, students can write their poems as the outline of their shapes. Then, students should write stacked lines of poetry that fill the interior of the shape. They can play with line breaks to make their poems fit into the geometric forms. Remind them that the words they choose should also project the properties and qualities of their geometric shapes.

Explore how to combine geometry and words to create shape poems in:

"Shape Poems: Writing Extraordinary Poems About Ordinary Objects" (3-5) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English

"Shapes Art" (3-5) from Illuminations, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

4. Suggested grade level: 9-12. Metaphors are used frequently in various genres of literature, including poetry, to help bring literary imagery to life. Shakespeare often used metaphors in his plays and poems. One of his most famous -- and simple -- metaphors is "All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, Scene II, Act vii, Lines 139-140)

Quickly identify some metaphors you've heard before in popular language or literature. To what are these metaphors alluding? What is the difference between metaphors and similes? How are metaphors like short parables?

Springtime is a great season to explore the metaphorical constructs in poetry. Ask students to visit the Academy of American Poets , a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource, and search for poems about common characteristics of spring, such as birds, grass, seeds, sun, dew, baseball, etc. What feelings do these spring-themed poems elicit? (Answers will vary but can include lightness, happiness, growth, hope, etc.) Ask students to apply their own metaphors to describe their feelings and impressions about the arrival of spring and then expand the activity by using the Partner lessons, below.

Discover how metaphors are used to reveal hidden meanings in:

"Introducing Metaphors Through Poetry" (9-12) from EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities

"Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment" (9-12) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English



© Microsoft Clip Gallery		1. Suggested grade level: 6-8. Many ancient indigenous cultures, like the Mayan or the Aztecs, captured their traditions, beliefs and rituals in the form of poems, songs or folktales. The mystical qualities of nature were very important to their cultures, so their stories often told of animals that could transcend their earthly form to become mystical beings. What animals are often believed to have spirit-like qualities? (Answers may vary, but can include wolves, eagles, tigers and dolphins.) What country reveres cows as sacred animals? (India) What ancient culture mummified and buried cats with their owners? (Egyptian) For this activity, ask students to research ancient or foreign cultures through the library or by using Internet resources, such as KidSpace from the Internet Public Library, a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource. Ask the students to indicate the location of their assigned culture on a map, as well as what animals often appear in their assigned culture's stories, poems and songs. Then, have the students write a 12-line poem about their assigned cultures, using dictionary and thesauri to extend their vocabulary. Poems should mention the traditions, folklore and customs and use rhyming end words. Ask some students to read their poems aloud to the rest of the class. Explore the mystical qualities of foreign and ancient cultures in: "Animal Spirit and Powers (Nahuales)" (5-8) from ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts


		"Comparing Cultures" (6-8) from Xpeditions, National Geographic Society


Photograph of a four dollar note from the First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. (Available from American Memory, digital id: icufaw bpc0003)		2. Suggested grade level: K-2. Just as authors, poets and storytellers see beauty in words, many mathematicians and economists argue that they see poetry in numbers, figures and equations. Poetry is an excellent means of communicating information about all types of different subjects, even unlikely ones such as economics. Download Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart," available as a PDF from the Franklin Institute, a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource. Silverstein's poem is about a boy who trades in his one dollar bill for several coins and ends up with less money than what he started with. Ask students if they think the poem is silly. Why or why not? Was the boy in the poem actually smart, as the poem's title would suggest? What coins are mentioned in the poem? Pass around actual coins to the students and examine each coin closely. What words describe the look and feel of each coin? Does the size of a coin indicate its worth? What words rhyme with penny, dime and nickel? (Answers will vary, but can include many, time and pickle.) Can you think of any words that rhyme with quarter? Ask the class to work together to create a short rhyming poem about coins. See how poetry is used to describe all types of things in: "Dinosaurs 1: Where Are the Dinosaurs?" (K-2) from Science NetLinks, American Association for the Advancement of Science


		"Number Cents: Trading for Quarters" (K-2) from Illuminations, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics


		"Scratch Dance" (K-2) from ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts


		"Toys for Me: A Lesson on Choice" (K-2) from EconEdLink, National Council on Economic Education


		3. Suggested grade level: 3-5. While some poets select and manipulate words in an attempt to convey vivid imagery, other poets go one step further and write poems in the shape of the poem's object. For example, a poem about a flower would have lines that curved to form the petals, stem and leaves of a flower. Consider how shape poems could work in the mathematics classroom. What are the properties of a circle? (A curved line in which every point is equidistant from a fixed center point.) What is an isosceles triangle? (All three sides are of equal length.) What are some "poetic" synonyms for the word "equal"? (Answers will vary but can include same, exact, matched, mirror image.) Discuss how poetry can make an ordinary object seem special. Ask students to create shape poems about a geometric shape of their choice. At first, students can write their poems as the outline of their shapes. Then, students should write stacked lines of poetry that fill the interior of the shape. They can play with line breaks to make their poems fit into the geometric forms. Remind them that the words they choose should also project the properties and qualities of their geometric shapes. Explore how to combine geometry and words to create shape poems in: "Shape Poems: Writing Extraordinary Poems About Ordinary Objects" (3-5) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English


		"Shapes Art" (3-5) from Illuminations, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics


		4. Suggested grade level: 9-12. Metaphors are used frequently in various genres of literature, including poetry, to help bring literary imagery to life. Shakespeare often used metaphors in his plays and poems. One of his most famous -- and simple -- metaphors is "All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, Scene II, Act vii, Lines 139-140) Quickly identify some metaphors you've heard before in popular language or literature. To what are these metaphors alluding? What is the difference between metaphors and similes? How are metaphors like short parables? Springtime is a great season to explore the metaphorical constructs in poetry. Ask students to visit the Academy of American Poets , a MarcoPolo Partner-Reviewed Resource, and search for poems about common characteristics of spring, such as birds, grass, seeds, sun, dew, baseball, etc. What feelings do these spring-themed poems elicit? (Answers will vary but can include lightness, happiness, growth, hope, etc.) Ask students to apply their own metaphors to describe their feelings and impressions about the arrival of spring and then expand the activity by using the Partner lessons, below. Discover how metaphors are used to reveal hidden meanings in: "Introducing Metaphors Through Poetry" (9-12) from EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities


		"Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment" (9-12) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English