Today my school reinstated our middle school clubs for the last trimester. This year my club is Poetry Workshop. Some of the students in my club chose to be there while others were assigned, so I wanted to make sure I had activities that would appeal to the reluctant writer as well as the enthusiast.

We began with a short video about poetry, and then proceeded to select notebooks which the school provided, and pens with colored ink (Dollar Store finds). Next, I shared “If I Were in Charge of the World” by Judith Viorst. The students were provided with a copy of the poem to tape into their notebooks along with a template to help them create their own version of the poem.

We then tried our hand at Zip Code or Phone # poems by writing the numbers vertically – one number on each line. The number became the number of words permitted on each line. Zero was a ‘wild card’ where poets could choose their own number of words.

I gave them a little pep talk before the bell rang and told them that poetry can be about ANYTHING! We talked about how writers and poets are ordinary people who take the time to NOTICE THE ORDINARY things they come across each day.

I closed by sharing the poem above, “Open Your Eyes” by Georgia Heard. I challenged them to open their eyes, notice the ordinary, and gather their observations for our next meeting after the Easter break.

Tonight, I think I will take my own advice and start looking more closely at the ‘ordinary’.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org. #SOL21