Jump to content

Menu

Resource for kid who wants to learn to write poetry


Recommended Posts

Jack Prelutsky's Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry might be a little juvenile, but it looks good. (I ordered it for Ariel, but haven't received it yet.) We're doing a poetry unit with that, Music of the Hemispheres (because I already owned it, I wasn't going to buy it just for this) and MBtP's poetry unit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a curriculum but might she enjoy articles in the Brain Pickings blog? I must warn you though that it is dangerous to click the blog link. You might be tempted to expand your lit library much further than planned! :D

 

Search for poetry. Most of the articles are reviews of books or biographies of authors/ poets. She might find a title that really speaks to her as it guides her hand. She might also be inspired to create her own book spine poetry!

 

You might want to preview posts before she reads them. Some excerpts that Maria Popova quotes are dark and/ or use inappropriate language.

 

Poets.org has a resource section for teens.

The Poetry Foundation has essays on poetic theory amongst other resources.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Killgallon's sentence books are about imitation of great writers. It is not specifically poetry, but it really stretches the student to use interesting structure and vocabulary. They are pretty cheap on Amazon and might help to get the words flowing in a more stylistic manner.

 

Just a thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a poetry unit in The Creative Writer.

 

 

I think fully half of the Creative Writer books are poetry. We have one and the first half of the book is writing fiction and the second half is writing poetry. At least that is my memory of it.

 

 

How do you guys find this? Do your kids like it?  I actually sold CW b/c Shannon was finding it so dry (in 5th grade), we never even got to the poetry part.  She's more mature now, I wonder if she'd find it less dry . . . 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Grammar of Poetry- here's a  review from 09'. I just received the new set with DVD and I'll be reviewing that soon.

 

 

The Grammar of Poetry by Matt Whitling

 

 

 

This looks interesting. How teacher-intensive is it, though? I"m really hoping to find something she can use independently.  We study poetry and write about it as a school subject, but creative writing is something I like them to do on their own, with support provided.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

The Roar on the Other Side by Suzanne Rhodes

 

 

This looks really nice, but one of the Amazon reviews gave me pause- is it really heavily Christian content?  I don't mind references, but I can't have something that is at all heavy handed in pushing a Christian worldview or anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jack Prelutsky's Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry might be a little juvenile, but it looks good. (I ordered it for Ariel, but haven't received it yet.) We're doing a poetry unit with that, Music of the Hemispheres (because I already owned it, I wasn't going to buy it just for this) and MBtP's poetry unit. 

 

This looks like something she'd really like! I'd love to hear what you think of it when you get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Killgallon's sentence books are about imitation of great writers. It is not specifically poetry, but it really stretches the student to use interesting structure and vocabulary. They are pretty cheap on Amazon and might help to get the words flowing in a more stylistic manner.

 

Just a thought.

 

 

Yes, I like these.  She's working on Grammar for Middle School right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a few friends  or even just one who are/is also interested... write, read each others (or listen as the writer reads it) learn to give constructive criticism ...  write more.

 

If she has no one local, my son might go for a new pen-pal, esp. if not computer based, and include poetry in the pen-palship. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you guys find this? Do your kids like it? I actually sold CW b/c Shannon was finding it so dry (in 5th grade), we never even got to the poetry part. She's more mature now, I wonder if she'd find it less dry . . .

My fifth grader is using it and loves it. It's really helping her develop as a writer. She resisted a bit at first, mostly due to the length of the assignments and creative, fictional writing not being her strong suit. Now, however, it's something she looks forward to and she's particularly enjoying writing poetry, both in the curriculum and in her spare time. We will definitely use level 2 next year (at her request).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Proflock Press publishes "Beyond Roses are Red.....a practical guide for helping students write free verse." I picked it up during the dollar sale, but unfortunately I haven't touched it yet.

 

http://www.prufrock.com/Beyond-Roses-Are-Red-Violets-Are-Blue-A-Practical-Guide-for-Helping-Students-Write-Free-Verse-P826.aspx

Wait... What!?!? They have a dollar sale?!?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Proflock Press publishes "Beyond Roses are Red.....a practical guide for helping students write free verse." I picked it up during the dollar sale, but unfortunately I haven't touched it yet.

 

http://www.prufrock.com/Beyond-Roses-Are-Red-Violets-Are-Blue-A-Practical-Guide-for-Helping-Students-Write-Free-Verse-P826.aspx

 

I'd love to hear what you think when you get a chance to look through it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I plan on using Exploring Poetry with my kids at some point in middle school.

 

Ok, I have a ton of things you guys suggested on hold at the library, but I'm thinking I might spring for this one.  She's doing the poetry lessons in WWS right now, and really enjoying it, so a 7-week unit focused on poetry after she finishes the WWS stuff might be just exactly perfect! 

 

Thanks so much to everyone for all their suggestions.  This has been one of those serendipitous interest-led things - I planned to do a brief poetry thing, it just happened to be at the same time that she's learning her lines for Midsummer and doing scancion on them, she got inspired to write some of her own poems, I asked you guys and started tracking down resources, and now it's taking on a life of its own!

 

Hmm, now I have to figure out whether I feel ok with dropping all other writing for while, so we can really focus on this . . . .suddenly the biographical sketch of Rosa Parks that I had assigned is less appealing, as she's immersing herself in poetry . . . maybe that is ok?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<referring to Grammar of Poetry by Matt Whitling>

 

This looks interesting. How teacher-intensive is it, though? I"m really hoping to find something she can use independently.  We study poetry and write about it as a school subject, but creative writing is something I like them to do on their own, with support provided.

Not sure if someone else already responded with this, but I believe Grammar of Poetry has *just* been released with a video series, so it might be perfect for your DD to work through independently.  Check it out here!

 

I know very little about the course, but I have listened to other Matt Whitling audios and DH and I both *really* enjoy him!  If my kiddos were older, I'd totally be buying the poetry course for them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My twelve-year-old did Grammar of Poetry with the video last summer. She had a great time with it and worked very independently! It focuses a lot on classical forms, e.g. different types of rhythms. For a while, when asked her interests, my daughter would include writing poetry in the list. For us, the program was very worthwhile!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...