Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Laura’s Books
  • Poetry
    • Poems Published Elsewhere
    • My Poetry–a Sampler
    • Poetry Videos
    • How To Write Poetry
      • Poetic Pursuits
  • For Teachers
  • Presentations
  • Freelancer
  • About
    • Press Kit
      • Short Bios
      • Awards & Honors
      • Author Photos
      • Book Covers
      • Book Reviews
      • In the Press
    • Who Am I?
    • How I Became a Writer
  • Blog
    • Review Policy
  • For Writers
You are here: Home / Poetry Activities for Teachers

Poetry Activities for Teachers

Hi, teachers! This is a gathering of blog posts I’ve written that contain samples of activities or enough detail about the writing process that they might be useful to you in creating your own poetry lessons. For instance, I’ve shared several detailed lesson plans of poetry activities from Young Authors Conferences I’ve taught at. Enjoy!

  • A We Belong Poem Template for Classrooms

    March 16, 2022

    My biggest hopes for We Belong are that it gets used to spark good discussions and to create community. So I’ve created a template for you to use with your students to write a classroom or family poem. I used this template at the book launch ...

  • Make an Equation Poem Valentine

    February 2, 2022

    Why not write an equation poem for someone you love for Valentine’s Day? These snappy poems are short enough to fit on a handmade card! Just pick a person to make your valentine for. my sister Patty Brainstorm lists of specific things about your person. loves: funny movies dark chocolate cross-stitching games therapy dogs wolves describes ...

  • Ready to Write Some Zoo-Ku? #ClassroomConnections

    March 3, 2021

    I so love it when kids (or grown-ups) do their own writing inspired by something I wrote! A virtual book club of 2nd graders at Spradley Elementary in Frisco, TX, read Lion of the Sky and wrote their own zoo-ku in response. Aren’t those fabulous? Can you ...

  • Biopoems from Young Authors Conference [Poetry Friday]

    June 2, 2016

    Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Shoot! I forgot until this moment that this was the first Friday of the month, so it’s a Poetry 7 day! But I promised my Young Authors Conference writers last week that I would share our ...

  • Writing Things To Do If… Poems with 1st Graders at Hugo Elementary

    May 16, 2016

    Last month, I got to visit Hugo Elementary School in White Bear Lake, MN, at the invitation of Media Specialist Connie Stirling, whom I had run into at the Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference. I was so excited to visit the school and spend an entire ...

  • The Progressive Poem Begins

    March 31, 2016

    Hello, and Happy Poetry Month–again! In a happy Perfect (Poetry) Storm, this is actually my third Poetry Friday post for Friday, April 1st! This one is because I am honored to be starting off Irene Latham‘s annual Progressive Poem. Irene, of Live Your Poem, invites ...

  • Things To Do If… Student Poems

    February 1, 2016

    Last Friday, I was part of a literacy event in Stewartville, MN, called Hot Reads for Cold Nights. Wow. There were 500 or so people there, and organizer Renita Irvin had so many things going on: book exchanges, food, storytellers, silent auctions, and a ton ...

  • A Tree Can Be…, by Mrs. Vallarino’s 3rd-Grade Class

    November 4, 2015

    As a writer, nothing makes me feel better than knowing that my words inspired someone else to do something: to write, to think differently, to take some kind of action (or even just to relax, to laugh, or to learn). Last month, I got the ...

  • Displaying Your Students’ Poems or Other Projects

    July 30, 2015

    Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I learned about Padlets recently when Amy Ludwig VanDerwater created a Favorite Poem Padlet and shared it at The Poem Farm. So. Cool. I can see tons of ways that teachers could (and probably already are) using ...

  • Wordplay Poems from the Young Authors Conference, Part 2

    June 3, 2015

    One more day of wordplay poems here! Monday, I shared the lesson plan. Yesterday, I shared a gallery of poems. And today, here’s a gallery of the rest of the poems! Thank you, students! Teachers, please note: Most of these are their notebook version, not copied ...

  • Wordplay Poems from the Young Authors Conference

    June 2, 2015

    Today and tomorrow, I’m sharing student poems from my sessions at Success Beyond the Classroom’s Young Authors Conference at Bethel University. I shared the process/lesson plan yesterday, and I’m excited to share student work here. Teachers, I know you’ll find some awesome poems here to ...

  • Wordplay Poems in Your Classroom

    June 1, 2015

    Last week, I taught all week at Success Beyond the Classroom‘s Young Authors Conference in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I love this event every year. It’s an opportunity for me to lead the same writing workshop 12 times in a row with 4th-8th graders, ...

  • 2015 Progressive Poem: What’s My Line?

    April 4, 2015

    Hi, everyone! It’s Day 4, and thus Line 4, of the 2015 Progressive Poem, created and curated by Irene Latham.? I missed participating last year and am happy to be back. OK, I confess I am a fan of short poems. And short lines. (My Ireland ...

  • Meet the Zeno (a great poem form for classrooms)

    October 15, 2014

    You guys know Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ Ditty of the Month Challenge at Today’s Little Ditty, right? Where she features a guest, who issues a poetic challenge? This month she featured J. Patrick Lewis, who shared a poetic form he created, the zeno. You can read ...

  • Poetry Friday – A Daughter Can Be…

    September 18, 2014

    Happy Poetry Friday! I don’t often write poems or verses for specific people. Well, I do, occasionally, but I don’t give it to them–I’m too self-conscious to do that. I’ve written poems for/about both my daughters but don’t think I’ve ever shared them. However, inspired ...

  • When Pencils Get Emotional [Writing a Mask Poem with Emotion]

    June 2, 2014

    Last week,?I did?Young Authors Conferences all week with 4th-8th graders. I’ll be doing a poetry workshop I tried out in March, and the kids and I had lots of fun with it. The theme of the conference is making unforgettable characters, so we wrote mask ...

  • Write a Color Poem – My Blue Is Happy, Pt. 2

    May 19, 2014

    Teachers, last week I posted about a picture book I love, My Blue Is Happy, by Jessica Young. It would be fun to take this book and then brainstorm what you see each color as and write a list poem based on it. You could ...

  • Jone MacCulloch’s Silver Star Poetry Project

    April 29, 2014

    Please forgive the double post today, but I wanted to share this poem while it was still Poetry Month. I signed up for Jone MacCulloch‘s Silver Star Poetry Project again this year, and I just got my beautiful postcard yesterday. What a burst of brightness ...

  • The Progressive Poem Is Here: Poetry Month Day 28

    April 28, 2013

    You know, I love poetry games. The idea of making poems up on the spot based on words randomly assigned makes me happy. Writing group poems with 1st through 6th graders, never knowing what they’ll come up with, makes me happy. Adding a line to ...

  • Powerlifting Poetry

    June 5, 2012

    I presented at a Young Authors Conference all last week, and I thought I’d share a brief version of my lesson plan with you. First, here’s a less-than-1-minute slideshow: The theme of the conference all week was “Writing with Muscle,” and my session was?”Poetry Powerlifters.” We worked ...

  • Power Poetry: Short and Muscular

    May 29, 2012

    I’m working with elementary school kids this week, and the theme is Writing with Muscle. I’m working with them on revising flabby first drafts into power-packed shorter poems. I did this lesson plan earlier this year for one day, and I’ve tweaked it a little ...

  • Poetry in the Classroom: Poetry Chests

    May 16, 2012

    OK, here’s one of the ways I fail at social media. I thought I had blogged about both the poetry suitcase variation I do and about my recent terrific school visit with some 3rd graders in Monticello, MN. Apparently, I shared about them on Facebook ...

  • Praising Everything at Young Authors Conferences

    June 6, 2011

    Week before last, I spent Tuesday through Friday at Young Authors Conferences here in the Twin Cities. I’ve been doing this for four or five years now, and I always enjoy it. The 4th-8th graders are, in general, very smart, enthusiastic, and excited to be ...

  • Lesson Plan for Emotion Poems

    June 8, 2010

    On Friday, I shared just a few of the cool poems that 4th-8th graders came up with in my Young Authors Conference workshops. A few people asked about the process, so I thought I’d share the outline of what we did. Each session was only 50 ...

  • What I Did at the Young Authors Conference

    June 11, 2008

    I’m sharing this not because it’s some stellar presentation, but because it’s always so helpful to me when people share the activities they do at school visits. I wouldn’t copy anything exactly, but it gives me good ideas and let’s me know what’s realistic. At the ...

 

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

MARCH NEWS

ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! is out, and FINDING FAMILY and PUDDLE SONG are hot on its heels. I'm celebrating all 3 with a storytime book launch party at Red Balloon on April 1st. No fooling! Hope you can come (with or without kids).

Join me on April 1st? Click image for details!

I'm also presenting at a Young Authors Conference, marketing all 3 new books, and doing several virtual field trips for students. Happy almost-spring!

Are You Looking For…?

  • Poems for the Classroom
  • Poetryactions
  • 15 Words or Less Poems
  • Poetry Activities for Teachers

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Post Categories

Copyright © 2009–2023 · Laura Purdie Salas · WordPress · Log in