Wordplay Poems from the Young Authors Conference

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 use as mentor texts/examples if you do wordplay poems in your own classroom next year:>)

Thank you to all these students (4th-8th grade, mostly 4th-5th) who worked so intensely to write creatively in just about 30 minutes of project time (including both the group and individual poems). So these poems shared here are the result of about 12 minutes of actual individual writing time. I’m so proud of the work you did! Most of you were brave enough to read to the classroom full of strangers, too. Bravo! You did an awesome job! I will share more wordplay poems tomorrow. (If you worked on a zeno or rhyming poem, I’ll be sharing those next week.)

12 Responses

  1. The majestic soldier, Thunder, that speaks of mysteriousness; the balloon clouds that taste like water and feel like a dream or Heaven; the cold and prickly voice of the icicle… each poem with it’s own unique character. Bravo to all!

  2. The majestic soldier, Thunder, that speaks of mysteriousness; the balloon clouds that taste like water and feel like a dream or Heaven; the cold and prickly voice of the icicle… each poem with it’s own unique character. Bravo to all!

  3. Bravo, indeed! Well done! I loved reading these great poems from young voices. Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. I would love to have been in the audience.

    1. Thanks, Linda! It was fun to have adults in the class, too, since some of the chaperones and teachers sit in on classes of their choice. None of them shared, though!

  4. Bravo, indeed! Well done! I loved reading these great poems from young voices. Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. I would love to have been in the audience.

    1. Thanks, Linda! It was fun to have adults in the class, too, since some of the chaperones and teachers sit in on classes of their choice. None of them shared, though!

  5. Love! Love! Love! The students’ poems were a treat to read. Thanks so much for sharing this, Laura. I’ve got some poetry workshops coming up in the fall (3rd-5th graders) and I’d thought about using Nikki’s challenge. After seeing these, I know I want to use her challenge. Thanks for the detailed lesson plan, too. I will refer to it when I’m planning. You made my day with this post 🙂

    1. Thanks for the feedback, Penny. I highly recommend Nikki’s challenge with that age group. We really had a blast with it at the Young Authors Conference:>)

  6. Love! Love! Love! The students’ poems were a treat to read. Thanks so much for sharing this, Laura. I’ve got some poetry workshops coming up in the fall (3rd-5th graders) and I’d thought about using Nikki’s challenge. After seeing these, I know I want to use her challenge. Thanks for the detailed lesson plan, too. I will refer to it when I’m planning. You made my day with this post 🙂

    1. Thanks for the feedback, Penny. I highly recommend Nikki’s challenge with that age group. We really had a blast with it at the Young Authors Conference:>)

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