Monday, April 4, 2011

Poet-Tree Class Writing Project


Poet-Tree Class Writing Project

A few years ago while I was teaching a poetry lesson, I thought of an interesting writing activity. I had my students write poems from different genres on outlines of their hands. I understand that this may not be such an original idea to the seasoned teacher, but at the time I felt that it was quite the epiphany.

My students liked expressing themselves, but they really enjoyed creating the tree. They chose to have the tree climb the ceiling like a grape vine. I would have liked a smaller tree with more leaves. It may have looked better if I added a canopy of green poster paper, and then taped their leaves to that instead of sticking them to the branches. I’m going to try the project again this year. I hope my current students enjoy the project.
I have created some things that you may find useful for your poetry unit, if you would like your students to create a “Poet-Tree” for your classroom.

A Short List of Poetic Terms and Definitions

Hand Shaped Writing Template

Leaf Shaped Writing Template