In addition to studying poetry during National Poetry Month in April, I love integrating poetry throughout the school year. A favorite resource I use to engage my students in literature is Found Poetry! You can do this with any class novel or independent reading, and it’s a way for students to seek many “correct” answers. This is a fun, no-pressure approach to poetry, and the results are amazing!
Found Poetry asks students to reshape a text into something new – a poem! I always ask students to engage with the text first, pulling out words and phrases that are evocative to them. Then, they go through and find a theme that emerges from what they’ve chosen, using some or all of what they’ve found on a first run.
I take students through this process using my Found Poetry Packet, available on TeachersPayTeachers. I use model texts and poems from either fiction or non-fiction, depending on my goals for the unit. Students can also practice “finding” their own poems on these texts, before pushing their creativity to the next level with the target text.
“Found” poetry is a great teaching tool because the possibilities are endless. I have used this will many levels of students on several kinds of texts. I know you’ll have a great time working on this with your students!
Best,
Danielle @ Nouvelle
2 Comments
Lisa
February 29, 2016 at 9:29 pmI love the idea of found poetry! I think that my students could really get into this! Thanks!
Melissa
March 2, 2016 at 1:49 pmI love using found poetry with my students! I’ve gotten some great student work, using MLK, Jr’s “Letters from Birmingham Jail” and also “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Great idea!