E.O. Smith Poet Visits

As part of her Senior Project, local Senior Devin K. shared her love of poetry with my lucky kids. On the first day, Devin shared some of her own performance poetry and reviewed some of the basics of poetry. Students wrote Haiku poems to warm up their brains. Devin visited a couple more times and encouraged and taught seventh and eighth graders to write poems based on vivid memories. From being pulled down the road by a huge dog on a leash (but I did not let go...) to playing softball, the imagery was great. We read William Carlos Williams' poem "This is Just to Say" and Ken Koch's "Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams" and then proceded to write our own "non-apologies." Students wrote about their fabulous selves in some ego-boost poems. Today, we covered groups of desks with sheets and a candle and hosted our own coffee house. Some classes opted to create a "Slam" and welcomed judging and scoring while others preferred to just share their work. It was a great day and a neat opportunity for me. Thanks so much to Devin for sharing her amazing talent us!