You're a Poet and Didn't Know It

Writing poetry is one of the hardest concepts to teach in the high school classroom. Many of my students are intimidated by the idea of creating a poem that has meaning and doesn't involve "roses are red, violets are blue." A few years ago, I stumbled across the classic "I Am" poetry template that can be easily adapted for any secondary grade. I began using this template at the beginning of the school year by having my students write the poem about themselves. I would then keep the poem until the end of the year and return it to them so that they can see how much they grow in character and maturity over the course of the school year. 

After using this poem for a simple creative writing idea, I decided to take it one step further and use it as a form of character analysis. I have my students select one character from the novel/short story that we are reading. They use the "I Am" template to create a poem from the perspective of the character of their choice. The students usually blow me away with this activity, because they begin synthesizing character actions and development. I really enjoy using this project when teaching To Kill a Mockingbird because the students get to see Scout, Jem and Dill grow up throughout the book. I have included some of my student samples below along with the "I Am" template. Happy writing!