My 8th grade students and I start off the week by musing on and writing about what inspires us to breathe, act, and create...

Monday, April 28, 2014

Writing Prompts for Coming of Age: Two-Voice Poem



Here is an example of a poem in 2 voices. What do you notice about the structure and how it is written?

Spoken alone by voice #1:
Both voices say together:
Spoken alone by voice #2:
I am the younger brother.

Playing with toys
is my favorite past-time.


When I am your age,
I will earn such better grades than you do.
Mom yells at you more than me!

You have it so easy!
I am the older sister.

Talking on the phone is what I do best.

When I was your age,
School was so much harder than it is now.



Write a 2-voice poem. Choose a topic that you can explore from different perspectives and can compare and contrast; choose specific voices to tell different sides of the topic. Possible topics: parent and child disagreeing about high school, 2 friends recalling a moment, different voices within yourself at a moment when you are trying to make a decision.

Voice 1: __________________________

Voice 2: __________________________

Topic: 

Brainstorm:
 

Monday, March 10, 2014

Writing Prompts from Romeo and Juliet

Write off of any of the following phrases from Act 1, Scene 1. Use any genre; you can write a poem, fictional narrative, personal narrative, etc. Be creative and show the meaning of the phrase in your writing:


  • civil blood
  • star-crossed lovers
  • ancient quarrel
  • O loving hate
  • griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast


Monday, February 24, 2014

Writer's Choice

Welcome back from break!

Reflect back and write about something inspiring, thought-provoking, difficult, uplifting, etc. that happened during the break.

Use any genre.

Writing Prompts


Creative Writing Marathon!

Please use this period to either:
a.     Use this gift of time to independently write! Draft a piece that you’ve been wanting to write, but haven’t had the opportunity.
OR
b.    Use the prompts below to guide your creativity through the period and get lost with your pen and your imagination.  Spend the whole period on one or two or challenge yourself to do as many as possible.
1.     Create a “persona” poem based on something you’ve learned in social studies (take on the voice of a person from history)

2.     Create a “found” poem from an Upfront article or your independent reading book (all words of the poem must come from the text, but you are free to organize them as you wish)

3.     Invent a new kind of poem with a specific format in terms of rhyme, rhythm, repetition, etc.)

4.     Write an alphabet poem.

5.     Write a six word memoir.  (Challenge: write one for each self defined “era” of your life or write one for your most important memories. Example: Fountainhair bangs blue shaved now grey.)

6.     Personify a color by writing a monologue, poem, or short story in its voice

7.     Write a poem from the perspective of a person you’ve gotten in an argument with.  (Challenge: Then write your perspective)

8.     Write a rant about something that drives you crazy

9.    Get inspired by a poem that you like. Take a line from it and use it as your first line, make allusions to it in your own poem, use the same structure, write about the same theme, or write a poem addressing the poet or narrator.    

10. Craft a story that uses all of the following words: eagle, yellow, bridge, secret

11. Craft a story with the following first line: I slowly backed up and sat in the nearest chair.

 “Publish” one of these pieces to your blog. Due Thursday February 6.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif


Example of alphabet poem/song.

“Alphabet Aerobics” by Blackalicious

Artificial amateurs, aren't at all amazing
Analytically, I assault, animate things
Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat
Buildings are broken, basically I'm bombarding

Casually create catastrophes, casualties
Canceling cats, got their canopies collapsing
Detonate a dime of dank daily doin' dough
Demonstrations, Don Dada on the down low
Eating other editors with each and every energetic epileptic episode
Elevated etiquette
Furiousfatfabulous, fantastic
Flurries of funk fell, feeding the fanatics
Gift got great, global goods gone glorious
Gettin godly in this game with the goriest
Hit em high, hella height, historical
Hey holocaust hints, hear 'em holler at your homeboy
Imitators idolize, I intimidate
In an instant, I'll rise in an irate state
Juiced on my jams like Jheri curls jocking joints
Justly, it's just me, writing my journals
Kindly I'm kindling all kinds of ink on
Karate kick type Brits in my kingdom
Let me live a long life, lyrically lessons is
Learned lame louses just lose to my livery
My mind makes marvelous movies, masses
Marvel and move, many mock what I've mastered

Niggas nap knowing I'm nice, naturally
Knack, never lack, make noise nationally
Operation, opposition, off, not optional
Out of sight, out of mind, wide beaming opticals
Perfected poem, powerful punchlines
Pummeling petty powder puffs in my prime
Quite quaint quotes keep quiet it's Quannum
Quarrelers ain't got a quarter of what we got, uh
Really raw raps, risin up rapidly
Riding the rushing radioactivity
Super scientifical sound search sought
Silencing super fire saps that are soft
Tales ten times talented, too tough
Take that, challengers, get a tune up
Universal, unique, untouched
Unadulterated, the raw uncut
Verb vice lord victorious valid
Violate vibes that are vain make em vanish
Why in my world would a wise wordsmith just
Weaving up words, weeded up on my workshift
Xerox my X-radiation holes extra large
X-height letters and xylophone tones

Yellow-back, yak mouth, young ones' yaws
Yesterday's lawn yardsale, I yawn
Zig-Zag zombies, zooming to the zenith
Zero in, zen thoughts, overzealous rhyme ZEA-LOTS!....


  

Monday, January 6, 2014

Capturing the Small Moments of Winter

 I love snow days because they are a break from normal routines and give us opportunities to slow down our lives. Today we are going to write haikus to capture small moments we love about winter. Write a few. You don't have to follow the 5-7-5 syllable structure.

Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Japanese poet (1763-1827)

        Crescent moon--
bent to the shape
        of the cold.
 


        New Year's Day--
everything is in blossom!
        I feel about average.
 

Haiku by D. Galang

Stretch in bed
No need for alarm
Snowy slumber

Snow suits, mittens
Restrict limbs
Keep body free of cold

Monday, December 2, 2013

Living in New York

Think about the sprawling metropolis in which we live. In your notebook, write about the following:
  • What do you find inspiring about it? 
  • What problems do you see? 
Give specific examples and details. Include ideas about your neighborhood and the rest of the city as well. 

Homework: Bring in an article, poem, or song lyrics that express something inspiring or disappointing about where you live. Read and annotate it. Write a 2 paragraph summary and explanation of why you chose it (in your notebook).