Poetry+Focus


 * __Calf Club Poetry __**

This is an activity for Calf Club. Your goal is to publish a range of poems ready to put in your anthology folder for display at Calf Club.

You will be given a different format each week. You may use the structure of the poem but feel free to add your own twists to this poem.

You choose the topic for your poem. Ideally it needs to be drafted on your wikipage and shown on Friday ready for editing and publishing. The benefit to typing it on your wiki is that it will make editing and copy pasting on the Friday quicker. You can draft the poem on refill as well.

It needs to include...
 * Thoughtful ideas and choices of words.
 * Be specific to your topic.
 * Mr D needs to be convinced on depth!!!
 * Some great language choices...use a thesaurus.
 * That you understand how these poems are set up.


 * // Poetry Focus - Week 1 //

Personification Poetry You need to take an object that isn't human or have the ability to feel or show emotions. Write a poem that uses this skill well. Remember to also add in other skills, hyperbole, alliteration, similes, assonance...

**The tree, tall and proud! Thinking about the year ahead. Trying new colours and styles in Spring, Sunbathing in all my glory through Summer. Stripping and undressing in Autumn, Shivering and naked in Winter. I smile, I laugh, I cringe and I cry.... So many seasons, so many changes. Mr D 2008

**//Poetry Focus - Week 2//** Line 1: One word- What you are talking about (noun) Line 2: Two words-Describing it (adjectives) Line 3: Three words-Describing it (adjectives) Line 4: Four words-Describing it (adjectives) Line 5: One word-What you are talking about (noun)
 * Cinquain Poem**

Commitment Intense, Focused Ongoing, Purposeful, Unwavering Steady, Diligent, Persevering, Industrious Commitment Mr D 2009

Hamster Cute, Soft Fat, Noisy, Furry Small, Colorful, Playful, Hungry Hamster (Internet Example) (Personally...I think this is very average) **// Poetry Focus - Week 3 //**

Synonym Poetry Write the synonyms on the second line. One the third line, write a descriptive phrase about the word. The last two lines of the poem should rhyme. ** ** Student Examples: ** ---Kimiko Brantley (Grade 10) ---Shasta Inman (Grade 9)
 * Choose any word. Write that word in capital letters on the first line. **** In a thesaurus look up the word and find three to five synonyms for it.
 * LOVE **
 * Attachment, adoration, warmth, adore **
 * Love is so pure, right down to the core. **
 * NOISE **
 * Clamor, uproar, hullabaloo. **
 * These things can really annoy you. **

// Poetry Focus - Week 4 - LIST POETRY //

Create a list poem... be creative with your poem. Ideally there should be rhyming but ideas and depth are more important! 8 lines minimum.

List Poems ** Ideas for List Poems **
 * There are so many things that can be written about in lists, that sometimes we cannot think of a thing to write. To help, some ideas for lists are below. **
 * Lists can be either rhyming or not. It is up to the writer to decide which style s/he uses. In at least one of the poems you write, make the list humorous or far-fetched. Then, in the final line, give the poem a serious turn. **

grayness stiffness softness redness squeaks cold sights ||   || ** Things That: ** ring light you find in the grocery hear in your house smell in the school are round/square are red/blue/green/black ||   || ** Things: ** to do waiting for the bus to do trying to fall asleep you should have done you should not have done that make you feel tall that make you feel small that you tell your mother ||
 * ** The Sources of: **


 * Student Examples: **

This classroom in silence ** Reno without a mall ** No barbecue at a picnic ** Jail with no bars ** Being born without having a mother ** Every night having the same dream? ** ---Tierra Jones (Grade 10)
 * CAN YOU IMAGINE... **
 * A city without violence
 * Basketball without a ball
 * Ducks wearing lipstick
 * Sky without stars
 * Thrusdays without New York Undercover
 * Pepsi without caffeine

**// Poetry Focus - Week 5 //** I Don't Understand...:
 * Begin the poem with "I don't understand..." List three things you do not understand about the world or people. Name the thing you do not understand most of all. End the poem with an example of something you DO understand. **


 * THINK DEEP!!!**

I DON'T UNDERSTAND... I don't understand why people dislike me why people can't get along why dogs are colorblind and cats aren't But most of all why people are prejudiced why people must move away why people argue over stupid stuff why there is wars What I understand most is why trees grow why birds chirp why the suns shines why the car goes. ---Anita Pepper (Grade 10)
 * Student Example: **

**// Poetry Focus - Week 6 //**

Just Because...: ** Just Because... poems ask you to describe yourself in the first line of the poem. The next three lines in each stanza tell what you are NOT. The final line restates the first line and adds a tag directing the reader to do something. ** ---Brandon Womack ---Liz Webster
 * Student Examples: **
 * Just because I'm scared **
 * Don't laught and giggle behind my head **
 * Don't kid and play when I'm not there **
 * Still ask me because I might play **
 * Just because I'm scared **
 * It doesn't mean I can't do it **
 * It doesn't give you the right to talk about me **
 * It doesn't stop me from having fun **
 * Just because I'm scared **
 * Still tell me everything you did **
 * Can't wait until I get big **
 * Just because I'm scared -- please try to be my friend **
 * Just because I'm an only child **
 * I'm not a freak **
 * I'm not shy **
 * Just because I'm an only child **
 * I'm not lonely **
 * I'm not selfish **
 * I'm not spoiled **
 * Just because I'm an only child **
 * I know I'm not perfect **
 * I can't always be the best friend **
 * I'm not a nerd **
 * Just because I'm an only child -- let me be me. **

**// Poetry Focus - Week 7 //**

Month Metaphors:


 * You can use a metaphor as a springboard to write a Month Metaphor poem.  **


 * DIRECTIONS: **
 * 1. Choose a month -- or a season -- and picture how it would arrive if it were a person OR an animal. **
 * 2. Add a few words to make the picture seem more complete. Tell how OR where it arrives. Use adverbs. If you wish, use a THESAURUS to find synonyms to replace overworked words. **
 * 3. Tell something else the month or season does while it is here. **
 * 4. Tell how the month or season leaves. **
 * NOTE: be sure you keep the same comparison (metaphor) throughout the poem. Don't change to a different picture. **

stagger skip prance float tiptoe gallop hop limp hobble canter  ||  wobble sneak zoom tramp dance shuffle scurry spring glide flutter lurch  ||  creep stumble trot totter strut skate slide leap slink skulk crawl  ||  steal bound bounce dart lope trudge plod advance drag slip saunter  ||
 * march

** JULY trudges ** ** right in ** ** with a bang. ** ---Tierra Jones ** SEPTEMBER ** It just sits there waiting, watching for something to happen. Then, just a quickly as before,
 * It crawls around ** ** on the hot ground, **
 * leaps around ** ** spreading warmth, **
 * then glides right ** ** out of the way. **
 * creeps in quietly ** and unnoticed.

---Elia Miller

**// Poetry Focus - Week 8 //**


 * Think of a place that is special. Form an image in your mind of this place. If you need to, cluster this image. Then complete the following statements. **
 * ** a. I see_ **
 * b. I smell_ **
 * c. I hear **
 * d. I feel **
 * e. I taste_ **
 * f. I think___ ** ||  || ** I see the sage-covered desert **
 * I smell the freshness of the morning **
 * I hear the scream of the hawk **
 * I feel the caress of a breeze **
 * I taste the dew on the wind **
 * I think the new day is born ** ||


 * After you have written out the sentences, remove the [|pronouns], [|verbs], and [|articles] as you need to: **

** sage-covered desert **
 * freshness of morning **
 * scream of the hawk **
 * caress of a breeze **
 * dew of the wind **
 * new day born **