Back To School Poem

What You Do:

1. Brainstorm poem topics with your child. What does she love about school? Make sure she chooses a school-related object or even a school subject that she really enjoys. She'll have an easier time writing the poem if she truly likes what she's talking about.
2. Once she has a topic, introduce the concept of a personification poem. These types of poems are written from the point of view of an inanimate object. If she choose to write about her math book, for example, then her poem will be written from the math book's perspective. Make sure to explain that her personification poem can be as silly as she wants it to be. Maybe her pencil is exhausted or her backpack wishes it could go outside more often. Encourage your child to really stretch her imagination.
3. The next step is deciding what poetry form she will write. She could write in free verse or an aa, bb, cc rhyming pattern. Other poems, like haikus, focus on syllable counts. If your child is curious about these types of poetry, help her research her options online.
4. Before your child writes, talk with her about the poem's message.  It is often easiest to consider this before you write the poem. What would her school-related object want to say if it could talk?
5. Draft out the poem. Then rewrite! No poem is perfect the first time, and it always takes more than one try to create a good poem.
6. After she completes her poem, encourage your child to read it to friends and family. Let her loved ones guess what object her back to school poem has personified!