Eager to get your reluctant writer more comfortable with the process? Believe it or not: you can accomplish this, while also sparking his interest in a novel. By alternating "found" phrases from a favorite book with original writing, he'll create his own profound and insightful poem! Blended poetry is a wonderful way to express his feelings about a great book, and he's bound to want to revisit it again.
What You Need:
- Favorite book
- Paper and pencil
- Scissors
What You Do:
- Have him skim through the book and select five of his favorite lines, phrases, or quotes. Ask him to write down these chosen phrases on separate pieces of paper.
- Urge him to write down five original phrases that relate to the book, on separate slips of paper. These phrases should somehow link the favorite lines that he's selected from the text. They can be about an interesting character, the setting, or just the overall emotion that feels when he reads specific events.
- With the ten phrases in front of him, have him rearrange them into a meaningful poem. He should alternate the original phrases with phrases he selected from the book.
- He can choose to either glue the separate slips of paper that contain the original and quoted phrases on a final piece of paper, or rewrite them onto the paper.
- Finally, urge him to include some drawings along the borders of the paper. These can be completely unique and imagined images, or his own inspired drawings based on the book's cover.
Here's a fun family project! If the book is a family favorite that everyone has read, consider having everyone choose one or two phrases from the book and write their own original lines. Blend everyone’s chosen and original phrases together into a family poem.
By Daniella Garran
Daniella K. Garran is a seventh grade social studies teacher who lives on Cape Cod. She has published several articles about project-based learning. She spends summers working as an assistant director of a camp on the Cape.
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