Poetry Game #1:
1) Write
a seven word sentence with a color as the third word.
2) Write
a nine word sentence with an animal as the fifth word and a color as the
seventh word.
3) Write
a sentence with exactly 13 e’s.
4) Write
a sentence with the most words that begin with “m” as possible.
Poetry Game #2:
Option
1: Write about something you like to do with as much detail as possible. Write
in two-line stanzas only (thoughts can last longer than one stanza). Write at
least 5 stanzas.
Option
2: Pretend to write about something you like to do with as much detail as
possible, but actually write about something else (like Robert Francis). Write
in two-line stanzas only (thoughts can last longer than one stanza). Write at
least 5 stanzas.
Option
3: Do Option 1 or Option 2, but think really inventively about how you put your
words on the page.
ALL OPTIONS: If you
struggle to write poems or write stanzas, just write a paragraph, then break it
into stanzas.
Poetry Game #3 (Per 4 only):
Write a poem that’s modeled on “Castles Made of Sand”: Three
related narratives linked by a refrain. Six stanzas total.
Poetry Game #4: A Spring Break Fib
Write a poem with 1 syllable in the first line, 1 syllable
in the second, 2 in the third, 3 in the 4th, 5 in the 5th,
and 8 in the 6th.
The poem should be a lie about what you did over spring
break.
Poetry Game #5:
1) Write
a single sentence that includes three or more words that rhyme.
2) Write
a sentence with as many n’s in it as you can.
3) Write a sentence with as many “long A”
sounds as you can. (If you’re stumped, go back to rhyming.)
Poetry Game #6: The Emotion Poem
Brainstorm as many emotions as you can. Pick one. Answer the
following weird questions about your emotion:
- Is
your feeling male, female, some mix of genders, or no gender at all?
- What
kind of hair does your feeling have?
- What
is its first (and/or last) name?
- When
it sits down to breakfast, what does it eat? [use alliteration in this
line]
- What
does it wear on a regular day?
- What
its favorite color?
- What
does its room look like?
- Who is
in its family?
- What
kind of taste does it smell like?
- What
does the touch of its skin remind you of?
- What
does it say to you?
- What
do you say to it?
- Where
do you keep it?
- How
does it feel? [use a food adjective, such as “delicious” or “salty”]
- Who is
its best friend?
- What
is its favorite possession?
Write a poem about your emotion that includes at least ten
of your answers (but you can include more).
Poetry Game #7: A Motivational Poem
Brainstorm a list of ideas and behaviors that are important
to you. Consider ideas you want people to embrace and behaviors you’d like them
to stop.
Pick one.
Write a poem that shows why/how this idea or behavior is
beneficial or harmful.
Your poem should be at least 10 lines and show three
different emotions.
Poetry Game #8: Phone number poem
Write your phone number down the left side of your page,
like this:
5
0
3
7
8
5
7
9
3
0
Write a 10 line poem about your “home” using the number in
your phone number to tell you how many words to use in each line. For example,
I would have 5 words in my first line, no words in my second line, and three
words in my third line.
Hint: “home” doesn’t necessarily mean the place where you
live.
Underline and label three elements of poetry in your poem.
