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A WritingFix Book Recommendation: |
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 At WritingFix, we love all of Ralph Fletcher's books. They contain the techniques of an actual writer, presented in such a way that students in 4th grade and up can understand them. Fletcher is amazing at sharing the wisdom he's gained about the writing process in a way that your students can make sense of it.
His book, Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out, will inspire you as teacher, but it will also inspire your students to find the poetry hidden in their souls. This is the best $6.00 you can spend on your classroom, if you're looking for ways to bring more poetry to your student writers. |
7 Lessons Featured at Past Piñon Poetry Festivals
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 Lesson title: Haiku Riddles
Lesson's Mentor Text: If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky
Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Poems of Apology
Lesson's Mentor Texts: William Carlos Williams' poem, "This is Just to Say" and Joyce Sidman's poetry collection, This is Just to Say...
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: So Much Depends Upon...
Lesson's Mentor Text: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Focus Trait: Voice
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Between Repeated Lines
Lesson's Mentor Text: Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers by Mary Quattlebaum
Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Organization
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Impersonating Great Poets
Lesson's Mentor Text: Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Ballads about Family
Lesson's Mentor Text: Family Reunion by Mary Quattlebaum
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: School Song Parodies
Lesson's Mentor Text: Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 When students write poetry alongside their teachers, both teacher and student learn more about the writing process. Our Piñon Poetry Festival celebrates this simple but true notion.
Even if you cannot come to Northern Nevada to attend our poetry festival, we encourage you to sit down and write poetry alongside your students. |
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6 Lessons Inspired by Picture Books
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 Lesson title: Four Metaphor Poems
Lesson's Mentor Text: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Emotion & Colorful Days
Lesson's Mentor Text: My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: What If Poems:
Lesson's Mentor Text: What If... by Regina J. Williams
Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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 Lesson title: Ain't Gonna Rain No More
Lesson's Mentor Text: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Animals Not to [Verb] with...
Lesson's Mentor Text: Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Hubris at the Bat
Lesson's Mentor Text: Casey at the Bat, original poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Illustrations by Christopher Bing
Focus Trait: Organization
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
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4 Lessons Inspired by Chapter Book Excerpts
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 Lesson title: Nature Poetry
Lesson's Mentor Text: Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
Focus Trait: Voice
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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 Lesson title: Writing a Backwards Poem
Lesson's Mentor Text: Holes by Louis Sachar
Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Sentence Fluency
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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 Lesson title: A Poem for Two Voices for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Lesson's Mentor Text: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Voice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: Just Because Poems
Lesson's Mentor Text: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Focus Trait: Voice
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
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8 Lessons Inspired by some "Classics" of Poetry |
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Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Voice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Sentence Fluency
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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Focus Trait: Idea Development
Support Trait: Sentence Fluency
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Idea Development
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
 Lesson title: HATE to LOVE Sonnets
Lesson's Mentor Text: "Shall I compare Thee..." sonnet by Wm. Shakespeare
Focus Trait: Word Choice
Support Trait: Conventions
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources. |
Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency
Support Trait: Word Choice
Click on the lesson title or the image to read an overview and access the entire lesson and its resources.
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8 Poetry Lessons Inspired by Song Lyrics |
 Lesson Title: With Your Own Two Hands
Lesson Overview: Using Ben Harper's "With My Own Two Hands" as inspiration, students create a free-verse poem about their optimistic or pessimistic feelings about being able to change the world.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line.
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 Lesson Title: One Minute in Time
Lesson Overview: Using The Cure's "10:15 on a Saturday Night" as inspiration, students create a free-verse poem about the minute before something happens. Student poems, like The Cure's song, will use onomatopoeia.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: Quest Item Poetry
Lesson Overview: Using Jim Croce's "I've Got a Name" and two stories from Greek mythology as inspiration, students plan a poem about being on life's journey. While Croce sings about three unique items he takes on his journey through life (a name, a song, and a dream), students will brainstorm original items to take with them, and they will write about these items using poetic techniques.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: What Else is Love?
Lesson Overview: Using Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" as inspiration, students create an original metaphor about love being something other than what it is. The metaphor is extended and unpacked for interesting details. These details become a free verse poem.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: Is Perception Reality?
Lesson Overview: Jack Johnson’s “Inaudible Melodies” creates an interesting paradox of how society perceives itself versus the reality of how society really behaves. Students will create a paradox of their own that they feel describes the difference between perception and reality. Students will then turn their paradox into an extended poem using each song as a model for their own writing.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: Color my World Grey and Blue
Lesson Overview: After listening to the song “Grey Street” by the Dave Matthews Band, students will explore the lyrics and discover what role color can play when combined with a setting. Students will choose their own color and setting on which to write their own free verse poem or song.
Click the lesson title or the image to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: Ain't That America
Lesson Overview: John Mellencamp's song "Pink Houses" focuses on conflicts such as racism, poverty and shattered American dreams. For this assignment, students will re-write the song's lyrics, incorporating conflicts from literature they are reading, history they are studying, or conflicts an original character they create might be having.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line. |
 Lesson Title: Boogie Woogie with a B
Lesson Overview: After discussing both the word choice and the patriotic tones of the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," students create new songs (sung to the same tune) that speak of other WWII patriotic characters.
Click the title or album cover above to be taken to the entire lesson on-line.
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4 Left-Brained Poetry Prompts
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3 Right-Brained Poetry Prompts
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Structured Poetry:
Other Left-Brained Prompts:
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Serendipitous Poetry Elements:
Other Right-Brained Prompts:
- Found Poems (Undergoing revision)
- Ransom Note Poetry (Undergoing revision)
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Celebrating the life Bill Abrams
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Our Piñon Poetry Festival is Dedicated
to Bill Abrams' Memory
the following information about Bill was shared by Joan Taylor, former Director of the Northern Nevada Writing Project
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Bill Abrams was a leader of teachers and a poet for over 20 years. From the 1970s to the late 1990s, he was committed to the students and teachers in Nevada. Bill had tremendous faith in the power of teachers working collaboratively with one another and spent much time on projects to draw teachers together to share ideas and celebrate their own and their students’ learning. Although he was an ardent fan of all teachers, he had a special love for English/language arts teachers; and he had an amazing knack for getting them involved in far-flung and engaging projects. Many of us are still working on those projects today, almost 10 years after he left us.
He was a poet and long-time member of Ash Canyon Poetry Society. He would often entertain us with his poems during Northern Nevada Writing Project Summer Institutes. He founded the Northern Nevada Piñon Poetry Festival when it became apparent that the Book-Out and the Nevada Young Writers publications were so overflowing with poetry that we perhaps needed an additional event and publication just for the poetry selections.
Bill suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for most of the years he worked with us. He joked and laughed about the annoyances of the debilitating disease and negotiated the difficulties of his disability with uncommon courage and grace. He inspired us to do our best and to see the finest in one another. We found it most fitting when noted poet, Sean Griffin, announced in 1998 that the Northern Nevada Piñon Poetry Festival would be renamed the Bill Abrams Piñon Poetry Festival.
Click here to open
and read one of Bill's poems. |
Mentor Text Writing Lessons: Poetry-Inspired Lessons & Nevada's Piñon Poetry Festival 
