Blackout Poetry Connects Texts to Lives!

A New Outlet

Blackout poetry has recently become one of the most therapeutic and creative outlets I've found to serve me personally. I was so excited once I started to get the hang of it, I just had to share it with my class! Basically, you are creating a poem that is a short concise thought which expresses emotions and can communicate not only feelings but also be a pretty awesome way to give a summary. Below, the video showcases some of the artful poetry we have created in our anticipation of summer approaching. Using a "porquoi tale"-- a tale which seeks to explain why or how something significant happened like, "how did the tiger get his stripes?" was also the perfect opportunity to teach the significance of the porquoi tale and examine examples of various types from different cultures-- the students were challenged to create a poem expressing an emotion about their upcoming summer vacation.

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