Do you know creative pre-teens and teens who will be home until in-school instruction resumes? Do you want to inspire a youth to work on their reading and writing, while also reflecting on their lives and how they move through the world? Are you a young person looking for a fun project or a teacher seeking an engaging assignment? I'd like to suggest these five lessons plans, crafted by Writing the Community teaching artists. While they were originally developed for 6th-12th grade students in classroom settings, they're easily adapted for all ages (grown ups, too!) and for at-home poetry projects. Happy writing! (And if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out our lesson plan archive.)

Place Poems

Poets explore ideas of place and safety, practice meditation, and write a place-themed anaphora poem in this lesson plan, developed by Teré Fowler-Chapman and inspired by Octavia Butler's essay "A Few Rules for Predicting the Future."

Restrictions and the Unreliable Translator: A Multi-Modal Approach

Gabe Dozal's lesson plan is premised on the idea that "restrictions in creative output can produce unexpected results." This mutilingual lesson plan uses music and Charles Bernstein's homophonic translation exercise to encourage literary experimentation and language play.

Thanks Be to All Things: A Gratitude Workshop

Drawing on research around the connections between gratitude and mental health, Logan Phillip's workshop is centered on collaboration, cultivating thankfulness, and practicing the art of noticing. While it was originally written for a group of young people, with some creativity it can be adapted for individuals and poets of all ages! The extension activity encourages writers to tackle odes, inspired by Pablo Neruda, Evie Shockley, and Pat Mora.

They Never Had It Made

This lesson plan, written by Lisa M. O'Neill and inspired by Nikky Finney's "He Never Had It Made," asks poets to write about a person in their life who overcame obstacles, and to practice using sensory language and vibrant details in their writing. Be sure to check out O'Neill's blog post about Nikky Finney's visit to her class, too!

Letter to Younger/Future Self

Teré Fowler-Chapman's lesson plan invites students to write an epistolary poem to their younger or future selves, reflect on the past and/or imagine the future, and practice using literary devices. Before writing, youth read two poems for instruction and inspiration: Patrick Rosal's “Children Walk on Chairs to Cross a Flooded Schoolyard” and Evie Shockley’s “from The Lost Letters of Frederick Douglass."