Lesson Introduction
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore*... I decided to write a really scary poem!
Creepy, freaky and downright weird. In these lessons students create their own horror poems by combining found language from poems published on the Poetry in Voice site with their own "diction clouds" inspired by colour.
*Excerpted from “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.
Learning Objectives
In this Lesson, students will have opportunities to:
- Use writing strategies to create and refine engaging and meaningful literary texts.
- Think critically and creatively to explore ideas within, between and beyond texts.
- Consider how writers use language to create images and atmosphere.
- Choose and combine words and images for particular effects.
- Perform poems paying attention to volume, pacing, intonation (for final performance, actions, sound effects, choral reading can be used to emphasize meaning).
Materials and Resources
To teach this lesson, you will need:
- access to Poetry in Voice online anthology
- large rolled sheets of coloured art paper
- assortment of felt pens of different colours
- tape
- pencils and paper