Poems and games for school children

Songs as Poetry

Studying modern-day songs is a great way to teach about figurative language and poetic devices while studying poetry. Try reading the lyrics, but omitting or re-writing the metaphors and talking about the change in message/meaning. Look for examples of imperfect rhyme in one of Eminem’s cleaner songs. Study poems as paired texts. Analyze lines from a famous soundtrack. Ask students to bring in their favorite songs and discuss. So. Many. Options!

Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren’t sure where to start:

1. 
   “Across the Universe” by the Beatles
   
2. 
   “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
   
3. 
   “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
   
4. 
   “Chasing Pavements” by Adele
   
5. 
   “Infinity” by Mariah Carey
   
6. 
   “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes
   
7. 
   “Counting Stars” by One Republic
   
8. 
   “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons
   
9. 
   “Imagine” by John Lennon
   
10. 
    “Mad World” by Gary Jules
    
11. 
    “Zombie” by The Cranberries
    
12. 
    “Letter to Me” by Brad Paisley
    

Students need to know that poetry is not dead. It’s living. It’s breathing. It’s storytelling. It’s cool. In April, my classes come alive with the magic of slam poetry as students become authors and performers. They re-discover wonder and learn to let down their guard. They learn that there is intersectionality between their story and the stories of others. They are appreciated. They appreciate others. When I use this fun poetry activity for high school students, my classroom really becomes a true community. Grab my slam poetry “mini” unit to get your students started with slam poetry! Not sure which slam poems are school-appropriate and engaging? Here are 40 of my favorite slam poems!
This poetry writing activity is FREE if you’re willing to grab some paint chips from your local hardware store, preferably ones with multiple colors in one. Or, Amazon sells an awesome paint chip poetry “game.”

1. 
   Have students use one of the color names as the title for a poem.
   
2. 
   Have students write poems in stanzas, using each of the color names as inspiration.
   
3. 
   Have students use all of the color names somewhere in a poem.
   
4. 
   Have students choose two contrasting colors and make a poem of contrasts.
   
5. 
   Have students choose two complimentary colors and make a poem.
   
6. 
   Have students choose a color and write an identity poem.
   

Take your students to the library (or have them browse a site like Goodreads) and challenge them to create poems from book titles. Each title becomes a line in the poem. An optional challenge: have students choose (or randomly draw) a theme, and their poem has to relate to their chosen theme. If you’re looking for some FREE templates, I’ve got you covered: Click Here! I created these templates as a quick fun poetry activity for high school sophomores after my librarian told me that having my classes pull so many books would be a pain to re-shelve.
Taylor Mali, the very first slam poet I ever listened to (and still one of my favorites), has a ton of great poetry writing exercises for high school students on his site HERE. His best-selling metaphor dice are a great way to get students to think “outside the box” when it comes to poetry writing. This is a really fun poetry activity for high school students! Each new metaphor is a different poem!