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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 1
Poetry Ideas
By
Janine Bouyssounouse
Assembled July, 2014
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 2
This book was published in South Pasadena, California in July 2014. Copyright 2014
Janine Bouyssounouse used www.LuLu.com to publish this book. Search for her books in the bookstore
by searching for Janine Bouyssounouse.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 3
Introduction
This book was written by Janine Bouyssounouse. It contains examples of poems with questions and
answers about them, poetry instruction, exercises and prompts. The idea is to get people up and
running with poetry. Anyone can be a poet. Then it is a matter of becoming the best poet one can be.
The examples of poetry are sprinkled throughout the workbook. Poems are unique, just as poets are
unique. A poet can copy a style or technique for writing a poem, but each poem must stand on its own
as its own special place in the world of poetry. It’s important for people to try to write their own poetry
to see how easy or hard it is to write poetry, instead of becoming mired in thoughts of perfection. Write
a poem, then go back to it and decide if it needs to be modified or enlarged or cut down. Some people
continue editing their poetry after long periods of time. Feel a sense of accomplishment with each poem
written. Admire your stack of poems. Know the feeling of being a poet. Then see if some fiddling should
be done with your works of art. Don’t become crippled with writer’s block. Feel the freedom of
expression running through you and onto the page. Stretch your creative muscle. Enjoy reading and
writing poems. Let poetry fill your soul with wonderfulness.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 4
Websites Of Mine
Here is a listing of my current websites where there are many more materials available for use in the
classroom or at home. I’ve heard some of my resources actually get used in the workplace as well. I have
many writing prompts online to help any writer at any level. And there is a lot of work posted to help
people build skills to get ready for college. Many of the assignments can also be used at the college level
as well.
www.edonyourown.com – educational materials, resume, autobiography
www.LuLu.com – search for Janine Bouyssounouse in the bookstore to see other titles for sale
www.ShopMyBook.com – search for Janine Bouyssounouse to see titles for sale
janinecb99.edublogs.org – homework assignment and instruction site
chickidoodlefun.wordpress.com – flash fiction, poetry, writing prompts
chickidoodle.wordpress.com – Who am I?
myauthornotes.wordpress.com – typed journal pages
janinecb99.livejournal.com – educational articles and book announcements
99sunshine.livejournal.com – alternative writing – includes sexual content
99janinecb.livejournal.com – rumor gossip diary
gscooking.livejournal.com – cooking adventures
gssewing.liveournal.com – sewing and crafts
gsblogging.livejournal.com – blogging information
gshtml.livejournal.com – HTML information
gsjava.livejournal.com – Java programming notes
gspoetry.livejournal.com – poetry how to and exercises
gswriting.livejournal.com – writing exercises
gsreading.livejournal.com – notes on how to teach reading and numerous reading resources
gsmath.livejournal.com – math instruction and some practice problems
gsphotos.livejournal.com – selected photos I’ve taken
gsart.livejournal.com – some art instruction for beginners including photos of art and art supplies
www.writing.com/authors/janinecb99 - writing.com portfolio
www.writing.com/authors/janinecb99/blog - writing.com blog – Journaling A Writing Life
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 5
Poetry Ideas
Poetry is a difficult form of writing and it requires a lot of practice to write good poetry, but anyone who
can write can write poetry. Yes, anyone who can write can be a poet. Just write a poem and you’re a
poet. This book is meant to help people get into poetry. The idea is to introduce people to poetry
through poetry exercises and poetry how to steps. There are also poems with questions and answers
about them to help understand different forms of poetry. Most of them are fairly short, so they aren’t
pages long sonnets.
Some of the poetry exercises may seem familiar and some of them may seem like brand new ideas.
There is something here for everyone, even the professional poet will find things he or she has never
seen before in this book. There will be space after each assignment, exercise or how to for your notes or
your actual poem using the information on that page. So this book can be a workbook filled with your
poetry notes and poems.
Hopefully by the end of this book you will feel more confident with poetry and more familiar with poetry
as a style of writing. Enjoy the information in this book and enjoy the art of writing poems. Let your
ideas flow in poem form.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 6
Fred
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Fred
There once was a man named Fred He was a little touched in the head
I threw a ball He ate it all
There once was a man named Fred
—————————————————
Questions:
1) Is the title of the poem a name?
2) How many lines are in this poem?
3) How many stanzas are in this poem?
4) Is it okay not to have punctuation in a poem?
5) What line is repeated in this poem?
—————————————————
Answers:
1) Is the title of the poem a name? Yes 2) How many lines are in this poem? 5 3) How many stanzas are in this poem? 3 4) Is it okay not to have punctuation in a poem? Yes 5) What line is repeated in this poem? There once was a man named Fred
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 7
Best Friend Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about your best friend. Include all kinds of details like how your friend looks, acts, phrases
used often, things you two have done together that have meaning for the two of you and anything else
you can think of to include. Group like things together into stanzas that make sense to be together.
Choose a good title for your poem. Rewrite the poem with your name on the byline below the title and
make sure all of the lines and stanzas are just the way you want them. Then give a copy of it to your
friend.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 8
Me, The Poem
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Me
Me I am I am me Who am I? Me I am an American happy girl
——————————————
Questions:
1) How many lines are in this poem?
2) What is the title of this poem?
3) How many syllables are in the last line?
——————————————
Answers:
1) How many lines are in this poem? 5 2) What is the title of this poem? Me 3) How many syllables are in the last line? 10
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 9
Name Poem
Name poems are fun to write. They describe the person who wrote the poem, since people usually write name poems about themselves.
Assignment:
Write the letters of your name vertically on a piece of paper. Choose a word or phrase starting with each letter of your name. The words or phrases chosen are supposed to describe you or are words you like for some reason. A dictionary can be used to help with this assignment.
Once the rough draft is complete, get a large piece of art paper and colored markers. Carefully use a different color for each line of the poem. Your name is the title of the poem and each line of the poem should be capitalized. This poem is meant to be displayed on the wall of the room you live in, if acceptable.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 10
Poetry Evaluation
Poetry is a different type of writing which is highly evolved. Poetry conveys a different level of communication. Punctuation is different with poetry and is often missing, so including punctuation adds more emphasis. The line breaks or breaks between stanzas also conveys meaning. Stanzas are similar to paragraphs and are groupings of lines of poetry so each stanza is a part of the whole, just as paragraphs are part of the essay grouped by thoughts, the same is true of stanzas being groups of thoughts in the poem. Evaluating poetry is very different because there are sometimes more hidden meaning in a poem than in a story. There is more word play in poetry where multiple meanings of a word could apply to the poem. This makes word choice even more important in poems than in prose writing.
Assignment:
Go to chickidoodlefun.Wordpress.com and choose a poem to evaluate. Write positive comments about the poem. Then write constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement or change. Once you have your notes completed, write a professional letter to the poet offering your professional critique. Don’t forget to mention your over all feel for the meaning and emotions presented and evoked by the poem of choice. Give an overall impression of the poem as a whole as well as different parts of the poem. Thank the poet for writing the poem, since not everyone can write poetry and is willing to share it with the world.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 11
What’s A Blog?
A blog is a fairly new concept. There are people who get paid to blog and there are people who get famous for blogging. Blogs have many forms. They can all be classified as educational, even the gossip and personal diary blogs. A blog can be a good place to post your poetry on the internet. www.wordpress.org is a place where other writers and poets post their writing. People see what you post and they can make comments on your work or state that they like your work. It’s an interesting way to test out your poems in a writing forum where poets post their own poems. Take a look at www.wordpress.com to get a feel for what people do with WordPress.
Assignment:
Research blogs on the internet. Decide what kind of blog you want to make with the understanding that a blog can have multiple kinds of things on it. Create a blog. This can be done for no money and can be done from public computer labs or in a classroom with computers with free access to the internet.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 12
Alphabetical Poem
There are many different types of poetry. Sometimes it helps to read other poetry before writing your own poems. Beginning poets sometimes have instruction in how to write poems. This gives the beginning poet some idea of how to write a poem. Getting used to writing poetry can take some time. So practicing writing poems is a good idea.
Assignment:
Pick a topic, such as yourself, for example. Write down a list of words to describe the topic. If you’re writing about yourself, then write a list of words describing yourself.
Once you have a good list and you’ve decided you like the words you chose, put the words in alphabetical order. Think about the order of the alphabet, then look for the words beginning with the letters of the alphabet in order of the alphabet. Start with A and continue looking for words starting with each letter of the alphabet in order until you have gone through the entire list of words.
If you have two words that begin with the letter A, then start looking at the second letter of the words. The word with the second letter closest to A goes first. If the second letters of the words are still the same letter, then go to the third letter of the word to decide which letter is closest to the letter A to decide which word goes before the other word.
For example, if two of the words begin with the letter A, follow the procedure detailed above. If there are two words that begin with the letter A, such as amazing and artistic. Both words begin with the letter A, so we look at the second letters in the words, which are m and r. M goes before R because M is closer the letter A. So the words happen to be in alphabetical order already. So amazing goes first and artistic goes second. If one word is so short it actually matches the first letters of the longer word, then the short word goes first in alphabetical order.
Once you’ve decided what order the words go in, choose a title for your poem. Then write your final draft of the poem. Make sure the title is there and remember to write the word by and then your name under the title of the poem.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 13
Tectactrys Poetry
Tectactrys poems are math poems. You need to know how to count syllables in order to write these poems. They end up looking like a triangle when you’re done. Some people reverse the process for a second half to the poem. This makes a diamond shape when the poem is center justified.
These poems have a title, one syllable on line one, two syllables on line two, three syllables on line three, four syllables on line four and ten syllables on line five. Keep in mind some words have more than one syllable.
Assignment:
Pick a topic for a poem. Brainstorm words and phrases to support the topic chosen. Once you have a good collection of words and phrases, look for the combinations that fit into the framework of specific syllable requirements. Line five doesn’t have to be a complete sentence, but sometimes that does happen.
Bonus Material:
www.edonyourown.com has a Tectactrys Poetry Packet under the English section. This packet has several examples of this style of poetry. There are also poems listed on the poetry page also found under the English category.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 14
List Poem
A list poem is an easy way to learn how to write poetry. It’s a list of words or phrases.
Assignment:
Choose a topic/title for the poem. Brainstorm ideas for the poem and write them down. Once they’re written down, decide which ones will be used. Then decide what order to have them listed in the poem. Each one goes on its own line of the poem. Decide on the best use of stanzas for the poem and rewrite the poem in order with correct use of stanzas.
Research information:
Examples of list poems can be found on the poetry page at www.edonyourown.com and at chickidoodlefun.Wordpress.com.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 15
Tribute Poetry
Tribute poetry is poetry paying tribute to someone or something. It’s an important form of poetry. The poet needs to be very careful about tribute poetry. The poems can’t defame wrongfully.
Assignment:
Choose a person or thing to pay tribute to. Brainstorm ideas to cover to cover the subject matter completely. Based on your list of ideas to cover, determine how to properly cover each idea. Decide on the form the poem will be. Work with the chosen form of poetry and fit the best ways to cover the ideas.
Research Material:
Examples of tribute poetry can be found on www.edonyourown.com and chickidoodlefun.Wordpress.com.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 16
Couplets
Couplets are groupings of two lines of poetry. Couplet poems have a series of couplets. The two lines may or may not rhyme. The two lines have to be linked in some way. The couplets convey a message. Each set of couplets tell part of the story. Couplets are stanzas. Learning couplet poetry is a good way to begin to understand how stanzas are used in poetry. A stanza tells part of the story of the poem and one stanza poetry is powerful poetry.
Assignment:
Gather ideas for a poem. Decide what the subject of the poem is. Decide what ideas will be conveyed in each stanza of the poem. Write the pairs of lines of poetry. After finishing the poem, read it and feel out the proper title of the poem. Don’t forget to properly prepare your masterpiece for your audience.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 17
Silly Poetry
Silly poetry is epically important poetry. Silly poetry can summon poetry followers. Children often answer the call to poetry through silly poems. Once a poetry reader is hooked, there’s no turning back. They’re hooked for life. So let’s hook poetry readers.
Assignment:
Study silly poetry. Decide what makes a good silly poem. Decide what topic to use for your silly poem. Write your silly poem. Choose the right title for your silly poem. Hook readers with your silly poem. Journal about your silly poetry experience.
Bonus:
Submit your silly poem for possible publication.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 18
Poetry Research Paper
Poetry is such a large subject area there are way too many forms of poetry to cover in a one term course.
Assignment:
Research ten forms of poetry. Write each section of the paper with historical reference, significance and examples of each form of poetry. Include references to your research matter and include a bibliography at the end of the paper. Make sure to include internet resources in the bibliography and the references. The internet could be your main source of research matter. Remember that a research paper of this magnitude will take considerable time to research and properly prepare. Beware of failure to properly reference research matter. Consult MLA and other methods for properly referencing and annotating this paper.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 19
Poetry Self-Reflection
Poetry self-reflection is important. A poet must assess himself or herself to determine areas for growth. Assessment includes reflection and determining good, bad, ugly and areas for improvement and growth.
Assignment:
Choose five of your poems for this assignment. Reflect on each poem individually. Reflect on this body of poetry. Write a summary of your individual and overall reflection.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 20
Love Poems
Love poems require depth of feeling. Not all poets are capable of writing a good love poem. Love poems hook women and make good rightful hunting tools.
Assignment:
Think of one of your loves of your life. If you have no loves of your life, then invent a love of your life to use for this assignment. Pour out your deepest, darkest love feelings for the subject of the poem. Use whatever form of poetry that strikes your fancy. Finalize your love poem and present it to the subject of your poem. Journal about your love poem adventure.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 21
Shape Poem
Shape poems have the actual shape of the poem as part of the poetry presentation. Tectactrys poetry and alphabetical poems are two examples of shape poems. Poems can be written in the shape of a circle. Shape poems can be written in the shape of a rectangle. Shape poems can be written in a trail, like the whip of a long tail.
Assignment:
Write a shape poem in a shape you haven’t tried yet. Using a computer for this assignment can be very problematic and could require special programs.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 22
Sensory Poem
What are the five senses? Hearing, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting are the five senses. They are very important in the world of writing. Including them in poetry is divine.
Assignment:
Go to a place you don’t normally go to. Bring food and drink with you. Notice everything around you. Become hyper aware of your surroundings. Begin your sensory poem. The first line is five words describing what you hear. The second line is five words about what you see. The third line is five words about what you smell. The fourth line is five words describing what you touch. The fifth line is five words describing what you taste. Decide if you have the words in the best order on each line and make revisions. Then decide how best to describe the location as a fitting title. Share the final draft of the poem with others who know the location. Journal about the sensory poem experience.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 23
Song Poetry
Many songs are poetry set to music. Find the words to songs on www.edonyourown.com under the camp song section for examples of poetry turned into songs.
Examples:
Music Shall Live
All things will perish from under the sky. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Never to die.
Make New Friends
Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.
Assignment:
Write a poem and set it to music. Sing your song to someone who cares.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 24
Direct Poetry Instruction
Stop being ignorant about poetry. Learn how to write poems and learn how to admire poetry. Poetry is the finest form of expression… Other than the other fine forms of expression… Learn how to express yourself in poem. Your life will be changed forever once you find out you’re a poet and you didn’t even know it.
Assignment:
Go to Janinecb99.LiveJournal.com and read the article called Direct Poetry Instruction. Write an essay about the article and your thoughts about poetry. Watch out for your hatefulness towards poetry. You don’t want to let people know how uncultured you are. Only cultured people appreciate poetry. Write a poem based on the instruction in the article. Turn it in with your essay as a demonstration of your reading comprehension skills… Can you read and learn from what you’ve read? Go ahead… Be a poet…
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 25
Question Poetry
Poems consisting of questions are interesting. Poetry comments on life and marks time by its significance. The Socratic method of teaching is said to consist of questioning the students to help them develop the ability to answer their own questions. Teaching people how to form questions and which questions are the best questions to ask and even how to broach the questions to the right people are all vital to survival in school and the workplace.
Assignment:
Think of a thought provoking topic. Come up with a list of questions having something to do with the topic. Arrange the questions in order and in one or more stanzas. Once the final version of the question poem is complete, decide on the best title for this poetry creation.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 26
Single Letter Poem
This poem has everything starting with a single letter of the alphabet.
Assignment:
Use a dictionary to find words starting with the same letter of the alphabet that are interesting to you. Group them by types of words. Perhaps some of them are descriptive words and some of them are action words. Use these groupings as stanzas of the poem. Write your poem with words starting with one letter of the alphabet.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 27
Nature Poetry
Poems about nature are very relaxing and bring smiles to people’s faces.
Assignment:
Choose a piece of nature, like a tree, a bird, your pet dog, your family, a park, a camping spot or even a nature hike. Gather your thoughts about the chosen subject of the poem and arrange everything into stanzas where each stanza has a theme. Try to make the stanzas be the same number of lines. Choose a title and rewrite the poem with the title, the byline and the stanzas the way you want them to be.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 28
Building Poem
Buildings are very interesting. They are rich in history and many people use them. Cities and even small towns are nothing without buildings and there are famous ones in every single city.
Assignment:
Pick a famous building and write a poem about it. Pick a building you know something about and it could even be the building where you live. Maybe you could write about the library or a school building or the court house or city hall or a store building. Go ahead. Be creative. There are buildings all around. What about a falling down barn?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 29
Flood Poem
Floods cause a lot of damage and it takes a while for the water to go away. Then the clean-up can be very difficult. Sometimes roads are ruined. Sometimes buildings are ruined. Sometimes there’s no insurance.
Assignment:
Write a poem about a flood or flooding. Try to find something positive to say. Maybe there’s a heartwarming story to tell in the poem. Maybe it’s just heartache. Maybe nutrients will go to the farm lands from an overrun river. Choose a form for your poem that fits it. Maybe you need multiple stanzas to group your thoughts. Don’t forget to choose a good title.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 30
Technology Poem
Technology is part of our lives now. Look at all of the cell phones and computers all over the place.
Assignment:
Write a poem about technology or a piece of technology like a cell phone or how technology has changed our lives.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 31
Park Poem
There are all kinds of things that go on at a park. There are sports, parties, games, play toys and lots of people. Different parks have different things to offer. Some have places to cook out of doors and some have places to camp.
Assignment:
Go to a park and take notes on what’s going on. Write about what you see and hear. Write about the different things offered to do there. Then write a poem about your experience.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 32
Description Poem
A description poem describes a scene or object or person. It's important to do a great job of writing a
great set of descriptions to make the poem robust.
How To:
1. Decide what you will describe. Is it a person, place, or thing, or some concept?
2. Go to the best place to write the descriptions. This might be the actual place or where you can
observe what you need to observe.
3. Settle in and start writing about the subject of the poem. Write more than you think you will need for
the finished product.
4. Decide what to keep in the poem.
5. Organize the descriptions into the correct order and grouping by stanza. Similar descriptions can go in
the same stanza.
6. Choose an appropriate title.
7. Rewrite the poem with the title, byline and correct order and stanzas.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 33
Found Poem
A found poem is an interesting style of poem. The words and/or phrases are all found in other forms of
writing, such as magazines, newspapers, books and online.
How To:
1. Choose a publication or more than one.
2. Choose how you will gather the pieces of the poem. You can cut out the words or phrases, you can
highlight them, you can circle them or you can jot them down.
3. Sift through the prose writing and even the poem advertising. Find what you're looking for and gather
your treasures.
4. Once you have a good collection, start assembling your poem. This is the interesting part. Some of the
pieces will group into stanzas or strings of words and others will end up being sentences or sentence
fragments. You will let your collection direct the poem. You did your gathering job. The assembling of
the poem sort of happens on its own. Try using the entire collection of words/phrases in the final
version of the poem. That's part of the interesting part of the found poem. You use all of your found
treasures with no repeating, unless you found more than one of the treasures in different places, which
is possible.
5. Once you've assembled your poem and have the order and stanzas the way you want them, see what
your creation wants to be called. It might be difficult to choose a title. You might use one or more words
used in your poem or maybe it needs a totally different title to help it stand out like it should. You could
use found poem as part of the title as a way to explain your strange creation.
6. Make sure you rewrite your newest creation with the title and your byline. Find a way to display your
special creation, such as in a frame, in a scrapbook, on a website, or even in a book.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 34
A Friend
By Janine Bouyssounouse
A Friend
You bring smiles to my face.
You help melt away the worries.
You offer support and caring concern.
You give yourself to me.
You accept me for who I am.
You listen to what I say.
You don't complain because I talk too much.
You mean so much to me.
Thank you again for being in my life.
I am better off for knowing you.
You are my friend.
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Questions:
1. How many lines are in this poem?
2. How many stanzas are in this poem?
3. Does a friend listen?
4. What is support and caring concern?
5. Why do friends help melt away the worries?
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Answers:
1. How many lines are in this poem? 11
2. How many stanzas are in this poem? 3
3. Does a friend listen? According to this poem they do.
4. What is support and caring concern? Being supportive and showing that you care, being a help.
5. Why do friends help melt away the worries? A person can soothe worries of a friend, reassure
the person.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 35
Be My Valentine
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Be My Valentine
Be my valentine for a minute.
Be my valentine for an hour.
Be my valentine for a day.
Be my valentine for a lifetime.
But how long is a lifetime?
Is a lifetime a minute, an hour, a day?
Or is a lifetime many minutes, hours and days
Strung together like Christmas lights?
Be my valentine.
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Questions:
1. How long should a person be a valentine according to this poem?
2. How long is a lifetime according to this poem?
3. What is strung together like Christmas lights?
4. Why is the title used as the last line of the poem?
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Answers:
1. How long should a person be a valentine according to this poem? A minute, an hour, a day, a
lifetime
2. How long is a lifetime according to this poem? The poem only asks the question and suggests a
minute, an hour, a day or all of these strung together.
3. What is strung together like Christmas lights? A lifetime of minutes, hours and days
4. Why is the title used as the last line of the poem? Using the title as the final line of the poem
adds emphasis and brings everything back to the original thought of the poem.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 36
Increasing Length Stanza Poem
In an increasing length stanza poem each stanza is longer than the previous stanza. The stanzas should
be chapters in the poem, each of them having their own part to play.
How To:
1. Choose a topic or theme for the poem.
2. Choose five areas to discuss about the topic or theme.
3. Decide which order the areas to discuss will be presented.
4. Think of one thing to say about the first area of the poem. This will be the first stanza.
5. Think of two things to say about the second area of discussion in the poem. These two things will
make up the second stanza.
6. Think of three things to say about the third area of discussion in the poem. This is the third stanza of
the poem.
7. Think of four things to say about the fourth area of discussion in the poem. This is the fourth stanza of
the poem.
8. Think of five things to say about the last area of discussion in the poem. This is the last stanza of the
poem.
9. Choose a title for the poem. It could be the topic or theme of the poem or it could be suggested by
the poem itself.
10. Rewrite the poem with the title and byline and the stanzas in order. Make sure there is space
between the stanzas so they each stand out on their own.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 37
Statement Poem
A statement poem is a list of statements. It can be very forceful in what it has to say.
How To:
1. Choose a topic or theme.
2. Brainstorm statements about the topic or theme.
3. Decide what to include and what to exclude.
4. Choose the order of the statements. Going from less dramatic to more dramatic can help make the
poem feel like it's building to a huge conclusion. Don't let the reader down. Make the last statement
meaningful.
5. Choose a title for the poem.
6. Rewrite the poem with the title and byline and all of the statements in order with proper stanza(s).
7. Make a dramatic presentation of the poem. Present it to others to see what impact it has on people.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 38
Conversational Poem
A conversational poem reads like an internal monologue that could be put into play form for multiple
people.
How To:
1. Choose a topic for the conversation.
2. Write the lines of the conversation. Each line will be its own stanza.
3. Go over the conversation to see if the subject matter was covered thoroughly and add lines where
needed.
4. Choose a fitting title for the poem. The conversation should suggest the title.
5. Rewrite the poem with the title and byline with the stanzas set up correctly.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 39
Brainstorming Poem
This is a cluster exercise. The poem is made up of all of the words from the brainstorming exercise.
How To:
1. Make a cluster diagram with a central idea surrounded by lines leading to related concepts. The
concepts can be words or phrases. Try to include both.
2. Use the center idea as the title and arrange the concepts in length order with the shortest first and
the longest last. You can use commas or individual lines to separate the concepts or use a combination
of the two methods.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 40
Waterfall Poem
A waterfall poem is one long stanza that looks like a waterfall. It builds in length of line to the spray at
the bottom of the waterfall. So think tiny, then think bigger.
How To:
1. Choose a topic for the poem, such as a person or a place or an object of interest.
2. Brainstorm words and phrases that describe the subject of the poem. Make sure to include one
syllable, short words as well as more complex words and phrases.
3. Organize the list by length of word or phrase with the shortest on top. The poem should look like it's
cascading down to the longer words and phrases.
4. Choose a title. Maybe one of the lines of the poem will shout out to you as the title, or maybe the
subject of the poem will suggest a title.
5. Rewrite the poem with the title and the byline. Make sure everything looks like it's building in length
from the beginning of the poem to the end. Perhaps some final editing can be done to make it look
more cascading.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 41
Three Word Poetry Exercise
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem using the words hot, purple and hilly. Write any style of poem using these words. They
can be combined with other words or used in phrases. They can even head up their own stanzas. Be
creative and have fun.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 42
Café Or Coffee Shop Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Go to a cafe or coffee shop. Get something to eat and drink and find a place to sit and write. Jot down
notes about the place and the people there. Once you feel you have the details noted and in mind, write
your poem. Don't forget to include sounds and tastes. Sensory details make a big difference.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 43
Keepsake Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Someone gives you a keepsake as a gift. It has great meaning for you and reminds you of good times.
Write a poem about the keepsake. Write about its meaning to you and the relationship with the person
who gave it to you. Describe it in detail. Why is it so special?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 44
Lake Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Visit a lake or look at a picture of one or use your memory of visiting a lake. Gather your thoughts and
write a poem about the lake itself, the people visiting the lake, the animals in and around the lake, the
ecosystem, the impact of people on the lake, man-made or natural, how full it is, hidden or heavily
visited, etc. Let your mind wander and spend a lot of time brainstorming before writing the final poem.
Try grouping different concepts together in their own stanzas.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 45
Elf Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Look up information about elves and write a poem about one particular elf. He could be a warrior or a
king or he could be in love. Find just the right elf who stirs you to write poetry. Enjoy the experience.
Immerse yourself into the elf's life and turn it into words.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 46
A Beautiful Woman Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Look at a picture or painting of a beautiful woman or have one in mind. Write a poem about that
woman. Describe her beauty and other qualities you imagine her having. Describe the perfect woman.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 47
Time Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about time. Will it be about a busy schedule? Will it be about timeless topics? Will
it be how people age over time? Will it be about leisure activities when there is an abundance of
time? Will it be about how we fill the hours of the day when we're bored? How will you represent
time?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 48
Ode To The Wheelbarrow
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem to dignify the wheelbarrow. It was one of the first uses of the wheel. That's worthy
of a poem. Think of all of the things done with the use of a wheelbarrow. Carrying dirt, wood and
water for a fish while the fish pond gets cleaned. Wheelbarrows have even been known to carry
people from time to time. It stays put and moves when and where you want it to move. Oh how
wondrous the wheelbarrow is.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 49
Join A Writing Community
Poetry Exercise:
Put your poetry out there to be reviewed. Get a free account at www.Writing.com and add a
poem to your online portfolio at writing.com. Review other poems and other writing to get a feel
for how reviews work. This site wants a minimum of 250 characters of length for each review.
Enjoy being part of a writing community. Write about your experience.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 50
Running Water Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Choose a form of running water. It could be a babbling brook, a bubbling spring, a slowly flowing
stream, a river, the ocean, a running drainpipe, a waterfall or even the water faucet turned on in
the tub in the bathroom. Write a poem describing how the water flows and what kind of noises it
makes. Does the water flow around any objects? Does the water pool anywhere or end up in a
pond or lake? Where does the water come from?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 51
Dream Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about a dream. It can be a real dream or one you make up. Remember anything
could happen in a dream. Get creative with the imagery involved with the dream.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 52
Space Poem
Poetry Exercise:
There are so many things out in space that we have learned about over the years. The moon
and the satellites are things we know about. We know about other planets in our solar system.
We know about meteorites. We know about the Milky Way. We even know about astronauts.
Write a poem about one or several things found out in space.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 53
Behind The Curtain Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about what’s behind the curtain. Make the final part of the poem be the big reveal
of what’s actually behind the curtain. The possibilities are endless.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 54
Shoes Poem
Poetry Exercise:
There are so many different kinds of shoes in existence and most people have several different
pairs of shoes. Think about the different things you would do wearing the different pairs of
shoes. Jot down notes about shoe excursions. Where do you go in the different pairs of shoes?
Once you’ve given it some thought and you’ve written down places to go and things to do in
different shoes, decide if you will write about shoes in general or about a specific pair of shoes.
Write a poem about shoes.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 55
Car Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Cars mean a lot to people. Choose a car and find out some information about it. It could be a
classic car or a new car or your own car. Maybe you pick the family car used for family
vacations while growing up. Write a poem highlighting what is so special about the car you
chose.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 56
Rainbow Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about rainbows. It can include leprechauns and pots of gold or unicorns or the
scientific reasons for rainbows. Celebrate the colors of rainbows and what they represent.
Praise the joy the sight of a rainbow brings.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 57
Horse Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Horses are such magnificent animals. They race and show and there are many working horses.
How many horses are the family pets? There are several different kinds of horses. Write a poem
about a particular horse or horses in general.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 58
Umbrella Over Flowers
Poetry Exercise:
Imagine a drawing of a small boy holding an umbrella over a flower while it’s raining. So the boy
is getting wet, but the flower isn’t getting the water it needs.
What words comes to mind? What can be said about the boy not understanding the flower
needs the water? Write a poem based on this image. Use your imagination to fill in the gaps of
why the boy is doing this and what it means as a bigger picture.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 59
Nurse Poem
Poetry Exercise:
Write a poem about nurses. Think about all of the things nurses do in a hospital or a doctor’s
office or as a home visiting nurse. Nurses make healthcare run smoothly. How do they work
with doctors and the other healthcare workers? What does it take to be a nurse? How long does
it take? Do nurses have to have college degrees? How do nurses interact with patients? Do
they need a good bedside manner?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 60
Addicted To Education
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Some addictions are good
Get some education
Get more education
Keep going to school
Continue self-education
Learn, learn, learn
Reading, Writing and Math
What’s unclear about the 3 R’s?
A rat in the house might eat the ice cream
Arithmetic
Yeah, that’s the third R
Math doesn’t have an R
But we need more than arithmetic
We need Algebra
Don’t forget Geometry
What’s wrong with Trigonometry?
Don’t you like Statistics?
Educate yourself
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 61
Addicted To Education
Questions:
1. Why does the poem say some addictions are good?
2. Does the author believe in education after high school graduation?
3. What are the three R’s?
4. Why are the three R’s important?
5. Why is the line, “A rat in the house might eat the ice cream,” in the poem?
6. What are the types of math mentioned in the poem?
7. Why does the poem state to educate yourself?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 62
Addicted To Education
Answers:
1. Why does the poem say some addictions are good? The poem title is Addicted To Education, so
the suggestion is that being addicted to education is a good thing.
2. Does the author believe in education after high school graduation? It appears the author
believes in life-long learning, which includes college, trade schools and self-education through
reading and other means.
3. What are the three R’s? The three R’s are: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.
4. Why are the three R’s important? All other subjects use reading, writing and some sort of math,
so without these basic skills, the other subjects are too difficult to do well.
5. Why is the line, “A rat in the house might eat the ice cream,” in the poem? These words start
with the letters of the word arithmetic. It’s a memory device used to remember how to spell the
word arithmetic.
6. What are the types of math mentioned in the poem? The poem mentions arithmetic, algebra,
geometry, trigonometry and statistics.
7. Why does the poem state to educate yourself? A teacher can only do so much to educate
students. It’s the students who have to want to learn and do well. So, each student must be
responsible for educating themselves.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 63
Addiction Poem
Write a poem about an addiction. It could be about your own struggles with addiction or it could
be about addictions in general. What is an addiction? How does it affect a person or the people
around that person? Are some addictions acceptable? Are all addictions bad? Do you have a
favorite food? Do you only shop at one store? Are these addictions? What is an addiction?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 64
Blogging
By Janine Bouyssounouse
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways
I love posting
I love being public
I love blog websites
I love telling people about my blogs
I love having more than one blog
I love freedom of the press
I love getting ready for publishing books
I love helping people
I love getting constructive feedback
I love sharing what I have to say
I love blogging
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Questions:
1. Does the author of this poem like blogging?
2. Based on this poem, what is a blog?
3. Based on the line “I love getting constructive feedback,” is a blog interactive?
4. What is freedom of the press?
5. Are blogs on the internet?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 65
Blogging
Answers:
1. Does the author of this poem like blogging? According to this poem, the author loves blogging,
so it is safe to say the author likes blogging.
2. Based on this poem, what is a blog? Based on this poem, a blog is a website that can be shared
with the public, where an author posts their writing for various reasons.
3. Based on the line “I love getting constructive feedback,” is a blog interactive? The poem doesn’t
say how the author gets the constructive feedback, but because the author is getting some kind
of constructive feedback, there is some kind of interactiveness.
4. What is freedom of the press? Newspapers and magazines are allowed to publish what they
want, as long as they stay within the lines of the law. Based on the poem, blogs seem to be a
form of publishing.
5. Are blogs on the internet? According to the poem, there are blog websites and websites are
generally on the internet. The statement that the author is sharing her writing with the public
also supports the concept that they are on the internet.
Note: Blogs can be created for free at places like www.WordPress.org and www.LiveJournal.com and
Edublogs.org. Blogs are ways of posting news items, online journals and for showcasing writing, such as
short stories and poetry. Most blog entries are very short. Janinecb99.Livejournal.com gives some
examples of articles written on a blog. Most blogs don’t have www in front of their website addresses.
www.Writing.com/authors/janinecb99/blog is an example of a blog about a writing life.
Janinecb99.edublogs.org is a homework assignment blog with some great ideas for assignments for
classroom and home use.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 66
Hobby Poem
Write a poem about a hobby you have. If you don’t have a hobby, learn about a hobby and write about
that hobby. Try a new hobby and write about your experience with learning a new hobby. Hobbies are a
good way to live a more balanced and well-rounded life. Do you have something interesting to discuss?
Do you have a creative outlet? How do you express yourself? Can you make a hand-made gift for
someone?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 67
Forest
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Forest
Green
Tall trees
Bushy ferns
Winding pathways
The domicile to many animals
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Questions:
1. Why did the poet choose green for a first line?
2. What kind of pathways can be found in a forest?
3. How many syllables are there in the fourth line of the poem?
4. What is a domicile?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 68
Forest
Answers:
1. Why did the poet choose green for a first line? The poet associates the color green with forests
because of all of the greenery in most forests.
2. What kind of pathways can be found in a forest? Animals make paths and trails in forests and in
parks there are human pathways and trails through forests.
3. How many syllables are there in the fourth line of the poem? 4
4. What is a domicile? A domicile is a home. A forest is a home to many animals.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 69
Home Poem
Write a poem about home. Will it be the baseball home? Will it be an animal home? Will it be your
home? What does home mean to you? Will you write about the difference between a house and a
home? Is an apartment a home? Is a condo a home? Is someone at home living on the streets?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 70
Grandpa
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Wise
Loving
Woodworker
Cribbage player
Traveler near and far for adventure
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Questions:
1. Based on this poem, would this person make things out of wood?
2. Based on this poem, does this person play games?
3. Does it sound like this person goes on vacations?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 71
Grandpa
Answers:
1. Based on this poem, would this person make things out of wood? This poem says he is a
woodworker, so that means he does make things out of wood.
2. Based on this poem, does this person play games? This poem says he plays Cribbage and that is
a game, so it is safe to say he plays games.
3. Does it sound like this person goes on vacations? This poem says he travels near and far for
adventure. This leads us to believe he does go on vacations.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 72
Family Poem
Is there someone special in your family? Write a poem about someone in your family. If you don’t have
anyone in your family, pick someone else. If you don’t know anyone at all, research someone famous
and write about that person. You never know, you might just be related to someone famous.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 73
Math Builds
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Can you count?
Can you add?
Can you subtract?
Can you multiply?
Can you divide?
Can you handle decimals?
What about percents?
How do you do fractions?
Okay, fractions are hard
Can you add fractions?
Okay, adding fractions is hard
Can you add fractions with like denominators?
Okay, that sounds way too hard
But you have to do fractions
How else are you going to do Algebra?
Okay, so math builds upon previous skills?
Oh yeah, go ahead and do higher math without the lower math
Dare ya
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 74
Math Builds
Questions:
1. What are the elementary school math subjects listed in the poem?
2. Why does the poet spend so much time discussing fractions?
3. What are like denominators?
4. What does the title Math Builds mean?
5. What is higher math?
6. What skills listed in the poem are considered arithmetic?
7. Why does the last like of the poem say, “Dare ya?”
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 75
Math Builds
Answers:
1. What are the elementary school math subjects listed in the poem? The elementary math skills
listed are counting, adding, subtracting, multiplication, division, decimals, percents, fractions
and these days, even algebra is considered elementary school level math.
2. Why does the poet spend so much time discussing fractions? Many students struggle with
understanding and manipulating fractions. Math teachers struggle with getting students to
understand the concepts, since they are used in higher level math classes.
3. What are like denominators? They are fractions where the denominators, or the bottom
numbers, are the same number. It is easier to add and subtract fractions with like denominators.
4. What does the title Math Builds mean? Math is a subject that has skills that depend on
knowledge of other previously learned skills. Multiplication is a fancy way to add. It’s hard to do
much math at all without knowing how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. How can you add
without knowing how to count?
5. What is higher math? Higher math is anything higher level than arithmetic. Algebra is
considered higher level math because it takes a different kind of thought process in order to
excel in the class.
6. What skills listed in the poem are considered arithmetic? Counting, addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, decimals, percents and fractions. Algebra is not considered arithmetic.
7. Why does the last like of the poem say, “Dare ya?” The previous line in the poem is a statement
to try to do higher level math without lower math. It basically goes to the title of the poem that
math builds upon lower levels of math. Arithmetic is used in all of the higher level math courses.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 76
School Subject Poem
Write a poem about a school subject. Choose a subject in school, like English, Spanish, French, Math,
Science, History, or any other subject of your choosing. Jot down some things you know about that
subject. If it doesn’t feel like enough for a poem, then research the subject a bit. Try searching for
information on www.bing.com or www.ask.com or any other search engine or directory. Ask people you
know about your chosen subject. Think about any memories you have about taking that subject in
school. Organize and arrange your thoughts into a poem. Does your poem need more than one stanza?
Does your poem need to rhyme? Is your poem a list of words or a list of concepts? Does your poem give
the reader a feeling for your chosen subject? Is your poem a so-so poem or is it a fantastic poem? Does
it have to be perfect? What do others think about your poem? Do you like your poem?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 77
The Lake
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Blue
Choppy
Cold
Deep
Friendly
Fun
Green
Happy
High
Pretty
Romantic
Tessie
Wet
Lake Tahoe
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Questions:
1. According to the poem, what colors are the lake?
2. Does the wind blow onto this lake?
3. Is this lake in the mountains?
4. Is this lake a shallow lake?
5. Is this poem about a specific lake?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 78
The Lake
Answers:
1. According to the poem, what colors are the lake? The poem mentions two colors. The poem
says the lake is both blue and green.
2. Does the wind blow onto this lake? The poem says the lake is choppy. This implies that the wind
blows to make the water choppy.
3. Is this lake in the mountains? The poem says the lake is high. That means it is higher than sea
level and it has to be pretty high up to say that it is high, so that implies that it is in the
mountains.
4. Is this lake a shallow lake? The poem says that the lake is deep, so that means that it is not
shallow.
5. Is this poem about a specific lake? The last line of the poem is Lake Tahoe, so we are to assume
that is the lake the poem is written about.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 79
Going For A Ride Poem
Write a poem about going for a ride. What kind of ride is it? Is it a car ride, a plane ride, a ride on a
horse, a ride on a roller coaster, or is it some other kind of ride? What do you see, hear, taste, smell and
touch along the way? What other people are on the ride? Do you meet anyone on the way? Where did
you start and stop? How long did the ride take? Would you do it again? Make your readers feel like they
went on the ride with you.
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 80
Websites
By Janine Bouyssounouse
Websites are cool
Websites are educational
Websites are fun
Websites are easy
Websites are hard
I want a website
How do I get a website?
I want to own a website
How do I own a website?
Where do you buy a website?
All of your questions are on websites
All of your answers are on websites
Go ahead and surf the web
How do I do that?
Go to a website
A website can tell you how
But how do I find it?
Surf the web
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 81
Websites
Questions:
1. How does the poem describe websites?
2. Where does the poem say to look to find out how to get your own website?
3. How do you surf the web?
4. Do websites cost money?
5. What kind of things are found on websites?
6. Is it important to learn how to get to websites?
7. Can people start using the internet all by themselves?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 82
Websites
Answers:
1. How does the poem describe websites? According to the poem, websites are cool, educational,
fun, easy and hard.
2. Where does the poem say to look to find out how to get your own website? The poem says to
surf the web to find the answer.
3. How do you surf the web? The poem doesn’t state this, but people can use search engines to
surf the web, such as www.yahoo.com, www.google.com. www.dogpile.com or www.bing.com.
There is a box on the screen to type a word of phrase and search. www.ask.com is set up to type
in actual questions and search for the answers. There are many search engines, but this list are
some of the biggest.
4. Do websites cost money? The poem asks how to buy a website. It is possible to have a website
for free, but most websites cost money to pay for a company to host the website and take care
of the servers where the data for the website exists.
5. What kind of things are found on websites? For the most part, websites are educational. Most
websites have a lot of data about all sorts of things. The internet is made up of many educational
websites. There are also websites that sell things and can be used for communication of all sorts
of kinds. Just about anything text can be put on a website and most websites these days have
images of some kind and some have sound and video as well.
6. Is it important to learn how to get to websites? Websites are used for so many different things
these days and are considered the place to go to get information of all kinds, it is a good idea to
learn how to get to websites. They can help with education, business and for all kinds of hobbies.
7. Can people start using the internet all by themselves? The poem makes fun of the concept that
a person has to learn how to use the internet and websites in order to get information. For the
most part, people need to learn from other people how to get connected to the internet and how
to use the internet. Libraries usually have free and public access to the internet these days, so
people who don’t have computers can still have access to the internet and email.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 83
Favorite Food Poem
Write a poem about your favorite food or foods. Why do you like it or them so much? Do you know how
to make your favorite food yourself? Can you get your favorite food in a restaurant? Can you buy it at a
store? What are the ingredients in your favorite food? Does eating your favorite food make you feel
better? Does it remind you of good memories? Does your favorite food remind you of growing up?
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Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 84
Writing
By Janine Bouyssounouse
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love writing stories.
Poetry is cool. Does that count?
Journaling is the best therapy.
Hey, I can write books.
Hey, I can help education.
Hey, I can help business, too.
What good is writing?
I can write a wicked email.
Writing is very practical.
Writing is fantasy.
Writing is factual.
Writing is make-believe.
Writing is reality.
Writing is magical.
Writing is down to earth.
Writing is the news.
Writing must be good… It’s everything…
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 85
Writing
Questions:
1. According to the poem, what can writing be used for?
2. Does poetry count as writing?
3. Based on the poem, what does writing help?
4. What is email?
5. Give an example of how writing is make-believe.
6. Give an example of how writing is reality.
7. Why does the poem say writing is good?
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 86
Writing
Answers:
1. According to the poem, what can writing be used for? According to the poem, writing can be
used for poetry, writing stories, journaling, email, the news, education, business, therapy and
writing books.
2. Does poetry count as writing? The poem just asks the question, but yes, poetry is writing.
3. Based on the poem, what does writing help? Based on the poem, writing helps education and
business, but it also states that journaling is therapy, so that is also a help.
4. What is email? The poem doesn’t give the definition, but it is electronic mail that is transported
over the internet and is accessed by using the internet. www.mail.com is one place where
someone can get an email account.
5. Give an example of how writing is make-believe. One example from the poem is for writing
stories and fantasy is one type of story writing.
6. Give an example of how writing is reality. One example from the poem is the news. Journaling
can also be considered reality, since most journaling is done about real life, but journals can also
contain things not based on reality.
7. Why does the poem say writing is good? The poem says that writing must be good because it is
everything, but it also lists several other things that make it good, such as helping education and
business and journaling being therapy.
Poetry Ideas Janine Bouyssounouse 87
Ending Poem
Write a poem about an ending. Is it the ending of a relationship? Is it the end of a book? Is it the end of
school? Is it the end of a job? Is it an end of a phase in your life? Is it the end of an addiction? Did you
reach a dead end? What kind of ending is important to you?
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