Scaffolds in writing poetry
What is a scaffold...
A scaffold can be a word, a line, or subject that gets the juices flowing for a writer and helps inspire a poem. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, leaving open ended prompts can be intimidating for me and sometimes a little guidance helps bring my ideas to life. Scaffolds are exactly that. They are a support for stimulating our thinking. Continue to read to find scaffold examples, how to use them, and writing examples.
Scaffold Examples
Begin each poem with "I wish...."
A season: Spring
A family member
"If i were in charge of the world..."
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Scaffolds in Action:
In my writers notebook I attempted to use a scaffold to inspire a poem of my own. I tweaked the idea provided in the Mentor Texts book "If I were in charge of the world..". I put my own spin on it and created an opening line of "If I could fly.." A super power I always wished I had. This could be taken in so many directions.
The month of March acted as a scaffold to inspire this poem in my writers notebook.
Scaffolds in mentor texts:
all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth provided poems that are approachable to beginner writers. This text could be used to inspire writing using scaffolds by providing a random subject or word. Examples in the text include poems about a lawnmower, crickets, and marbles. Valerie creates powerful poems from simple ideas. This is a scaffolding idea to use with your students. Put random noun words in a jar and allow students to choose a word. Examples include: Pencil, swing, lamp etc. invite students to use this scaffold to inspire a poem.
See my previous blog post for another lesson plan idea using this text.
A poem about a season, Spring, from a great mentor text, Firefly July by Paul B Janeczko
Observation Poems...
As I mentioned a scaffold can be anything. Our surroundings can also act as a way to inspire a poem. By taking time to make blunt observations of something around us, we can find beautiful words to describe ordinary objects. Take your students outside to try out this tactic. invite students to just make a list of things they observe and notice about the object they have decided to focus on. From that list of observations, they can compose their poem.
When I went outside to try this out for myself this is what I was able to create.