“All My Own” Theme Poetry Project Needed: 1. poetry anthologies or sheets 2. white or pastel-colored copy paper or all-purpose unlined paper 3. magazines of all types 4. colored construction paper – 9 X 12 5. glue sticks or glue (glue sticks are less messy) 6. examples of different types of poetry: i.e. limerick, quatrain, acrostic, ode, narrative, haiku, lyric, free, sensory, shape 7. yarn 8. students’ imaginations I. Begin the project by examining all kinds of different poetry. Have students write down lines they especially like or are especially descriptive to them. After examining poetry anthologies and sheets for a day or so, introduce and help students become familiar with the different types of poetry. Introduce, explain, model and create a poem together for each type. Do one type of poetry per day until you have covered between ten and fourteen or so types. Each day after the lesson, give a handout of that type of poem including a rubric. II. Students will choose a “theme” for their project. This can be done before the lessons on the types or after. I suggest doing it before and allowing students to change their minds if needed. III. Students will choose six – ten poem types and write a poem in each style about their theme. Each poem will be printed or typed and then be cut out from the paper it was written on. They will then glue it to a piece of colored construction paper. Students will search for pictures or words in magazines and catalogs that go with the theme and that particular poem and cut them out to paste around the poem on that construction paper page. IV. Six to ten poems will be written and mounted on construction paper with pictures around them. A cover and back page will be included. Holes will be punched in the margin and they will be tied together with yarn. On the back page, students will write a paragraph describing their favorite type of poem and why, and they will find a published example of that type and copy/mount on that page. The author’s name MUST be displayed.