Teachers & Writers Collaborative

Professional writers and educators share their techniques for teaching imaginative writing in the classrooms. Step-by-step lessons and curriculum rationales provided here.

new! What Matters and 100 Words: Two Poetry Writing Ideas
by Judith Collin
Volume 29, issue 1, page 11
Genre: Poetry
Grades: 3-12

new! Gather ‘Round the Table: Writing on Food, Feasting on Words.
by Jess DeCourcy Hinds
Genre: All
Grades: 8-12, College

new! Teaching Students to Write about Food
by Jess DeCourcy Hinds
Genre: All
Grades: 8-12, College

new! Hidden Beauty: Using a Poem by Jayne Cortez
by Mark Statman
Genre: Poetry
Grades: 3-12

Hip-hop Aaron Belz discusses how to bring hip-hop lyrics into the classroom.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Personal Dictionaries
Poet Lee Ann Brown’s lesson plan on teaching poetry via the creation of personal dictionaries.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Metaphors Jenny Browne’s exercises on creating image-rich, exciting metaphors.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Population: All

Poetry with Learning-disabled Students
Poet Nicole Callihan’s lesson designed for learning-disabled students. Learn how Nicole incorporated visual images and collaborative exercises to teach poetry.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 1, 2, 3
Population: Learning disabled students

Shelley & Science
Poet Julie Carr’s lesson plan on teaching Shelley and science to sixth-grade students.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 6
Population: All

Learning to See Barbara Danish-Brown presents a lesson on comparisons to help young people “see” what they are describing in their work, with excellent results. Exercise works for all genres.
First excerpted version of the lesson
Second excerpted version of the lesson
Grades: 10-12
Genre: All

Teaching the Cinquain Corie Feiner shares her work in a special education classroom in New York City teaching middle school students how to use the poetic form, the cinquain, and provides instruction about how to use this lesson in your own classroom.
Genre: Poetry
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Population: Special Education

The Right to Inquire
by Laura Gamache, which explores how by using the questions Where am I from? What is freedom? and What is a hero? one teacher made the Civil Rights Movement relevant to her students through poetry.
Genre: Poetry
Grade: 4, 5, 6
Population: All

Writing with Family Album Photos
by Harry Greenberg, an exploration of how to kickstart the imagination of young children by creatively using family album photos as writing prompts.
Genre: Prose and Poetry
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Character Descriptions Jenny Robinson Hartley on how to write character descriptions based on “Hairs,” by Sandra Cisneros
Genre/s: Prose
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Population: All

Lawrence Stazer: The Use and Pleasure of the Hoax Bob Hershon involves a 12th grade class in writing poetry by creating, with them, a false persona, from whom all their writing emerges—a wonderful tool for students who may not want to write poetry, or are shy about sharing their voices!
An excerpted version of the lesson
Grades: 10-12
Genre: Poetry

Classical Music and Poetry
Novelist David Hollander’s lesson on incorporating classical music in the teaching of poetry.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Population: All

The Haiku Connection Adele Kenny offers a method for how to escape the boring 5/7/5 structure and make haiku come alive for young writers.
Grades: 1-6
Genre: Poetry

Bilingual Poetry Workshop
Poet Kenneth Koch on teaching Frederico García Lorca in the bilingual classroom.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: Bilingual

Minimalism’s Grace Mark Mills offers us an exercise with well-researched background that can be used in high school and college campuses to help writers construct very short stories.
Genre: Prose
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12, college
Population: All

Poetry Comics
Poet Dave Morice makes comics out of poetry.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 7
Population: All

I Remember Poems from Poetry Everywhere and Metaphor Poems from Poetry Everywhere
“I Remember Poems” and “Metaphor Poems,” both lesson excerpts from Poetry Everywhere, by Jack Collum and Sheryl Noethe, in celebration of National Poetry Month!
Genre: Poetry
Grade: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

The Magic Spellbook
Poet Kristin Prevallet’s exercise based on incorporating a magic spellbook into the teaching of poetry writing. This exercise was inspired by two examples in the T&W book Luna, Luna: Creative Writing Ideas from Spanish, Latin American, & Latino Literature. (link to Luna)
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 3
Population: All

Breaking the Ice
Director and playwright Frank Perez’s ideas on how to break the ice on your initial day in a writing residency. This exercise is particularly suitable for writers teaching in grades 9 through 12.
Genre/s: Plays
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Arrival Diaries
by Bushra Rehman, on teaching writing to young immigrant students through reconstructing their arrivals in the United States in short prose pieces.
Genre: Prose
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Sappho
Poet Eleni Sikelianos’ lesson plan on teaching Sappho to sixth-grade students.
Genre/s: Poetry
Grade: 6
Population: All

Poetry Inside Out John Oliver Simon and Michael Ray explore the work of an out-of-school time organization that promotes literacy in 3rd-6th grade bilingual students by using translation exercises that bring out their poetic voices and curiosity about the world.
Genre: Poetry
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Population: Bilingual

Sandra Cisneros Ashley Simpson’s exercise on using stories by Sandra Cisneros to evoke imaginative writing.
Genre/s: Prose
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: All

Teen Moms Susan Straub’s innovative exercise on encouraging teen moms to read to their babies.
Genre/s: Prose, Poetry, Reading
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Population: Teenage mothers

Writing about the Night Tara Tandlich explains step by step how to teach young kids to write poems about the night.
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Population: autistic, mentally challenged, dyslexic and/or emotionally challenged students; All

Finding Your Story Karen Ulrich discusses how to help young students think about their lives from the perspective of creating a memoir; includes strategies for discussion and for helping students create an outline to work from.
Genre: Nonfiction Prose
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Population: All

Haiku: The Discipline of Language Anne Whitehouse explains how relying on history, and active verbs and nouns, she was able to help a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students produce some amazing haiku and feel more connected to their writing process.
An excerpted version of the lesson
Grades: 3-6
Genre: Poetry

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