The Poetry of Us

Driving Question: How can we write a book of poetry that celebrates who we are?

Public Product: A poetry book that includes original individual and collaborative poetry/optional book party or poetry slam

Project Overview

In this project, children write, illustrate and publish a poetry book that celebrates their identities. Children compose individual poems and also work in small groups to create collaborative poems highlighting one identity marker - for example, skin color, ability, gender, or body type. Children explore the concept of “identity” through a variety of  experiences. They will explore and bring language to their own identities, and investigate identity and poetry through a variety of mentor texts as well as meeting poets and artists. Children also create illustrations for the book, and publish/share the book in a community celebration.

The project plans are organized by "Milestones." Milestones are like chapters in the longer story of the project. At each milestone, you will see the learning goals, key student questions and a suggested formative assessment that will be essential for completing the public product.

Keep in mind that all projects can be adapted to meet your needs and to work in your particular context. For example, this project was completed remotely (Spring 2021) and that's why many of the images that you see throughout the project reflect virtual learning experiences (Jamboards, SeeSaw, virtual reading room, etc.)

At the end of each milestone, we've included some considerations and suggestions to support your project implementation.