Motivating teens to write poetry that means something to them...

Everyone asks me for hints about how to get teens interested in writing poetry, and I actually have an answer that I discovered by doing workshops on my teen anthologies in a variety of places.

FYI, my teen anthologies are published by Candlewick Press and they consist of poetry written by teens across the country and even across the world.   These books have been ALA Best Books, Quick Picks, and Notables. 

You Hear Me? poems and writing by teenage boys
Things I Have to Tell You, poems and writing by teenage girls
Falling Hard, 100 love poems by teenagers
Night Is Gone, Day Is Still Coming, stories and poems by American Indian teens and young adults

I read a sample poem or two from the anthologies, or pass them out and have the kids read them aloud.   Since the books consist of peer poetry, the kids listen intently.   They take it in, realize how honest they can be, tap into their own reality, and write beautiful, funny, moving, brutally honest poems.   In my anthologies, the voices are genuine, and the kids can feel and hear that...and they respond to it.   I've seen students who have never opened up write very intimate poetry for the first time.

I start with samples that are easy to use as "frames," and that have universal themes, like identity, or honesty about who you are and what you want.   Here are some examples:

"Out of My Life" from You Hear Me?   The refrain is "I want..."   Kids can write about what they want...and they know what it is-believe me.

"...Just because I love darkness..." from You Hear Me?   The refrain is "Just because...doesn't mean...."

"New Honesty" from Things I Have to Tell You.   Kids can write about parts of themselves they no longer want to hide.

"Look at My Feet" or "Pledge of Affection to a Nerd" from Falling Hard.   Kids can write a love poem with humor.

Excerpts from student writing after reading those samples:

Andrey, a boy, wrote:
" I want to feel happiness
 I need to feel it
 Or I should break into such pieces
 That I shall never be repaired."

"I wish I could go back home
in Vietnam, and I wish all my
teachers speak Vietnamese..."

Mitchell Murdock wrote:
"I can stand out
 I can be different
 Like an oddly shaped island
 Or a duck-billed platypus...:

Kelcie wrote:
"Just because my family looks together
doesn't mean we are. My family is a
shattered glass.   We can never be
put together again.
One piece is gone it can never be
replaced."

Cordero wrote:
"Just because I'm in Special Ed
doesent mean im retarded
doesent mean im not smart
that's what i think yeah!!!"

When he couldn't think of anything to write, Rueben (correctly spelled) dictated this poem (In a session at juvenile hall):
"Nothing coming into my head but jail.
Just kickin' it.
No excuses.
Nothin'."

On the Candlewick Press site, candlewick.com, there are other suggestions for using the anthologies.   Search for You Hear Me? and go to the teachers' guide.

Another source for teen poetry writing is my book Conversations with a Poet: Inviting Poetry into K-12 Classrooms.   I have explained and written sample poems for sixteen poetry frames, which can be used as springboards for writing.

Oh, yeah, and by the way, these poems are sometimes the first poetry teens are willing to really read.   One boy got his first library card in order to take out You Hear Me? and he's been taking out books ever since.   One boy, whose bedroom, had no lamp, dragged a lamp in so he could read the book in one sitting.   One boy who was on his last chance at his last chance school actually turned around after reading it.   So there you have it...   Why not try it?

cheers,
Betsy
www.betsyfranco.com