On day 20 of the poem-a-day challenge, we tackled the list poem. Using Eileen Spinelli’s Creativity as our mentor text, we studied how this list poem was constructed. Students noticed the list of ordinary objects, pointed out the rhyme, saw the punctuation and got ready to create their own lists.

Often, I base my poems on a photo I’ve taken. But today, I decided to write my list poem about poetry…and found myself putting bits of language from my students into it (including that rat from yesterday!). Here’s my first attempt:

Poetry

Poetry

swirls together

sights and sounds

popping like popcorn

then paints on details

like the furry mountain

that was once a rat

you can smell

the tropical sunscreen

slathered on tender skin

and climb the Eiffel Tower

to view the sights

of Paris below

Poetry

links animals and machines

growling and leaping

flowers and candy

sweet, tasty, colorful

blooming in my imagination

quenching my thirst

with cool, fizzy, wetness

that takes my to the seashore

where poetry lives

®Douillard