Discusses using comics in high school and college writing and English classes to teach figurative language and other literary terms and techniques such as style and descriptive writing. Describes several activities and notes benefits of using comics in this way. (SR)

This paper outlines a poetry program for fifth grade students that was intended to help children increase their awareness of their environment, bring order to their own experiences, and increase their sensitivity to the physical base of language. To measure change in the children's use of figurative language in prose writing, each child was asked…

Students can learn to write verse by (1) perceiving that poetic materials are inside and all around them and making lists of items that appeal to their senses, (2) organizing their material through the use of imagery, (3) experimenting with various meters, particularly the ballad stanza, until they can arrange words in rhythmic patterns (4)…

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which practice in the use of figurative comparisons in the composing of poetry, in both oral and in written form, will increase the use of figurative comparisons in the writing of prose. The study tested oral composition of poetry vs. written composition of poetry, and intensive treatment in…

The poetry unit presented in this paper is designed to teach high school students how to write poetry through personal observation, journal writing, and small group discussion. Using the unit, students progress through the stages of writing according to the following steps: observing a familiar person and noting words and phrases about that…

The writing and art program described in this lesson plan employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train middle school students to use their senses and focus their attention. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: make careful observations of natural objects; write…

Offering activities for secondary school students and amateur creative writers, this book demonstrates how teachers can break out of "high culture" stereotypes that make students think poetry has no connection with real life. Part one discusses the essentials of poetry and the roles of poets from ancient oral cultures to the present. The…

Based on constructivist theory (emphasizing meaning generation rather than communication), the study described in this report clarifies and elaborates on the definition of the term "expressive writing." First, the paper offers a rationale for the study and a discussion of the research methodology, which combined analysis of texts and…

THIS BOOK PROVIDES TEACHERS WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR STIMULATING YOUNG WRITERS TO CREATE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING VERSATILE VOCABULARY WORDS AND GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS. THE SUGGESTIONS ARE GROUPED INTO FIVE CHAPTERS--(1) "SPINNING IMAGINATIVE THOUGHTS" IS DESIGNED TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN FOSTERING PUPILS' FLEXIBLE THINKING PROCESSES TOWARD THE…

Synectics is the use of thinking in metaphors, or figurative language in general, to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways or the unfamiliar in familiar ways. W.J.J. Gordon and his Cambridge Synectics Group isolated ways to think metaphorically by using artistic problem-solving mechanisms most people possess in their experiential background. This…

THIS BOOK IS INTENDED FOR USE WITH STUDENTS WHO CAN PROFIT FROM INSTRUCTION IN VIGOROUS AND COLORFUL WRITING. EMPHASIS IS PLACED UPON SHOWING THE STUDENT THAT HIS OWN EXPERIENCE IS RICHER THAN HE MAY SUPPOSE AND UPON HELPING HIM TO DRAW FROM IT. THE FIRST SECTION OF THE BOOK CONSIDERS THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SUBJECT, THEME, OBSERVATION, SENSORY…

Ways of introducing children to the pleasures and value of poetry are discussed in this publication. Following a brief survey of various kinds of poems and the needs satisfied by poetry, some of the vocabulary and technical elements of poetic design--meter, stanza, rhyme, figures of speech, and selected verse forms--are explained and illustrated.…

This book presents a program for increasing the student's command of language through the experience of writing poetry. Designed to encourage students to systematically and accurately transform their experiences into brief expression, the program is divided into two sections--introductory and advanced. Each of the sections is composed of units on…

ADDRESSED TO THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FACED WITH A POETRY-WRITING ASSIGNMENT, THIS BOOK PRESENTS THE ARGUMENT THAT "POETRY IS FOR YOU." INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS TREAT (1) THE EXPRESSION OF SENSORY IMPRESSIONS, (2) RHYTHM, (3) THE PICTORIAL NATURE OF POETRY, (4) HUMOROUS POETRY, (5) REVISION, AND (6) VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF POETRY. A "KINDLE KIT"…

This document is a compilation of the four issues in the 23rd volume of "Classroom Notes Plus." Each issue of "Classroom Notes Plus" contains descriptions of original, unpublished teaching practices, and of adapted ideas. The August 2005 (v23 n1) issue includes: Sharing Responses to Literature via Exit Slips (Barb Wagner); Letting Learners Teach…