At the wordlab this weekend, our leader used a poetry prompt called “Object Lesson.” I wrote about it here. Today, I tried the prompt with my students. I collected objects from around the classroom. I was amazed at the range of things I had to choose from; a crystal, a sunflower frame, a glass apple paperweight to name a few. The instructions were to write 10 stanzas, three lines each, with each stanza acting as a small picture of your object from a different point of view.
Due to the comment challenge for classroom slices, you may have already read some of these. My class is blogging at kidblogs.
This was such a successful prompt I wanted to share it with you along with a few of the resulting poems.
Ten Ways to Look into a Glass Apple
by Kaylie (6th grade)Formed in the hottest fires
cooled down in the Nile River
an Egyptian artifact.Bubbles trapped inside of it
waiting to be belched
into the world.A paperweight
slightly dusty, from 10 years
sitting on an old scholar’s shelf.A glass snack
waiting
for a glass automaton.Slightly nicked
on one side
by the paws of a curious cat.A fortune teller
looking into the orb
full of voodoo magic.A gift,
wrapped nicely
in pink tissue paper.A game of hide-and-seek antique
started by a grandmother
ended by a toddler.A secret
curled up and hiding
for you to decipher.A writing prompt
held in a young girl’s hand
who just finished sharing her poem.
10 Ways of Looking at a Crystal
by Emily (2nd grade)1. Shining
So
Brightly2. Pointing
Up into
The sky3. Sparkling
Like a star
At night4. The prettiest
I’ve ever
Seen5. Your beautiful
Pointed
Shape6. So nice
And
Smooth7.The Beautiful
Marks inside
Of you8. When you’re
In Light you
Shine like the sun9.You have
the perfect
Former glory10.Clear as
Water white
As snow









What a great prompt! I want to try it. The poems are amazing. Thank you for sharing.
WOW!!! How awesome, really!
Very cool. What a way to take one small thing and use words to make it much bigger. Love it!
Fabulous prompt, and I love your students’ poems!
I do a version of this with Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”. Fantastic work your students are producing! 🙂