Middle and high school students can write breath-taking, comical, and even insightful poetry. But how can we help students see that poetry is more than dusty old books in dark corners of coffee shops and quiet libraries? By bringing it to life! Using engaging elements like pictures can add a pop of relevance and intrigue, which is exactly what the secondary ELA teacher ordered.

What do you call fiction writers who try to write poetry? Prosers.

What does the reluctant poet write? Averse.

I came across these puns on a list from Buzzfeed, and I couldn't help but notice their applicability to teaching poetry in the classroom. Sometimes when I ask my students to write a poem or even just to write about a poem they read, I get moaning and complaining and whining, and if I'm lucky, I'll get "a verse" from every student. Many students do feel like "prosers" when they are asked to respond to anything related to poetry -- mainly the kids who strongly dislike poetry to begin with but also the students who realize writing poetry is not usually second nature.

“A picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to poetry, we only need a few.”

Despite the divide between poetry and student interest, verse has wide applicability to all kinds of lesson plans...not just in ELA classes, but in any content area. There's no questioning the validity of poetry. In a recent post, I wrote about six simple ways to make poetry engaging. In this post, I'm expanding on those ideas by focusing specifically on how teachers can captivate reluctant writers through images. By using something almost everyone enjoys (pictures / illustrations...and let's not count out moving pictures), we can make poetry more attractive to reluctant writers.

Without further ado, let's take a look at thirteen creative ways teachers can use images to inspire students to write poetry.

1. Wordless picture books

Many students have heard of The Book with No Pictures, but not all of them are aware of books with no words. This type of children's book has a powerful potential for use in English classrooms (from elementary school through secondary school). How can wordless picture books be used for poetry purposes? Teachers can "read" one of these books to their class.

In one of my Reading masters' classes, a professor read Flotsam (one of my favorites) to a group of adults. He paused on each page, and the class made observations about what was happening. These books can be used to make inferences, to make predictions, and to develop comprehension, reasoning, and sequencing skills. After reading the wordless picture book with the class, a teacher can then ask students to write a poem (any style!) inspired by the book the class just read together. Perhaps students write a couplet or a quatrain to accompany each page.

(You can read more about engaging secondary students with picture books on my blog.)

2. Texting couplets

Texting couplets is a fun idea I dreamed up as I was thinking about how to make poetry applicable to twenty-first century students. What does almost every student love? Easy: cell phones and texting. Let's harness that passion!

Text messages are usually short, and so are poetic couplets. Have students use an image (let them get creative...they can take a selfie, take pictures of nature or with their friends, record a video, cut out a picture from a magazine, print a picture from the Internet, or even draw a picture) as inspiration for a series of rhyming couplet text messages (texting couplets). You can see the assignment and short lesson I created here.

3. illustrated poetry

There are a couple different ways to approach concrete poetry. In its true form, the words create the picture. However, in my experience teaching various grade levels, students who have an artistic side enjoy drawing an image first and then filling in the illustration or outlining it with their poetry. I say....why fight that battle? If students understand the difference between concrete poetry and the artistic angle they are choosing to take, what harm is done? Google and Pinterest both showcase some incredible examples of how students can either use words to make a picture or how they can draw a picture and fill it in with verse.

Try this specific lesson plan for a powerful combination of poetry and basic graphic design elements.

4. Old photographs

Not all students have access to old family photographs (this wouldn't be practical or equitable to require from all students, so it would make for an ideal choice assignment); however, the idea can apply to photographs of any kind. Most parents would probably appreciate their children taking an interest in nostalgic family relics. You can ask students to bring in one or several photographs that students find inspiring and interesting.

Help students brainstorm by asking them to write down words that describe the photograph as well as having them think about how the picture makes them feel. Students can then write sentimental poems or humorous ones based on these images. They could also complete this free assignment after taking their own pictures...new ones.

Here's an example I wrote (which proves you don't have to be "good" at writing poetry to benefit from the learning experience):

Brainstorming List (Observations):

Dog and cat

Blue, white, brown

Laptop

Desk

Glasses

Curiosity

Companions

Poem:

The dog peers into my eyes.

Silently asking

Will you pet my sides?

The cat creeps up from behind.

Proudly purring,

Just trying to unwind.

No working today;

Today we play.

Friends for life.

5. Cartoon strips

We all know the student who loves to draw or truly enjoys a good graphic novel. Try offering students the opportunity to use the graphic novel or comic strip format for poetry writing inspiration. This assignment could work a couple different ways.

1) Students could choose an existing comic strip or several pages from a graphic novel. They could white out the text and fill in the blanks with verse. To add a twist, you could photocopy a few pages and white out the text in the bubbles. This approach would mean students don’t already know what the original text says and may lead to more original verses.

2) Students who enjoy drawing could illustrate their own comic strip or graphic novel pages from scrap and also write poetry to accompany the images.

6. Six-room poems

Six-room poems are effective for many of my students because it structures their brainstorming into specific categories and makes drafting the actual poem easier. How can a six-room poem relate to a picture? Quite easily. Just have students choose a photograph or even a video (short films work wonderfully) for inspiration. They can look at the picture as they brainstorm ideas for each of their rooms.

If you haven’t tried six room poems, here is the general idea:

Students fold a piece of white computer paper into 6 squares.
In each room, they jot ideas about something different. For example…
- Room 1: Describe the object in the photo with as much detail as possible.
- Room 2: Describe the lighting, shadows, colors, and vibrancy.
- Room 3: Describe the sounds. What do we hear?
- Room 4: Write down what you wonder about the image.
- Room 5: Describe how you feel about what you see.
- Room 6: Repeat the most important idea or word from your first five rooms three times.
Students then use the ideas, words, and visuals from their notes to create a poem. They can rearrange, eliminate, add to, and be otherwise creative with their writing!

This activity works best when students can select a photo that reflects something that truly intrigues them. Think big and interesting! Man o’ wars? Black holes? Upstanding?

I also have students create 6 room poems to use vocabulary in writing.

7. SOCIAL MEDIA captions

Instagram appeals to a wide age-range. Why? The pictures! Similarly, TikTok is popular for its video reels. People love scrolling through pictures and reels on social media and reading the captions. Students can get creative with their social media images and videos by captioning them with a short poem (a haiku, tanka, limerick, cinquain, or even free verse!). This option is also a perfect avenue for artistic students to practice their photography skills.

8. Hashtag poems

Hashtags are another popular element related to social media, and often, they are used in picture captions. They're so catchy. Teachers can ask students to think outside of the box about hashtags. Why not use them to write poems? They could be the only element of a poem (100% pure hashtag), they could be an important element in the poem, or they could just be used at the end of the poem for effect.

Think of the hashtag as a new form of figurative language. Students can use them in the same way they use metaphors, personification, hyperboles, foreshadowing, repetition, symbolism, sound devices, puns, and etcetera. Discuss with students, how can hashtags impact the mood of a poem? For example:

9. found poem with quotes

I'm sure you've seen quotes that are crafted into images. They're pretty pervasive in our society. There's something about a beautiful visual quote that is cathartic for the soul. Ask students to compile a list of their favorite quotes for homework or as an in-class research assignment. Then, have them create a found poem using only words from these quotes. They can produce the final draft of their found poem on their very own original quote image (hand-drawn or computer-generated). Use them to decorate your classroom!

Here are three specific types of found poems your students may enjoy digging into:

1. Blackout poetry: Students take an existing work—an article, a short story, another poem, or a list of their favorite quotes—and use a dark pen or marker to black out certain lines, words, or phrases to create a new message using the original work.

2. Erasure poetry: Instead of using dark colors, students use whiteout to cover certain words. Students are erasing part of the original piece to create new meaning. In doing so, they may also decide to add new components to the original work. For example, after whiting out some of the words, students may add doodles, sketches, or grafitti to enhance the message.

3. Cut-up poetry: Students cut words out of original texts and rearrange them to create new meaning. Using quotes, students can have fun by re-typing the words they want to use and add color and font variations for symbolism.

10. Political cartoons

Every year, I have students who want to run for president, and if they don't want to, they should (LOL). They LOVE politics. These students might enjoy an assignment where they are asked to create their own political cartoon (or even a political speech!) or use an existing one and write a poem to accompany it. Harness your students' interests when it comes to poetry, and their investment and attitudes will improve. The First Amendment Museum is a wonderful place to start because their cartoons are organized by time period and have context to support students’ understanding.

11. Satirical illustrations

When I saw this article on Facebook, I immediately began brainstorming a PLETHORA of ways teachers could use some of these satirical visuals in the classroom. Without a doubt, they could be inspiration for poetry. These particular images specifically focus on technology issues in our society. Teachers can ask students to find a satirical visual text that resonates with them and then write a poem inspired by the picture they discover.

12. Famous paintings

When considering what types of visual texts are worthy of classroom analysis, we shouldn't leave out well-known artwork, like Salvidor Dali's Persistence of Memory, Van Gogh's The Starry Night, and Grant Wood's American Gothic. To prepare students to write this type of poetry, you can show them how throughout time, poetry has actually inspired paintings.

Need somewhere to start? This website has good examples. Once students can see how a painting has been inspired by a poem, it might be easier for them to do the reverse by analyzing artwork to develop original poetry.

13. gallery walks

Put photographs around the room on big paper. You can also do this virtually by linking each photograph to a main Google Slide. Ask students to either physically get up and move to view photos in the room (or virtually click on one). Students should look at each photo multiple times. At each viewing, they should consider a different prompt:

What do they notice? What speaks to them?
What senses are involved (what do they see, hear, smell, touch, and taste?)
What points of view are involved with this photograph?
What do they wonder?

After making observations, ask students to select the picture that resonates with them most and write one of the following:

a descriptive poem (including sensory details)
a narrative poem (from one or more perspectives)
a call-to-action poem (motivate the audience to do or feel something)

You could use this introduction to analyzing photographs resource to conduct the gallery walk virtually.

Regardless of which type of image students are using to inspire their poetry, teachers can guide students during the brainstorming stage by prompting them with questions, helping them think through the options for how to create their poetry, and even allowing them to create their own rubric based on self-determined criteria. You can view the brainstorming assignment I have used with my students here.

To take it one step further, teachers can scaffold any of these poetry writing assignments by brainstorming possible topics, themes, and even words to include in the poems. Do you have students who still need more support? Write the first few lines of the poem together as a class, and let them finish it on their own. Or, provide them with frames for the verses of the poems. (This means, you write the shell, and they fill in key words and phrases, kind of like a Mad Lib.)

The main observation I've noticed about teaching poetry is that the more requirements I give and the more "perfect" I expect the final product to be, the more resistance I get from students. Poetry doesn't have to be perfect. For the purpose of poetry in the classroom, just encouraging students to write and learn about the structure of a poem is a success.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to poetry, we only need a few. Pictures, illustrations, images (of any kind) can inspire thoughts and ideas students might not otherwise have discovered. Try using pictures to inspire poetry with your students, and notice the therapeutic potential it has for social emotional learning.

spotlight Resource

If your students are studying poetry and you need some engaging activities to help inspire them, you can find a bundle of my engaging poetry activities right here.

13 Ways Pictures Can Inspire Students to Write Poetry