Even the most reluctant students love creating “found” poems, also known as blackout poetry. All you’ll need to fill an entire class session is this Prezi (click here to download a FREE copy from my shop), dark markers or crayons, and a few newspaper pages or photocopies of a few pages from any novel you’re currently studying. Begin with an explanation of the technique, hand out supplies, and wait for the awesomeness to emerge.
I use this lesson as a part of my larger poetry unit, but it also makes for a nice mid-novel break on a day when you want to allow the kids to catch their breath/catch up on their reading.
Check out these inspiring examples from The Great Gatsby, Harry Potter, and the New York Times:
Hi, Laura! I was wondering, how do you grade these blackout poems? Do you have a rubric you follow? How many points do you make these worth? Thanks! 🙂
Funny, but I don’t actually grade most of the poems my students create and, when I do, I’ll keep things more focused on the assigned format than the content, Kelsi. For blackout poetry, we always do these in class, so I don’t grade them. I’m thinking, though, you could modify a simple rubric, like some of the ones listed here: https://www.google.com/search?q=blackout+poetry+rubric&safe=active&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjakYCrtJHZAhWmwFkKHXY3AXwQsAQIKA&biw=1256&bih=639
Hope this helps! 🙂