Students bring many experiences with poetry to your classroom.  Some of them may be positive; many may be negative.  You have the opportunity to create a space to celebrate the creativity and positive experiences students have had; you have the opportunity to transform the negative experiences into something joyful and playful.  You may want to use the QuickWrite with your students to determine their prior experience.

Directions:  From the journals that your students have written, select some samples of their work that feature vivid descriptions, rhythmic cadences, figures of speech, rhymes, or words that inspire feelings.  Be sure to share examples from your own writing.