Thank you so much for joining us this month to celebrate how poetry helps us make sense of our lives and the world we live in. Let’s reflect a bit. Please respond to all or any of the questions below: What did you learn or …


Thank you so much for joining us this month to celebrate how poetry helps us make sense of our lives and the world we live in. Let’s reflect a bit. Please respond to all or any of the questions below: What did you learn or …

Inspiration from Colin: Write about a favorite character from a book, movie, TV show , or play. For example, express what your favorite character is and what made them your favorite or write from the character’s point of view about his/her family, friends, hopes, dreams, …

To warm up for our 30-poem celebration (and to test the website), let’s try a pre-challenge poem. Here is today’s poem inspiration but, as always, the prompt is only a suggestion, just poem any way you wish. Inspiration: Imagine you are grown up and have a …


by Elaine Magin Ethical ELA resonates with my own experiences as a teacher who often feels limited by what I’m able to teach in the classroom. Even though this blog is not focused on teaching English language arts in higher education, I am overwhelmed by …

National Poetry Month comes around every April, and it is a time to remember and to celebrate poetry as writers, as readers, as human beings. Most ELA teachers know that reading poems and writing poems go hand in hand. Still, not everyone has uncovered and …

On Sundays, I invite Ethical ELA friends to do some creative writing — a stanza or story about anything you wish. I will, however, offer some inspiration to get you started: Think about someone you admire. It may be someone you know well or someone …

Inspiration: Write a list of firsts and how you felt about what happened (e.g., the first time you ate vegetables, your first job, your first overnight, your first house). Or, write about witnessing someone else’s first (e.g., your child’s first step). Of course, write about …

Inspiration: I certainly recognize this is a sensitive issue, so if you give it a try, tread delicately. A colleague shared some journals his students wrote about how they lost their heritage language- stories of teachers who wouldn’t let them speak Spanish, stories of letters …

Write about the life your parents had before you (you, precious person) were born into their lives. Share your poem in the comment section on Ethical ELA.