This poetry idea is part of VerseLove, our celebration of poetry for National Poetry Month. Learn more here.
Our Host: Stefani Boutelier
Stefani is an Associate Professor of Education at Aquinas College in Michigan. She teaches courses for pre-service and in-service teachers in instructional design, literacy, ed tech, and research methods. Her K-12 teaching was in California prior to moving into teacher preparation. She is also the co-author (with Sarah) of Teaching Poetry in a Digital World; Inspiring Poetry Writing through Technology in Grades 6–12.
Last year, I wrote about ways to gamify poetry on Ethical ELA. I am a huge fan of gamification and poetry–maybe I need a half-time from this obsession. We play games in so many places–tables, fields, airports, devices, at home and away. Games bring us all together, building community and connections in ways that cross all intersections of our lived experiences.
One game I love is the daily NYT Connections Game (find four groups of 4). I used Flippity to create one for us today. ➡️PLAY here to warm up for today’s prompt.
➡️Stefani’s 4×4 Rally
strategize, dink
foodless kitchen
volley, ace, lob
don’t get pickled
➡️Your Turn
I invite you to have fun without any competition today. Write about games (board games, puzzles, role-playing games, game shows, sporting events, riddles, etc.). A few forms to consider:
- A 4×4 similar to the Connections game or Denise’s writing; this could be four words, four syllables, up to four stanzas, or just four lines.
- Word play with a Wordle-inspired poem (use the Wordle word of the day or play with variations of 5-letter words).
- A double nonet (1-9+9-1) where your first word is Start and your last word is Finish (or similar binaries related to games (e.g., first/last, go/stop).
- Or, as always, play away with your own style and theme.
➡️BONUS Round: I know many of you love the metaphor dice and might not know the digital version is gone. You can use Flippity’s Randomizer to create your own for your age group, content, etc. It always makes me think of the original Price is Right! Here is one metaphor randomizer my grad student made for their fifth graders (shared with permission by Chiara Hemsley).