Found Poetry
I had never heard of “found poetry” until I read about it a few years ago in Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature K-6
I haven’t actually used this technique with students yet, but it looks really fun and I want to! I decided to try it myself today and create my own mentor text to have ready when the opportunity to use it with students arises.
I selected an expository picture book called The Penguin
| Fishing Champions On the Antarctic islands, there is almost nothing except pebbles and some plants. Luckily the Antarctic Ocean is full of fish for penguins to eat. With their streamlined bodies, short necks, and waterproof feathers, penguins are champion swimmers and divers. Penguins use their flippers to propel themselves forward and press their feet close to their tail to act as a rudder. They move fast in the water, especially when hunting for food. |
And here is the poem I “found”:
| Fishing Champions
Antarctic islands: nothing except pebbles and some plants. Antarctic Ocean: full of fish. Streamlined bodies, short necks, waterproof feathers. Penguins propel themselves forward. They move fast, hunting for food. |
I must say that this was a satisfying exercise. It was very easy to find a text to use—really, anything will do. I had to read it several times—once for understanding and then a couple more times to pull out words and phrases. It felt non-threatening, and even though the original words weren’t mine, the poem felt like mine.
Try it and see if your experience is similar. I would love to see what kinds of poems you and your students “find”.
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I have utilized Found Poetry with my students K-8 for the past few years. They absolutely love creating this style of poetry and their reading comprehension increases dramatically.
What a creative way for students to respond to text! Thanks for sharing.
Satisfying experience,
easy to find
text.
Anything will do.
Read several times,
once for understanding
then pull out words.
Non-threatening,
felt like mine.
See what kinds
you “find”.
Fun to do alone or with students. My students loved combing the news for them, but any text will do.
Wow, Linda–thanks for showing how easy this is to do! The first few lines sounded so familiar–then I figured out why! Made me smile.
)