Poetry Break: a poem written in an ususual form

Introduction:
Explain to students what concrete poetry is. Show some examples of concrete poems and point out how they take the shape of the subject they are about.

Skyscraper
by J. Patrick Lewis

I

am

a

nee

dle

of

steel

glass &

cement

1o2

stories

high on a clear

day you can see

200

miles out into the

Atlantic or watch

hundreds of ants

scurrying like

people on the sidewalks

below & the yellow

bugs racing recklessly

along the city streets &

ride the elevator all the

way down in 37 seconds

FLAT

Extension:
Introduce students to books and poems that showcase concrete poetry, including the book this poem is in:

• DOODLE DANDIES: POEMS THAT TAKE SHAPE by J. Patrick Lewis
• TECHNICALLY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT: CONCRETE POEMS by John Grandits
• MEOW RUFF: A STORY IN CONCRETE POETRY by Joyce Sidman and Michelle Berg
• OUTSIDE THE LINES by Brad Burg

Then have students make their own concrete poems using a theme such as animals, a particular holiday, or things they find at school.