Black Out Poetry

Have you tried Black Out Poetry?

My favorite way to use Black Out Poetry is as a culminating activity after reading a novel with a class. You can copy pages of the book (I like copying the beginnings of chapters because then the chapter title can serve as the poem's title) and give kids the option of which pages they use for their poetry. The choosing part is really fun because it reminds them what the book was about! They start talking, reminiscing, and it all comes back to them!

Start with pencil.

Very important!

Kids use a pencil to circle the words they want to use in their poem, understanding that this might be a different kind of poetry than they are used to!

Once the poem is done in pencil, kids are each given a marker (I like Sharpie because it is nice and dark). They circle those words that are in their poem and then add designs to "BLACK OUT" the rest of the poem. My examples below show that you do not need to color the entire page, just enough so that the words you chose stand out.

So, there you have it!

Black out poetry.

Easy, free, fast, engaging!