Young Poets Lab

My Students: Who said second graders can't write poetry? My students would like to share their poetry with the world. My students imagine objects via fresh eyes and compare their moms and ...

My Project: A book binding machine and printer will allow students to not only write their book of poetry, but to see how a book is put together from start to finish. The resources will e... more»

My Students: Who said second graders can't write poetry? My students would like to share their poetry with the world. My students imagine objects via fresh eyes and compare their moms and dads to objects or animals in order to write outstanding poetry. Young Poets Lab will enable my students to continue writing.

My students come from diverse backgrounds. Our school houses over 1,000 Hispanic, Polish, Arabic, Asian, Caucasian and African American students. Our school is located in the inner-city and a lot of these students struggle with reading comprehension and writing skills. But my second grade students have mastered the talent of writing poetry. They have published their first book and continue to write more poetry every chance they get. I make sure that I type and compile their work along with drawings and either submit it for publication or publish it myself.

My Project: A book binding machine and printer will allow students to not only write their book of poetry, but to see how a book is put together from start to finish. The resources will enable us to house a mini-publishing facility in our room! I would be able to expand my students' understanding by teaching them the mechanics of publishing. The materials we are asking for will also generate published books that could be sold for fundraising purposes to replenish other supplies needed such as; paper, ink cartridges, heavy duty covers, coil, etc. My students will be able to generated monthly books of poetry to cover the seasons, holidays, Mother's/Father's Day, memory books, and The ABC's of Second Grade. My students were motivated to write more after seeing their first book of poetry published, The Sky is My Roof. They will be motivated all the more when they see how fast their books can be published.

This project is important to my students because there are many students who think they cannot write. My second graders will inspire those students and beyond. Moreover, our first book of poetry was dedicated to all the children who lost their lives due to violence in schools and to the children of Haiti. We would like to continue to dedicate our books of poetry to help causes such as this or if possible donate some portion of our fundraising monies to organizations who are in need. hide»