Susan Taylor Brown

And Sometimes Life Has Other Plans

Susan Taylor Brown — Wed, 01 May 2013 05:44:00 +0000

Poetry month is over and I didn’t make it through the month with my mentor poem project. I do want to return to it but sometimes, you know, life has other plans.

One of the most difficult things for me has been to find mentor poems that we also available online so that other people could read them and teachers could use it as a resource.… Read the rest

In the style of Rudyard Kipling, If

Susan Taylor Brown — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:50:07 +0000

I love using this poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, in the classroom. We dissect this poem line by line and we don’t go on to the next line until we’ve talked through the one before. This is hard for a lot of the at-risk kids I usually work with but the eventually work their way through it.… Read the rest

In the Style of Rita Ann Higgins, Be Someone

Susan Taylor Brown — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:25:40 +0000

I really liked the direction my poem took after I read Be Someone by Rita Ann Higgins. I would use it in the classroom along with IF and MY CREED to help kids develop their own guidelines for living.

Here’s my first draft.… Read the rest

Inspired by J. Patrick Lewis, What to Wear Where

Susan Taylor Brown — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:55:26 +0000

Today I picked this fun poem by J. Patrick Lewis called What to Wear Where as my model poem. I really wanted to do something light and fun but my muse had a different idea. Here’s my first draft.

What to Wear

When you visit someone special
what you wear doesn’t matter
you will be cloaked
in hugs and laughter
or silence smiles
that sing a love song
of understanding and
together you will braid
a tapestry of memories
that will keep you warm
even when you are miles apart.… Read the rest

In the Style of William Bly, Things to Think

Susan Taylor Brown — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:43:33 +0000

I think this poem by Robert Bly, Things to Think is an interesting one to play with. It would be fun for students to experiment with thinking of things as opposites. I didn’t quite get where I wanted to with this first draft but I have something to revise down the road.… Read the rest

In the Style of Tupac Shakur, The Rose that Grew from Concrete

Susan Taylor Brown — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:28:21 +0000

Today’s model poem for National Poetry month is The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur

My students often want to read and share Tupacs poems and lyrics and this poem of his one of the cleaner ones that I can use in the classroom.… Read the rest

In the Style of October by Bobbi Katz

Susan Taylor Brown — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:36:28 +0000

October by Bobbi Katz is a fun poem to model and could lead to a wide variety of other new poems. My rough draft is pretty rough but I like the direction this is taking and I will come back to play with it some more.… Read the rest

Another in the Style of William Stafford, What’s in My Journal

Susan Taylor Brown — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:54:40 +0000

I adore the poem What’s in My Journal by William Stafford because it is deceptively simply and equally deep. You think you are going to read a list of tangible things and yet there is so much more. I want to revisit this poem and try to do the same but for today’s rough draft, I took the easy way out.… Read the rest

In the Style of Major Jackson, How to Listen

Susan Taylor Brown — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:46:14 +0000

Today’s model poem is How to Listen by Major Jackson. A few years ago I read this poem and used the title as a jumping off point for a new poem of my own with the same title. That one turned into a a pretty angry poem so I wanted to give it another try.… Read the rest

In the Style of Elizabeth Alexander, Ars Poetica #100: I Believe

Susan Taylor Brown — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:01:05 +0000

This was a fun one to model, even if I didn’t follow the idea exactly it was a nice jumping off point for me. Read the original poem Ars Poetica #100: I Believe by Elizabeth Alexander.

Here’s my first draft.… Read the rest