A few months ago, my writing group hosted a writing party at which we wrote riddlekus - riddle poems in the form of haiku. It was a blast, so I took it back to my classroom and had my 8th graders write them for attendance questions. They were a big hit, and my 6th and 7th graders often ask for more.
We are going to read Nikki Grimes' Garvey's Choice, which is written in the tanka form. I am going to task my writers to write a tanka poem about an important object as a riddle. I will have days worth of attendance questions, and the students will enjoy trying to guess the objects.
I am going to create a mentor poem here.
every morning it
patiently waits for me to
sit, open, and share,
thoughts trickle out of my head
between its covers, unseen
What is it?
This is a clever riddle form. Years ago when I taught Anglo Saxon riddles I’d have students replicate the form. Many were very good.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Using students' poems daily, what a pleasant class community you are creating. "I will have days worth of attendance questions, and the students will enjoy trying to guess the objects."
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun format! I have never heard of these before!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea and love that book. I think there is a second book about Garvey, but I can't remember the name of it. I will have to try the riddlanka!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is working, Heather. I love this idea, and I'm tickled your students enjoyed the riddlekus. That is so cute! Now, I'm sure they will like these too. I loved Garvey's Choice. I was so impressed with the great character development she managed with such a lean poetry form. Did you write a riddlanka about your journal?
ReplyDelete