2018 Poem #17 -- Save Favorite Words

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

I collect words.  And I keep lists of these collections in my notebooks. When I listen to people speak, read books, or think, I pause to consider the sounds and meanings of lovable and interesting words.  Just this week I've been enchanted by Albuquerque and resonant.  Last week I fell in love with seagull and periwinkle.  

We are changed when we pay attention to words, and while collecting words focuses our attention on language-music, word collections also offer writing ideas. 

Begin a list of favorite words in your own notebook.  Think about words you loved as a little child, words that call up fabric names and kitchen words.  Consider nature words or magical words.  Write these down. 

A sample favorite word list with connections.

Once you have a list, consider connecting pairs of words in surprising ways by drawing random lines between them.  If you desire, share your list with friends or colleagues, each of you saving each other's favorite words as you wish. Or simply choose one word, place it atop a page, and write from it.  You may find that the lines you have drawn will invite a curious connection that brings you somewhere new, as I did in the poem "Word Collection." 

"Word Collection" by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Allow yourself to be surprised.

Collect words always.  Words are the bricks of writing. 

I am grateful to Rebecca Kai Dotlich for teaching me to make and share my favorite word lists as she learned from Myra Cohn Livingston.  Pass it on.  Pass it on. 

Buy Amy's book Read! Read! Read! here

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is author of books including FOREST HAS A SONG, EVERY DAY BIRDS, READ! READ! READ!, DREAMING OF YOU, WITH MY HANDS, and POEMS ARE TEACHERS.  Amy lives in Holland, NY with her family, blogs for young writers at The Poem Farm and Sharing Our Notebooks and posts on Twitter and Instagram as @amylvpoemfarm. 

Enter our giveaway to win a free copy of Amy's book Read! Read! Read! by leaving a comment on any 2018 Go Poems post by 8:30AM on Saturday, April 6.  Many thanks to Boyds Mills Press for sponsoring this giveaway.  

2018 Poem #16 -- Powers of Observation

by Molly Rickert

Part of what make's Ada Limon's poem "The Conditional" exceptional is its use of figurative language, and I would like my students to become more comfortable with figurative language as a writing skill.

When we discuss the beauty and unique style of writing with figurative language, I have students write observation poems. The first goal is to make literal observations three times in a row: 1. Look up and write 2. Look around and write. 3. Look down and write.

Below is an example of the first stanza of a literal observation poem based on 1) the details of the ceiling tiles 2) what was nearby on a desk and 3) what was on the floor.

Students can repeat this process up to 3 times if they’d like (look up, look around, look down).

Then, I have students go through the same process, but this time, making only figurative observations. Below is an example of the first stanza of a figurative observation poem based on the same observations above 1) the details of the ceiling tiles 2) what was nearby on a desk and 3) what was on the floor.

For as many literal observations as the students made, I have them make the same amount of figurative observations.

After students draft their literal and figurative observations poems, we focus on students’ figurative observations, taking note of the unique comparisons, imaginative descriptions, and humorous interpretations. This often leads to a discussion of the power of figurative language and the freedom and creativity that can be used to enhance a point. We compare the literal observation poem with the figurative observation poem and discuss impact figurative language can have in writing.

Further Reading:

Molly Rickert is a seventh grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School. This idea was inspired by a class she took through the West Chester Writing Institute (PAWLP).  Follow her on Twitter (@itsklinemk).

2018 Poem #15 -- Personfication In Song

by Rita Kenefic

Many students have difficulty identifying  the various figures of speech. The lyrics to the song, "April, Come She Will" by Simon and Garfunkel are a wonderful example of personification  and can serve as a great way to reinforce this particular figure of speech. Additionally, I’ve found that students often don’t realize that song lyrics are actually poems. Once they understand this, it is likely to pique their interest in poetry.

First, copy the lyrics to "April, Come She Will" and distribute to students. Let students follow the lyrics, as you play the song.

Discuss how the lyrics personify the various months. Solicit students’ opinions of the effect the use of personification has on the poem.

Next, either suggest or have students brainstorm other categories that lend themselves to this kind of personification. Some examples are:  days of the week, holidays, seasons, decades of our life, etc.

Working either individually or in pairs, have students  pick a topic and write examples of personification in their writer's notebooks, using the song lyrics as a mentor text.

To follow up, you might encourage students to work on and complete their poems during independent writing time and share completed poems in some manner. Or you might choose to invite students to look at song lyrics as poems by identifying and sharing a song lyric that speaks to them.

Further Reading:

Rita Kenefic recently retired from position as a reading specialist in Central Bucks School District. Passionate about reading, writing and fostering literacy in the home.  Blogs at “Nurturing Literacy” http://www.helpurchildread.com/

2018 Poem #14 -- Voice of the Past

by Brett Vogelsinger

There is always something special about hearing a poet read his or her own words, and perhaps something extra special about hearing a recorded poet read these words posthumously.  This act reminds us that even the poems that end up commonly anthologized and in the canon are meant to be heard aloud, that they speak from the past most eloquently when we breathe life into them.

Langston Hughes poems frequently surface in student anthologies.  In this video, students have the chance to hear Langston Hughes talk about the experience that led him to write "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" as a young man just out of high school, and then he reads the poem aloud.

An intriguing video to pair with this: a contemporary high school student recites the same poem in the twenty-first century for the Poetry Out Loud competition: 

Three questions to discuss with students after sharing this poem:

• How does knowing the background of the poem and hearing it in the writer's own voice affect our experience with the poem?  
• How does listening to a poem written nearly one hundred years ago give voice to the past? 
• How does the content of the poem give voice to the poet's past? 

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He is the faculty adviser for the school literary magazine, Sevenatenine.  Besides his annual blogging adventure on this site, he has published work on Nerdy Book Club, The New York Times Learning Network, and Edutopia and you can follow him on Twitter (@theVogelman).

2018 Poem #13 -- Wait, Rappers Are Poets?

by Zachary Sibel

This year I wanted to try something new when it came to teaching poetry, so I made a strange connection. I thought about what I like to eat when I go out. I realized that most the time my favorite items to order are appetizers; they are smaller portions, you get a variety of choices, and when you put the right combination together, you are rewarded with an experience that is filling. 

I decided to present poetry from various classes and movements to my students in the same way. I used three to five poems from the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary eras of poetry. I found that my students were more engaged when they got to read through and pick the one that stood out to them, rather than sit down and talk about them all.

One poem that really topped them all when it came to student engagement was Tupac’s "A Rose That Grew From Concrete." I present this poem with no context of who Tupac was (or still is, that is up for debate) and just focus on language and the use of metaphor. After reading the poem aloud twice, I ask students to dig into the imagery and symbolism of this poem. The beauty of this poem is it impacts students of all backgrounds and upbringings. 

This year I had a number of students connect with it, one of whom discussed the idea that, “the only person who needs to believe in you is you, " a rather sophisticated reflection for a middle school student to have. I let the students carry the discussion, and when I see it fit, I end with providing a little background as to who Tupac was, the idea of West Coast rap, and how language can be used to examine various social issues.

Additional fun: I focus a lot on the questions, “Is all music poetry? Is all poetry musical?" With Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for literature, the question begs to be answered or at least discussed. After showing students "A Rose That Grew From Concrete," we play a little Kahoot game that requires students to read a line of verse/lyric and determine if it is poetry or hip-hop. Students find themselves recognizing some of the lyrics but not all. They realize that the distinction between hip-hop and poetry is more complex than we may originally think.

Further Reading:

Zachary Sibel is a hip-hop fan, English teacher, and department chair at Central Bucks West High School in Bucks County, PA. 

2018 Poem #12 -- Letter to the Future

by Tyler Kline

In this exercise, students write a letter to a person living fifty years in the future.  First, read Matthew Olzmann's poem “Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years From Now” as a mentor text.

Students may write the letter to a specific person or to an anonymous "someone" like Olzmann does.  Encourage students to consider what they want to tell this person living in the future with some of the following prompts:  Do you want to share information about what is going on in the world right now?   Current events?  Celebrity gossip?  Do you want to share a fear, dream, wish or thought that you currently have?  Remind students that their letter do not have to be about anything monumental (example: Olzmann writes about animals becoming extinct) but what students write about should be significant to THEM.

As they write, encourage students to include a question to the future reader, something they would like to know from this person.  For example: "Do you still have the McDonald's Dollar Menu?" or "Who is on the one-hundred-dollar bill?" or "Are robots friendly?"

Olzmann ends his poem with the powerful line, "And then all the bees were dead."  Students can choose to end on any type of note they want -- inspiring, hopeful, forlorn, confused, etc.  Whatever their choice, encourage students to craft a last line that is as impactful as possible and to write this line in a separate stanza.

If time permits for discussion, students can share their poems with a partner.  The conference partner can pretend to be the reader fifty years from now and predict how this future reader would respond to the poem. 

Further Reading:

Tyler Kline is a teacher and writer from Pennsylvania.  In 2015, he was named the Poet Laureate of Bucks County, PA. 

2018 Poem #11 -- Crossing Genre Borders

by Charles Moore

In my experience, and maybe in yours as well, our students do not connect to non-fiction on the same level that they do with poetry.

I decided to try to address this lack of connection by using poetry to show how connected we can be with our reading lives.

Our unit would give us the opportunity to explore the research process, and we began by reading reviews.  We looked at a video game review, a movie review, a piece by Leonard Pitts and this review  that weighs the merits of our current poetry culture.

The students can notice important parts of the articles and respond to them with their thinking but they could not even fake an emotional connection to the articles no matter how hard I pushed.

We talk about poetry often in my classroom.  It is easy for me to ask the kids to respond to a poem in their writers’ notebooks, and I see them pour their thinking on to pages.  The connections they make are incredible.  They are good at it.

So I began one day with this poem, posted on Instagram by Rupi Kaur:

We talked about the poem and they noticed how it drove their thinking on an emotional level.

We talked about that reaction. Specifically, we examined how texts other than poetry can have an impact on us.  We talked about trying to use this type of connection in our reading of non-fiction texts.  

As we reached back to non-fiction, we were able to make deeper and more meaningful connections to the text, and it showed in our writing.

Don’t be afraid to leverage poetry in the instruction of other types of writing.  No matter what we think of this current generation of learners, poetry reaches them like it reaches those that came before them. 

Further Reading:

Charles Moore teaches Senior English in League City, TX.  His daily poetry picks are the most fun part of his lesson planning. 

2018 Poem #10 -- Easy Essaying About A Poem

by Katherine Bomer

I think poems and true essays (not the five-paragraph formula) share several features, for instance how they invite readers to make different meanings and bring varied interpretations to them.  So it makes sense to use informal essaying, or writing to think, as one way to demonstrate that poems can have multiple interpretations.

I choose an evocative, slightly mysterious poem, preferably unrhymed. Perhaps a poem that starts one place and ends up in another, or a poem that has a title that sets up a scenario in your mind, but then the body of the poem takes you to another, even an opposite place. "Commercial Break" by Jacqueline Woodson is a great one to use with middle school students.

I read and show the title by itself first. I ask students to write what they are thinking in their Writer's Notebooks for just one minute, asking several open-ended questions as invitations for students to follow their thinking, not as a checklist or requirement to answer each one. What are you anticipating? What are you noticing? What images arise? What questions or confusions arise?

Next, I read aloud and project the first stanza, or the first 1/3 if a poem is structured in one stanza. I ask them to write for two minutes: now what are you noticing/anticipating/wondering? How is your thinking changing?

I repeat this process, revealing only a stanza or two, or another 1/3 of a poem, until reaching the end, when I ask: now what are you making of this poem? How and why did your thinking change?

Students share their mini-essays with partners or small groups and we talk about the multiple pathways to a single poem. If the poem has enough depth or edge, it can often lead to powerful class discussions and even to future essay writing!

For high school students, try “Poppies” by Jennifer Grotz.  

Further Reading:

Katherine Bomer writes about helping students learn to love writing. Her book The Journey Is Everything investigates how teachers can make essay writing a highlight of their students' writing experience.

Poem #9 -- As Easy As ABC . . . Or As Challenging

by Brett Vogelsinger

An abecedary is an inscription of the letters of the alphabet, often in order, and often used as a practice exercise, so technically every student who has studied the English language has completed an abecedary at some point early on in their education in order to learn the alphabet.  In fact, there is even a related word to describe people learning the alphabet: abecedarians.  That sounds so much more accomplished than "kindergarteners," does it not?

Gabriel Fried's poem, "Abecedary," is somewhat more challenging.  Each word begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet, yet it makes fantastic, whimsical sense as a series of commands or instructions for debonair elves and mighty newish otters.

Here is the poem:

Abecedary
by Gabriel Fried

Apple-
Bodied
Child,
Debonair
Elf,
Forage
Gently
Here
In
Jasmine
Keeled
Latitudes.
Mighty
Newish
Otter,
Pray
Quietly.
Retrieve
Sapphires.
Trundle
Under
Violets
Within
Xanadu,
Young
Zodiac.


The poem looks like it must have been easy to write at first, much like some abstract paintings in a museum may make some visitors feel like, "Well I can do that!"  So challenge students to create an abecedary that makes some sense, maybe even as a set of instructions like this poem.  In five minutes, they will discover the challenge.

The goal here is not for every student to complete a perfect Abecedary, but rather to grapple in their writer's notebooks with this structure and see how an excellent poet can make a challenge look deceptively simple.

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He is the faculty adviser for the school literary magazine, Sevenatenine.  Besides his annual blogging adventure on this site, he has published work on Nerdy Book Club, The New York Times Learning Network, and Edutopia and you can follow him on Twitter (@theVogelman).

2018 Poem #8 -- The Power of Poetry

by Travis Crowder

So often, I find that students have a tenuous relationship with poetry. I expose students all year to poems, showing them how to unpack, create, and write about the things that are meaningful to them, the things that interest them. Most often, I find that students will grapple with more difficult poems if they have been given the opportunity to write their own.

Writing their own poetry, though, requires patience and guidance, especially if you work with reluctant readers and writers. I find that many students love writing in non-traditional formats, especially concrete poetry. I introduce nontraditional poetry early in the year, and as the year progresses, I give students chances to write poems that break traditional forms. I love using Allan Wolf’s writing as a starting point because he is an accessible poet, but he also deconstructs traditional forms to engage readers.  

I ask students to jot down these questions…

1. What do I see?
2. What do I hear?
3. What do I feel?
4. What do I smell?
5. What do I think?

...and begin adding their thinking.

Afterward, I display "Don't Be Afraid" by Allan Wolf. It is a segment from Immersed in Verse, a beautiful book of lyricism that invites any writer into the world of writing poetry.

Image taken from Allan Wolf's website, linked above. 

For a few minutes, we discuss how Wolf modifies font size, style, and spacing to match topics and ideas within his poems. Students are always mesmerized by the variations in style and are eager to create their own.

So I let them. And they use the things they saw, heard, felt, smelled, and thought as the foundation for their poems.   

I give them time to play with language, with style, with spacing, and with imagery, much like the poem from Allan Wolf. It is here that students begin to understand purpose, tone, and how poetry can push us past the ostensible. Give them a chance to create. And be prepared to stand in awe of their creations, such as the examples below:

Further Reading:

Travis Crowder is a 7th grade ELA teacher in Hiddenite, NC, teaching ten years in both middle and high school settings. His main goal is to inspire a passion for reading and writing in students. You can follow his work on Twitter (@teachermantrav) and his blog: www.teachermantrav.com/blog.

2018 Poem #7 -- A Poem as a Word Bank

by Brett Vogelsinger

Some student writers struggle to access their full vocabulary while in the frenzy of a first draft or the more attentive work of revision.  Since poems are filled with strong diction and fresh uses for familiar words, a poem can actually be sourced as a bank full of powerful language.

The poem "The Last Movie" by Rachel Hadas is more than just a poem about a movie.  It is poem about coping with impending loss.  After a first read, of this piece, it is vital to ask students, "In addition to a movie, what else is this poem about?" before trying to mine the language from these powerful stanzas.  

Recently, before watching the trial scene from the black-and-white movie To Kill a Mockingbird, I asked students to choose one actor to study closely so that they could write a review of that actor's performance.  We had already read "The Last Movie" at the start of class, but after watching the scene, I invited students to find five words in this poem that they might use in writing their review.  The resulting reviews contained lines like "Mr. Ewell's look was opaque as he realized . . . that Atticus was doing a great job," or "Rather than spewing fury against Mayella Ewell or Bob Ewell, Peck continues to be the person who brings reason to the trial."  Students put the words to work to create an authoritative voice in their reviews.

Of course this principle has far broader application.  Before a draft day for an argument piece or a lit analysis, read a poem that is particularly rich in its diction, the"chocolate mousse" of word choice, and have students find just a few words to create a word bank.  These should not be mandatory to use in a draft, but the challenge of using a seemingly unrelated but interesting word often opens doors to more vibrant sentences.

P. S. Thanks to Bryce and Rebecca for letting me use their writing samples in this piece.

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He is the faculty adviser for the school literary magazine, Sevenatenine.  Besides his annual blogging adventure on this site, he has published work on Nerdy Book Club, The New York Times Learning Network, and Edutopia and you can follow him on Twitter (@theVogelman).

2018 Poem #6 -- Our Many Worlds

by Rama Janamanchi

One of my favorite poems to teach is Joseph Legaspi’s “Amphibians.” It is a short poem which offers so many avenues for discussion and teaching that we often reference it as we go through our unit. The activity I am sharing below is one that I use when I introduce the poem.

We begin with reading the poem. Each student reads a line until punctuation indicates a significant stop (the period, the semi-colon, or colon). Then we read the poem again chorally. Once we are done with the choral reading, I ask them to list amphibians they know and picture those amphibians, their habitats, and whatever else they know about them.

The students then write down their own habitats: Where do you live? Then they list one activity they most closely identify with. Then we go into identity more broadly. Once they have listed about five or six words they use to identify themselves, we talk about similarities in the room. We begin with activity: all the basketball players stand together, all the gamers gather together and so on. Then they find them moving around the room and shifting groups based on race, hobbies, being the eldest, being adopted and so on. As they position themselves into different groups, they note the people with whom they share these groups.

Once the activity is done (about 7 minutes), we talk about Legaspi’s line: “Immigrants give birth to Americans.” Our many identities converge into the shared experience of the activity, of being students, of being learners. At the close of the activity, we read the poem again. I usually then ask them to reflect on the poem in their journals to give them more time with the poem.

Further Reading:

Rama Janamanchi teaches at a private high school for students with language-based learning differences. Twitter: @MsJanamanchi410

2018 Poem #5 -- Linking Old Poetry to New Research

by Brett Vogelsinger

poem "Rhapsody" is an early twentieth-century poem in the form that fits nearly everyone's preconception of what a poem ought to be. It is rich in rhythm and rhyme.  It also highlights a basic human need that feeds our emotional well-being: gratitude.

Share this poem, twice aloud, with the class.

Rhapsody
by William Stanley Braithwaite

I am glad daylong for the gift of song
     For time and change and sorrow
For the sunset wings and the world-end things
     That hang on the edge of to-morrow
I am glad for my heart whose gates apart
      Are the entrance-place of wonders
Where dreams come in from the rush and din
      Like sheep from the rain and thunders.


What gratitudes here surprise you?
Why is it important to maintain gratitude even in the face of adversity?

Share this quote from a Forbes article, published in 2014:

"Gratitude increases mental strength. For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. A 2006 study published in Behavior Research and Therapy found that Vietnam War Veterans with higher levels of gratitude experienced lower rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude was a major contributor to resilience following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Recognizing all you have to be thankful for – even during the worst times of your life – fosters resilience."
It appears that contemporary science supports the theme of this classic poem!

Student can respond for a two-minute quick write in their Writer's Notebook: What is something you are grateful for in spite of adversities you may be facing right now.

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He is the faculty adviser for the school literary magazine, Sevenatenine.  Besides his annual blogging adventure on this site, he has published work on Nerdy Book Club, The New York Times Learning Network, and Edutopia.  Follow him on Twitter @theVogelman. 

2018 Poem #4 -- The Sport of Writing Small

by Lauren Heimlich Foley

As my students preview the title of the poem "Baseball" written on the board, their murmuring echoes throughout our classroom, and curiosity lingers in the air. One student remarks, “A poem about baseball?" Disbelief paints his voice.

In preparation for the first reading, I invite my seventh-graders to notice the author's craft.  They mark up their pages as I recite “Baseball” by Bill Zavatsky.  Sharing their favorite lines, they highlight a variety of techniques including descriptive details, dialogue, figurative language, tone, and theme.  One recurring observation is mentioned in every class: the poem shows a single moment -- Bill catching the ball.  

After their initial reactions, I ask students to consider how they might use the poem as a mentor text: what words, phrases, sentences, or ideas will help them use precise details to reveal their own stories.  Once I reread the poem, students refer back to a list of personal memories they collected during a previous class period, select their best ideas, and write their own pieces. 

Roughly five minutes later, partners share their creations and reveal how "Baseball" has influenced them.  When student volunteers read their work to the class, they showcase an array of topics: competing at a swim meet, winning a soccer game, painting a canvas, honoring a beloved pet, and saying goodbye to a grandparent. 

I appreciate Bill Zavatsky’s poem because it immerses students in a relatable situation, challenges them to write about a specific moment, and encourages them to employ writing skills that convey their experiences. Whether their work remains an exercise or fuels a future writing piece, we can always return to “Baseball” for inspiration on how to write small.

Further Reading:

Lauren Heimlich Foley teaches seventh-grade English Language Arts at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA.

2018 Poem # 3 -- But There Is This

by Jeff Anderson

Poetry has the capacity to help us see what is common through new eyes.  Before reading the poem "You Can't Have It All" by Barbara Ras, I ask students, “Have you ever heard the expression, 'You Can’t Have It All'?" After gauging students' familiarity with this expression, I say, “Some say we’ve heard it often enough that it's a cliche, but I’m in love with the way Barbara Ras uses the well-worn expression in a fresh way, making it the opposite of cliche. Let me read it aloud to you, so you can observe how Barbara Ras uses the expression." (When reading this poem aloud, I generally remove the line about the skin between a man's legs without fanfare, though this is at the discretion of the teacher of course.)

“How does Barbara Ras make the cliche do work?” I ask the students after reading this poem.  In our discussion, I highlight that concrete, everyday experiences become worthy of our focus, our appreciation, our gratitude. 

“To me, poetry is meant to help us pay attention,” I say, " to focus on all the wonderful world and all it gives us. Writers pay attention to things that might note be noted or recorded on first glance. We look again at the simplest things, like the way Ras sees a clown hand in a fig leaf." 

We read the poem a second time, for poems are meant to be read at least twice. This time our goal is to note what Ras feels she can have and start letting thoughts of what you can have in life begin to come to the surface “like the white foam that bubbles up at the top of the bean pot."

This opening can be extended into a full writer's workshop, wherein students write their own “You Can’t Have it All” poems, focusing on making the simple sublime. You can’t have it all. But there is this and this and this. Each poet has the unique capacity to see those things. I invite students to call out to others by giving them voice, by making poetry, stringing together words and experiences you—only you—care about. 

Further Reading: 

Jeff Anderson is a writer of middle grade fiction and a professional developer for teachers who has been sharing writing strategies with students and teachers for 25 years.  His books for teachers include Mechanically Inclined and Patterns of Power.  Learn more about his work at www.writeguy.net or on Twitter @writeguyjeff. 

2018 Poem #2 -- Expanding Our Definition of Poetry

by Brett Vogelsinger

Sometimes students appreciate opening up the definition of what makes a poem.

Grant Snider, creator of Incidental Comics and author of The Shape of Ideas, is a comic strip artist who explores the creative process in his work. Many of his pieces read like poems and might spark students to create their own.

I discuss these questions with my students: Is "Lightness" a poem?  Why or why not?  What is poetic about it?  How does it challenge or expand our definition of poetry? 

The opening line makes a quick, useful mentor text for Writer's Notebook practice in creating metaphor.  Students might complete the statements "I would most like to be a __________________."  If you have time for an entire lesson, completing a nine-frame comic extending that metaphor would also be a meaningful experience for your students. 

Further Reading:

Brett Vogelsinger is a ninth-grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School in Bucks County, PA.  He is the faculty adviser for the school literary magazine, Sevenatenine.  Besides his annual blogging adventure on this site, he has published work on Nerdy Book Club, The New York Times Learning Network, and Edutopia, and you can follow him on Twitter (@theVogelman).