words under glass

"Can we do the poetry jar again?"

"Of course. I'll get you some magazines."

"Can we have one jar for easy words and one for hard ones?"

I say sure but I laugh because to me all the words we are collecting are easy ones. As we cut them out my mind is already writing poetry with them.

"How about Oreo?" She challenges putting it in the hard jar.

"Okay." *dramatic voice*, "He glared at me from the shadows with black Oreo eyes."

She giggles. "That sounds ridiculous, mom."

"Right, you win, Beach. Oreo is a hard word." 

How to create Your Own Poetry Jar

Step 1. Cut out words &/or phrases from old magazines, flyers, or news print and place them in a jar or other container. 

Step 2. Decide on the number of words to draw (we like using between 5-7) and without looking pull that number of words from the jar.

Step 3. Read your words aloud. Then take a few minutes to write a poem that includes all the words you drew from the jar.

Step 4. Share your poetry.