Poetry Madness Championship

Welcome to the Championship Game!

For the final Poetry Madness game, please write a paragraph defending "Mother to Son" or "Roger the Dog" as the champion. Your response must be at least 3-5 sentences long and include the following:

• Who should win the championship?
• Why you connect to the poem.
• What you like about the poet's craft.

If your response contains grammatical and spelling mistakes, then your response will be DISQUALIFIED.

It takes attention to detail and hard work to be a champion, so your blog post needs to reflect your best writing and thinking. May the best poem win!

Poetry Madness: Final Four, Game 2!

Welcome to the last game of the Final Four! 

"Roger the Dog" and "The News Suit" will face off in the last game of the Final Four.

Write a paragraph stating the winner of this game. You must explain why you chose your winner. Your response needs to be a paragraph with at least 3 sentences. Your response may include the following information:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you?
• What personal connection can you make?
• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Poet's craft can include repetition, word choice, rhyme, simile/metaphor, etc.

Poetry Madness: Final Four, Game 1!

Welcome to the Final Four! 

Mrs. Braddy's Class read Mother to Son and  Choosing Shoes. 

Mrs. Ward's class read Mother to Son and Life Doesn't Frighten Me.

Your response needs to be a paragraph with at least 3 sentences, but you do not need to summarize the meaning of the poems. Instead, your response should include the following information:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you?
• What personal connection can you make?
• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Poet's craft can include repetition, word choice, rhyme, simile/metaphor, etc.

 Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.

Poetry Madness: Elite 8, Game 4

Now that you have read through all of the poems and chosen a winner to advance to the Elite 8, the pressure has mounted. Read the winners of Game 6 and Game 8.

Choose your winner based on the following criteria:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you?
• What personal connection can you make?
• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Be sure to give examples.
• Poet's craft can include: repetition, imagery, personification, rhyme, alliteration, couplets, onomatopoeia, simile/metaphor, etc

 Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.

Here is an example of proficient writing:

“Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is talking about a woman who was probably a slave telling her boy that life isn't going to be easy but to not give up.

My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have been on a softball team before and struck out when my team really needed a hit.  I can imagine how the fans and the player feel when the game is over, and they do not win.

I like “Mother to Son's” writer’s craft more because it rhymes better and the way it is written sounds like the mother is from the South .For example, she says, "I'se been a-climbin' on" and "turnin' corners." I also enjoyed that the poem is a metaphor comparing life to a flight of stairs that is hard to climb.  The poet's mother encourages him to never give up but keep trying even though life is hard. “Mother to Son” should win this game.

Poetry Madness: Elite 8, Game 3

Now that you have read through all of the poems and chosen a winner to advance to the Elite 8, the pressure has mounted. Read the winners of Game 5 and Game 7.

Choose your winner based on the following criteria:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you?
• What personal connection can you make?
• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Be sure to give examples.
• Poet's craft can include: repetition, imagery, personification, rhyme, alliteration, couplets, onomatopoeia, simile/metaphor, quatrain, etc

 Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.

Here is an example of an advanced/proficient post:

“Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is talking about a woman who was probably a slave telling her boy that life isn't going to be easy but to not give up.

My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have been on a softball team before and struck out when my team really needed a hit.  I can imagine how the fans and the player feel when the game is over, and they do not win.

I like “Mother to Son's” writer’s craft more because it rhymes better and the way it is written sounds like the mother is from the South .For example, she says, "I'se been a-climbin' on" and "turnin' corners." I also enjoyed that the poem is a metaphor comparing life to a flight of stairs that is hard to climb.  The poet's mother encourages him to never give up but keep trying even though life is hard. “Mother to Son” should win this game.

Poetry Madness: Elite 8, Game 2!

Poetry Madness Elite 8: Game 2

Now that you have read through all of the poems and chosen a winner to advance to the Elite 8, the pressure has mounted. Read the winners of Game 2 and Game 4.

Choose your winner based on the following criteria:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you?
• What personal connection can you make?
• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Be sure to give examples.
• Poet's craft can include: repetition, imagery, personification, rhyme, alliteration, couplets, onomatopoeia, simile/metaphor, etc

Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.

Here is an example of an advanced/proficient post:

“Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is talking about a woman who was probably a slave telling her boy that life isn't going to be easy but to not give up.

My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have been on a softball team before and struck out when my team really needed a hit.  I can imagine how the fans and the player feel when the game is over, and they do not win.

I like “Mother to Son's” writer’s craft more because it rhymes better and the way it is written sounds like the mother is from the South .For example, she says, "I'se been a-climbin' on" and "turnin' corners." I also enjoyed that the poem is a metaphor comparing life to a flight of stairs that is hard to climb.  The poet's mother encourages him to never give up but keep trying even though life is hard. “Mother to Son” should win this game.

Poetry Madness: Elite 8, Game 1

Now that you have read through all of the poems and chosen a winner to advance to the Elite 8, the pressure has mounted. Read the winners of Game 1 and Game 3.
In Round 2, you need to choose your winner based on the following criteria:

• Which poem's meaning is more important to you? 

• What personal connection can you make? 

• Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Be sure to give examples.

• Poet's craft can include the following:

• repetition, imagery, personification, rhyme, alliteration, couplets, onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, etc.

 Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.
An example of an advanced proficient blog post is:

“Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is talking about a woman who was probably a slave telling her boy that life isn't going to be easy but to not give up.

My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have been on a softball team before and struck out when my team really needed a hit.  I can imagine how the fans and the player feel when the game is over, and they do not win.

I like “Mother to Son's” writer’s craft more because it rhymes better and the way it is written sounds like the mother is from the South .For example, she says, "I'se been a-climbin' on" and "turnin' corners." I also enjoyed that the poem is a metaphor comparing life to a flight of stairs that is hard to climb.  The poet's mother encourages him to never give up but keep trying even though life is hard. “Mother to Son” should win this game.

Poetry Madness: Game 8

Read Game 8 poems. Answer each question below. Remember to explain WHY you chose the winner based on poet's craft (rhyme, line breaks, punctuation, simile/metaphor, word choice, repetition) AND your personal connection to the meaning. Don't forget to write with M.I.N.T.S.!

Your post needs to include the following:

1. What is the meaning of the first poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

2. What is the meaning of the second poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

3. Based on the criteria, which poem did you choose and WHY? (Use examples writer's craft to support your answer!)

Here is an example of proficient writing:

The first poem I read was “Life Doesn’t frighten Me.” It is about a girl saying that life doesn’t frighten her. She says that very scary things find their way to her, but she keeps pushing, laughing, smiling, and having a good time, so they get destroyed and leave. I found that this poem contains a great modern life message as well. It is that no matter what happens, we will all come back in the kingdom of God, so we shouldn’t be scared because the Holy Spirit will protect us forever and ever. I infer that the girl who isn’t scared of life is a Christian.

The second poem, “Some One,” is about a man who got a knock at his small door, but there was no one there but a beetle, an owl, a cricket, and dewdrops. He was sure that he got a knock though, but there was nothing stirring besides the four things I just listed, only the dark vortex of night. I infer that it is close to Halloween, and he just got Ding-Dong-Ditched.

In my opinion, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” should win because of the masterpiece of a message. It has repetition as well, like the phrase,”Life doesn’t frighten me at all.” It also used personification. For example, geese don’t have names. It lastly used imagery because you get a picture in your mind when it says “dragons breathing flame on my counterpane.” “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” is an extraordinary poem, and I hope it wins!

Poetry Madness: Game 7

Read Game 7 poems. Answer each question below. Remember to explain WHY you chose the winner based on poet's craft (rhyme, line breaks, punctuation, simile/metaphor, word choice, repetition) AND your personal connection to the meaning. Don't forget to write with M.I.N.T.S.!

Your post needs to include the following:
1. What is the meaning of the first poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

2. What is the meaning of the second poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

3. Based on the criteria, which poem did you choose and WHY?

Here is an example of a proficient blog post:
“Do you carrot all for me?” is about someone that is asking someone else if they care for them. They replace words with vegetables and fruits. It’s a funny poem. I like the word play the poet used. This is a great poem.

The second poem I read was “The Castle in the Fire.” It is about a pretty lady and a knight. The knight fights the dragon. It was a brilliant fight. Then, the castle, knight, and dragons were out of sight. When the smoke lifted, they saw to their delight. The pretty lady and the knight.

I choose “Do you carrot all for me?” because of the word play, imagery, and the metaphors. For example, it shows word play when it replaces words with vegetables and fruits. It says, “Do you carrot all for me?” It should say, “Do you care at all for me?” It shows imagery because you can imagine what’s happening. You can tell that it’s about a man/woman writing a love letter. It uses metaphors because it replaces each word with a fruit/vegetable. This is a really funny poem, and I think this should win!

Poetry Madness: Game 6

Read the poems for Game 6. Answer each question below. Remember to explain WHY you chose the winner based on poet's craft (rhyme, line breaks, punctuation, simile/metaphor, word choice, repetition) AND your personal connection to the meaning. Don't forget to write with M.I.N.T.S.!


Your post needs to include the following:
1. What is the meaning of the first poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

2. What is the meaning of the second poem? (Summarize in one sentence)

3. Based on the criteria, which poem did you choose and WHY?

 ***Please tell me everything you think, but use your best writing. 

Here is an example of an advanced/proficient blog post:

“This Is Just to Say” is about a boy who ate plums in the ice box which were cold, sweet, and delicious, which someone was probably saving to have for breakfast, and how he wants them to forgive him. I think this was written to entertain readers with a silly story about someone who ate plums when they weren’t supposed to.

The second poem I read, “Choosing Shoes,” is about someone who wanted to choose shoes but couldn’t and how the person would choose bright shoes or white shoes but another person would choose fat shoes or flat shoes. I think this poem was written to entertain readers about a story about choosing from lots of shoes.

I choose “Choosing Shoes” because it reminds me of a Doctor Seuss book I have. The author used alliteration when they said “Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,” and “Pretty pointy-toe shoes.” My next reason is because the author used repetition when repeating the word shoes. Also, the author used rhyme scheme. The first stanza it was AAAB. “Choosing Shoes” was a great poem, and I hope it wins.