Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet: 104 Unusual Ways to Write Poetry in the Classroom and the Community

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I've been teaching high school creative writing for twenty plus years and nothing, and I mean NOTHING!, has revolutionized how we teach that class more than this little book. Our students are spray painting their cars, then writing poems on them. They're writing poetry inside and outside refrigerators, stoves, on chairs and tables, on the sidewalks, on their father's army boots, on toilets, and yes, they've even written on the kitchen sink. We've been asked to give inservices to other educators about this project. It's nothing short of sensational and Dave Morice is our hero! Don't buy one of these books, buy a dozen for all of your teacher friends. This technique makes kids want to be creative. All age groups will find good stuff here.

This book is full of wonderful activities for poetry writing with all age-groups. I have already made my first deck of "Poetry Poker" cards, and I cannot wait to try some of the other activities.

As a high school teacher, I was hoping that this book would help my students feel more comfortable expressing themselves in poetry form and feel proud about displaying their work. I found that many of the activities would considered "stupid" by my students, and many activities are just too impractical when one considers the cost of materials for the number of students I have. The book also assumes that students already know how to write poetry, and there is no emphasis on the writing process or revision. Students go directly from freewriting to presentation. I've found my students have wonderful imaginations; they just don't know how to turn imagination into verse. This book won't help them do that.