Sensory Poem Built From One Memory

Have students finish the chart in Step 1 before they draft. Then they write the poem on the numbered lines and read it aloud to check that the strongest image comes last.

Gather sight, sound, smell, taste and touch details from one place you remember, then write ten lines. The directions on the page read: Fill in every row in Step 1. Then reshape your phrases into a poem in Step 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 7th grade writing topics, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Personification gives human actions or feelings to an object, as in the sheet's example of an old clock groaning at midnight. Students choose an object and list four human verbs before they write.

They pick one memory tied to a place and write a phrase for what they saw, heard, smelled, tasted or touched, and still feel. They then reshape those phrases into 10 lines without using the row labels.

Both sheets ask for a 10-line poem. The personification sheet has one line of poetry on each of 10 lines, and the memory sheet numbers the lines from 1 to 10.