Creating Comparisons

On the playground no one is who they seem to be. A boy pretends he’s a major league pitcher. A girl makes believe she’s in the Olympcs. And while two kids talk like teachers, a teacher is acting like a child. We all love pretend, and the poetic classroom is one crazy-lying place. In poetry we tell crazy lies with characters and metaphors.

Turn your class into a tribe and give everyone a piece of cardboard to make a metaphor mask. Tell them they can be anything they want—an animal, a force of nature, a powerful or valuable object. It can be strange, scary, weird, or funny. Let them go wild!

Now it’s time to make a long list of words and phrases associated with the metaphor. When making a word list, students must learn to let go. In her book, Wild Mind, Natalie Goldberg encourages writers with these suggestions:

• Keep your hand moving - Don't stop to edit yourself.
• Lose control - Don't worry about correct or polite. Let it rip!
• Be specific - Not car, Mustang. Not fruit, apple. Not bird, blue jay.
• Don't think - In fact, don't think about thinking.
• Don't worry - Feel free to write junk. Make a mess.
• Go for the jugular - Go with the energy and what excites you.

LizardGreenYellowCamouflageTrees

RocksHideSlitherScaleQuick

ClimbEat BugsDesertRainforestTongue


Step 3: Combine Some Lines

It’s time to combine some lines. Some poets, like Walt Whitman, write in long flowing lines. Others, like the Zen master, Ryokan, compose with short succinct phrases. Sometimes you might combine short and long. No matter what the length, a good poetic line stands out and captures the audience’s attention.

Many young students can be confused about metaphor. Their power to pretend overwhelms reality, and they actually think they are superheroes and wizards and queens. It’s refreshing, actually. And I’ve always thought sixth-graders could learn a lot about identifying with characters by visiting a preschool class.

Have your students listen to the following track from the Kiss The Fish CD:

After listening to this selection, ask your students to choose a blank page from their Strange World Journal and describe the things that most frighten them. How do they respond to their fears? Where do they find comfort? And if they had superpowers, what would they do to that fearful thing. Talk about how “The Bogeyman” is a metaphor for the things we fear.

After everybody has created a mask, gather the tribe together and act out the poem, A Million Metaphors. Assign parts to different clans within the tribe. Get the “lions” roaring, the flowers “blooming,” the “stars” shooting and shining. Give the “soldiers” a chant. You can even bring in instruments for the “symphony” at the end.

A Million Metaphors

You’re a million metaphors all at once –
A billion metaphors wouldn’t be too much.

You’re lions
You’re tigers
And Oz is full of munchkins.

You’re flowers
You’re roses
And your grandma calls you pumpkin.

Like a comet,
Like a star,
Like a galaxy you shine!

You’re a mountain full of silver
And gold yet to be mined.

So stand up straight, soldiers.
We are trees with deep rich roots.

We are songs.
We are symphonies-
Drums, tubas & flutes.

Yesterday is mist
Tomorrow just a dream,
But today we will live in metaphor
We only need believe.