Grade 5 students used their creativity in multiple ways in a student and teacher favorite English class project called blackout poetry.  

Teacher Kim Coletta cut out pages of novels, then boys were instructed to use an anchor word plus thematic and related works to create “blackout” poetry. They redacted words to create their own poem. 

“This is my favorite project of the year. The boys are both excited and invested in the creation of their blackout poem. Some boys go into it worrying that they won’t be good at composing a poem, so I talk about what I call the gray area of learning where there aren’t right or wrong answers/results,” Coletta explained. “I encourage them to relax into the creative process and the results are always spectacular!” 

Once the poem was composed, students created related art around it.  

“I would say this is one of my favorite projects because I like to draw a lot, and I got an opportunity to draw in English class which is very rare,” Flash ’30 said.  

“It was fun because you get to think creatively,” Nicholas ’30 added.  

The project was also a way to celebrate National Poetry Month in April.