Online Poetry Writing Camp
June 3 – July 25, 2025
Course Description
This 7-week virtual summer camp enables middle school students and advanced elementary students to train their poetic ears while experimenting with rhyme and rhythm. Students will write poems in a variety of styles and will practice techniques for memorizing and reciting the poems they enjoy.
Class Format: Live classes will take place over Zoom for one hour per week. Students will need working mics, since we’ll often read or recite poems aloud.
Class Times: Tuesdays, 4:00-5:00 PM Eastern Time
Class Dates: June 3 – July 15
Text: Poetry and Humanity, 2nd edition (Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts)
Homework: Weekly light reading, poem memorization, and/or poem writing.
Prerequisites: A solid foundation in English mechanics.
Other requirements: Students will need to create a membership account at Scholars Online to register for the course.
Syllabus
| Week | Topic | Homework |
|---|---|---|
| June 3 | Introductions, the “sounds” of poetry, and tips for efficient memorization | Memorize a short poem & prep an informal recitation for class |
| June 10 | Poem recitations: Alliteration, consonance, assonance, and rhymes | Alliteration exercise |
| June 17 | Rhyming ballads | First poem assignment: Write a ballad |
| June 24 | Rhythm and meter | Diagnostic exercise |
| June 30 | Rhythm, meter, and an overview of poetic forms | Memorize a second poem and prep an informal recitation for class on July 8. |
| July 1 | No class. Happy Canada Day (plus American Independence Day on Friday)! | Second poem assignment: Write a poem in any form of your choosing. Submit by July 8. |
| July 8 | Sonnets | Third poem: Write a sonnet. |
| July 15 | Last Class: How to submit a poem for publication | Turn in a revised poem as if it were a submission to a publisher. Final poems are due by July 22. |
| July 22 | Final poem revisions due. Congrats on finishing the course! |