Writing odes is a wonderful way to celebrate life- and all the little things that leave their mark on us. An ode also provides the opportunity to hone in on details, textures, colors, and particular characteristics of people, places, things, or sentiments. Other learning opportunities and skills involved in ode-writing include:
- Use of figurative language and metaphors
- Juxtaposition of images and colors to create constrast
- Exploration of feelings elicited by objects and places
- How personal associations can be used in writing
- Experiment with narration
So here's how we ended up making a paper book of various and sundry odes.
scissors
old magazines (we used an old issue of Oxford American)
glue stick
white paper
stapler
pencil
Scour the magazines for words or images that might make a good topic for an ode. Examples might include nouns, verbs, places, objects- anything familiar enough to invoke a poetic response.
Cut six sheets of white paper in half- you will have an ode on each side of each paper for a total of 12 odes.
Cut and paste the words as a title to each page. For example, one title might be "Ode to My Toothbrush", with the words "my toothbrush" glued on as a cut-out and the word "ode" written beforehand. Then let your poet enjoy the fine art of ode-making, one for each topic.
The Eldest begins his ode book....
