This post was shared by Erika Monroe, who teaches math and is the Ed Tech Lead for Cougar Mountain Middle School

Haley Skavaril, an ELA teacher at Cougar Mountain Middle School, put together a project called “Get Poetic With It” for her 7th grade poetry unit. In groups, students were asked to pick a poem type. Students then worked together to create a lesson about that poem type and presented the information to the class. Included in each presentation, was an activity designed to check for their classmates understanding about the poem type.
This project encouraged them to use a variety of digital tools to produce creative artifacts, make meaningful learning experiences, and communicate their project using a platform of their choice [ISTE standards 1.3 & 1.6].
These students used Canva to present. They created a packet for their “students” to go along with their teaching. They had all students write a free verse poem at the end of class to check for understanding.

This group of students using Canva to go over the agenda of their lesson on personification.

This group of students used the board to analyze and break apart examples during teaching.

Students using Kahoot as their check for understanding after teaching about black out poems.
Students shared that their favorite parts about this project were:
- Creating the design of the slides for the lesson
- Writing a poem from a lesson taught by student teachers
- Presenting the Kahoot for their student understanding
- Being the teacher of the class and giving directions to the students
- Bringing prizes for their students
This was an awesome project that engaged students in the creative process for two-and-a-half weeks.
