The tricky thing about this challenge is getting started. Students have to examine the list and consider the subject of the poem. Then, they have to start to assemble lines.

As student worked, I circulated to encourage and monitor. I tried to get the students to just dive in and start writing, and I reminded them that they can move things around once they have composed their lines. Some students really wanted to rhyme their poems, so they had an extra layer of preparation -- identifying all of the rhyming words.

I was really careful to stress that this is a challenge and that their poems would be evaluated on their ability to evoke the mood. Since they all are very clear on what that mood is, the acceleration aspects of the assignment are totally under the control of the student. I was a little concerned that some of my "smart lazies" would figure this out and just throw together anything. That didn't happen, mostly because I think they thought the assignment was pretty fun, AND because they weren't working with their buddies.

The next step is typing them up, then they will perform them in a "poetry slam."