1. Found Poetry
(the literary equivalent to a collage)
Jennifer L. Anders – LIST4343
Found poetry can be done
numerous ways, but the most
common method is what you
see in the image on the
left.
Students read through the
passage and pick out (circle,
underline, box, etc.) the key
words or phrases. The
student rereads the passage
and begins marking out
words that do not have
great meaning/significance.

2. Once the student has
marked out insignificant
words, then the student
looks over the
circled/important words
and decide what the
theme/feeling should be
for the poem. The student
should continue narrowing
the word choice until a
poem is created.
Another option is to cut
the words out and glue
them to another sheet of
paper. This might be
helpful for students who
may change their mind and
would stress over marking
out words.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Close-Reader-Found-Poetry-Style-1066512

3. Examples of Found Poetry
http://carriezona.deviantart.com/art/The-Sea-168886810
http://www.skyjules.com/found-poetry/

4. How Word Choice Can Affect
Meaning and Imagery
The following text excerpt was given to four different students, on the
following slides, you can see how the different choice in words affects
the imagery and meaning of the found poem.
It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle
sea. A mile from shore a fishing boat chummed the water, and the word for
Breakfast Flock flashed through the air, till a crowd of a thousand
seagulls came to dodge and fight for bits of food. It was another busy day
beginning. But way off alone, out by himself beyond boat and shore,
Jonathan Livingston Seagull was practicing. A hundred feet in the sky he
lowered his webbed feet, lifted his beak, and strained to hold a painful hard
twisting curve through his wings. The curve meant that he would fly, slowly,
and now he slowed until the wind was a whisper in his face, until the ocean
stood still beneath him. He narrowed his eyes in fierce concentration, held
his breath, forced one... single... more... inch...of... curve... Then his
feathers ruffled, he stalled and fell. Seagulls, as you know, never falter,
never stall. To stall in the air is for them disgrace and it is dishonor. But
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that
trembling hard curve - slowing, slowing, and stalling once more - was no
ordinary bird.
http://www.bestlibrary.org/murray/2008/05/found-poetry.html

7. Purpose
•
•
•
The purpose of this
strategy can be to find
the main points/key words
or ideas of a particular
section of text.
It can be used in all
subject areas, but is most
commonly seen in literary
and art contexts.
It could easily be used as
a pre-reading assignment
in a science lesson to
introduce a new topic. This
would allow the students
to become familiar with
new terminology while
learning the material. It
could also be used as an
assessment at the end of a
lesson to determine
student understanding of
the concept/information
that was taught.
http://isuarts.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/poem-example.jpg

8. Technology
Technology can be easily
implemented by allowing the
student to use websites such
as www.wordle.net to create a
design based on the key
words that the student chose
from the passage.
• Words with greater
importance should be
entered multiple times in
order to have a larger
font size for that
particular word.
• For example, the smallest
words were typed once
into the text box. The
next larger size words
were typed twice each,
and so on so that the
largest word “students”
was likely typed 6 to 8
times to achieve the size
difference.
http://www.wordle.net/gallery

9. Technology
Continued
You can create your own online found poem. Choose
from famous works, a word bank, or your own words!
Another great
technology resource
allows students to
create found poems
online! You can find it
here:
http://www.readwritethin
k.org/classroom
resources/student
interactives/word mover
b 30964.html
http://www.wordle.net/gallery

10. Bibliography
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom
resources/lesson plans/found poems parallel
poems 33.html?tab=1#tabs
http://brainpopcorn.com/2012/12/10/found
poetry in altered books/meg_leaving town poem/
http://www.skyjules.com/found poetry/
https://teacherweb.com/VA/KGHS/MrsLowe/Found
Poetry.pdf
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5780
http://www.creative writing now.com/found
poetry.html
http://thewritepractice.com/what is found
poetry/
http://www3.canisius.edu/~itsdocs/factstutorials/
marie/modules/foundpoems/foundpoems.html
http://www.bestlibrary.org/murray/2008/05/found
poetry.html
http://missmorrisblog.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/fo
und poetry december 10 2013/
http://www.homeschooling ideas.com/found
poetry.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom
resources/student interactives/word mover b
30964.html