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Voter Instructions:
- The countdown at the bottom of each pairing indicates how much time is left to vote.
- When voting closes, timer will disappear.
- Read both poems as many times as you like.
- Mark the poem you like best by clicking the circle next to its name.
- Press the “Vote” button to record your vote.
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- Classrooms should submit one vote as a class.
- Students can then vote again individually from home.
Things to Consider in Making a Choice:
- How well the poem incorporates the authlete’s assigned word.
- Technical elements: meter, rhyme, form, shape, and other poetic standards.
- Creativity: wordplay, imagery, unusual approach, etc.
- Subtle elements that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
- Your overall response: emotional reaction such as admiration, tears, laughter, terror, or some indefinable feeling.
Here are the poems:
6-precautions
Helicopter Mom vs. Daredevil Son
by Angie Kidd
My mother is a hoverer, she warns me every minute
to avoid the repercussions of not heeding her instructions.
Her precautions aren’t explicit,
so I sometimes make deductions.
“Be careful on the sidewalk,” she says. “Watch so you don’t fall!”
So I wear my helmet willingly while jumping off the wall.
“Be careful in the bathtub,” she says. “Watch so you don’t slip!”
So I wear my ice skates willingly and never ever trip.
vs.
14-credibility
Our Teachers’ Credibility
by Darren Sardelli
Our teachers’ credibility is questioned every day.
She never gives us homework or a grade below an A.
She always writes the answers on the board before a test
and bakes the softest brownies and the sweets that we suggest.
We’ve seen her out in public doing things she shouldn’t do
like chasing baby elephants and painting flowers blue.
She claims the constellations were invented by the nurse.
We absolutely love her, but our folks think she’s a curse!
