Writing About Holidays

With a busy and diverse holiday season approaching, my creative writing students and I read and appreciated Alberto Ríos's poem "November 2: Día de los Muertos." After discussing the poem's craft and vivid imagery, we talked about how families celebrate, or do not celebrate, various holidays in their own ways. Students felt comfortable writing a poem of at least 15 lines (in honor of Ríos's stanza length) on a holiday of their choice in any tone and structure. I believe it is important to approach such topics with an inclusive attitude rather than the traditional "what do you love about Christmas?" approach.

Since Halloween was on the horizon, I modeled the following writing process as my students worked on their poems. I have included my draft with revisions as well as the final product. I like to show them that writing is always a process, so they see me look at what I've written, make a face, take time to think of elusive words, and choose or create visuals to add alongside my text.





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