Wednesday-Friday
Ask the student to read his poem aloud. Locate and comment on at least two lines that appeal to you. If you wrote a poem, read it now and let him tell you what he likes about it. If you both write about the same season, it would be interesting to compare the aspects of the season that affect each of you. If some lines in the poetry seem weak (i.e., vague or uncertain), work together on making them stronger – which nearly always means making them sharper and more specific.

In my experience, most young writers are intrigued by poetry once they've actually written a poem; some are even excited by it. I would encourage them to go ahead and write a "collection" of seasons as suggested in 1-B, p. 45. If combining them in a booklet with illustrations seems rather "uncool" to teenagers, you may recruit an artistically-inclined younger child to draw or paint a set of illustrations. If a desired media, such as oil pastels, makes book-making impractical, the pictures may be mounted on a wall or tacked on a bulletin board with the accompanying poem. Use your judgment – if your student is even halfway willing, take the rest of the week to work on the poems. If, on the other hand, he shows no interest whatever, it may be best not to push. Give him the rest of the week off

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