blackout poetry assignment pdf

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Blackout Poetry Ideas, Lesson Plans, and Examples 

Creating Blackout Poetry can not only be a lot of fun and a form of artistic therapy , but it can also be aligned to ELA standards. Having tried all kinds of Blackout Poem techniques over the years, I’m going to share my favorite Blackout Poetry ideas, lesson plans , and examples so that you too can help put the ART back into your English Language Arts class. 

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What is Blackout Poetry? 

Also known as redacted poetry, Blackout Poetry is a form of creative expression that involves taking an existing text and blacking out most of the words, leaving only a select few words visible. The remaining words reveal a new poem or message.

Who invented Blackout Poetry? 

Though made popular in recent years by Steal Like an Artist author Austin Kleon , Blackout Poetry actually dates back to the 1700s. According to Kleon, Benjamin Franklin’s neighbor, Caleb Whitefoord, created a broadsheet using phrases that were read across the newspaper’s small columns rather than down. The jumbled word order produced some amusing recreations, and from that point onward, the Blackout Poetry art form was born.

Today it is a popular form of self-expression and creativity, as it allows individuals to repurpose existing materials in a unique and personal way.

Blackout Poetry steps:

The process of creating Blackout Poetry involves scanning the text and looking for words or phrases that resonate with the creator. The resulting poem or message can be a reflection of the creator’s thoughts, feelings, or ideas, or it can be a response to the original text. Using either digital tools or art supplies, create a Blackout Poem for the task.

• Step 1: Closely read your text and the assigned task.
• Step 2: Scan the text for words to help you reveal your response.
• Step 4: Underline or box in the words that will reveal your response.
• Step 5: Read the new creation aloud, get feedback, and revise.
• Step 6: Finalize your Blackout Poem by artistically showcasing the words. This can be done in several ways, so get creative!

Blackout Poetry lesson plans and objectives:

I believe in art for the sake of art. I don’t necessarily believe you have to have an objective to teach Blackout Poetry, but if you want or need to align creativity to a standard, then here are some ideas:

• Objective: Reveal of the theme of this text through Blackout Poetry
• Objective: Reveal the mood of this passage through Blackout Poetry 
• Objective: Create an artistic summary of the main ideas in this piece 

Want more standards-aligned creative poetry writing prompts? Check out my Poetry Pack!

Types of Blackout Poetry Ideas to Try:

Now that you have the basics of a Blackout Poetry lesson plan, let’s take a look at all the fun Blackout Poem formats you can use! 

Bookpage Blackout Poetry:

The most common form of Blackout Poetry is bookpage. When you picture examples of Blackout Poetry, this is what comes to mind. To create bookpage Blackout Poetry, you’ll need black markers or black crayons in bulk and either pages from an old book or copies from the printer. To find printable texts for Blackout Poetry, you’ll need to search for a PDF version of the book online. For example, here is the PDF version of The Great Gatsby to create a Great Gatsby Blackout Poem. 

Looking for more Gatsby ideas? Keep reading here: Meaningful & Fun Activities for Teaching The Great Gatsby

Digital Blackout Poetry:

The digital Great Gatsby Blackout Poem example on the left is created by me (Ashley Bible) and the one of the right is created by Chris Lott ( source )

While I love the tactile aspect of traditional Blackout Poetry, there are plenty of pros trying online Blackout Poetry:

• No need to buy markers or black crayons in bulk
• No need to make copies
• No strong smell or sharp sounds
• More opportunity for revision
• More artistic options

You can use several tech tools to create digital Blackout Poetry. Here are your options:

• Canva (looks more like traditional Blackout Poetry and has amazing graphics)
• Google Slides (is easily accessible and assignable plus has tons of formatting options)
• Powerpoint (is easily accessible and has tons formatting options)
• Online Blackout Poetry Maker Generator (is super easy to work with but doesn’t have art options and may be blocked at school)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ashley Bible 📚 Secondary ELA (@buildingbooklove)

You can find digital Blackout Poetry tutorials, lesson plans, and rubrics in this Poetry Pack!

Artout Poetry:

This is a form of colorful Blackout Poetry. Rather than blacking out the text, students design art that highlights the words they want to stand out. One of my most popular ideas is to have students create an Artout Poem on the first day of school that reveals something about themselves while doubling as classroom decor. You can read all about it here: Get-to-Know-You Activities for Secondary Language Arts Class

Cutout Poetry:

Just like with the bookpage buntings you see above, you can cut out pages into shapes to create Blackout Cutout Poetry. This is especially fun around the holidays and makes the perfect seasonal decor for bulletin boards or doors! This ghost shaped Cutout Poetry has been a big hit for Halloween Blackout Poetry! Here are some other ideas:

• Heart shaped Cutout Poetry for Valentine’s Day
• Gift shaped Cutout Poetry for winter holidays  
• Flower shaped Cutout Poetry for spring ELA activities
• Symbol shaped Cutout Poetry for corresponding texts (endless possibilities!)

Where to find Blackout Poetry Examples:

Beyond my Blackout Poetry examples in this post, there are plenty of places to find more Blackout Poem examples online. Here are some of my favorites:

• This Instagram account dedicated to Blackout Poetry
• Google image search for Blackout Poetry
• Pinterest search for Blackout Poetry

How to display your Blackout Poetry:

Blackout Poetry is eye candy for ELA classrooms! It honestly doesn’t matter how you display it because it’s going to look good no matter what. Here are some examples of my favorite ways to display Blackout Poetry:

• Thread them through yarn to make hanging buntings  
• Put them on a bulletin board with mini clothespins
• Add them to Padlet. If you do digital Blackout Poetry, you may not want to use the ink to print them and that’s ok! Padlet makes the perfect display case for digital Blackout Poems!  Click this link for more Blackout Poetry examples!

How to grade Blackout Poetry:

Oftentimes I simply give completion grades for creative assignments, but I also include a Blackout Poetry rubric in this Poetry Pack that helps students meet both ELA and Art standards. 

I hope this post has inspired you to add a creative Blackout Poetry assignment to your ELA lesson plans! If you want even more poetry response ideas to use with any text, check this out: Writing Poetry Unit : Fun Poetry Activities Paint Chip , Blackout + 12 more!

Reader Interactions

[…] zen before the breakdown, ha I love assigning blackout poems when we read challenging texts. I feel that it gives students a fun and effective way of finding […]

[…] lenses, you can have students create a digital blackout poem using Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. The reason you will most likely want to use digital blackout poetry rather than traditional […]

[…]  No matter what novel or short story you are reading, there’s probably that one passage where the author seems to ramble on with a description or shows off with extra flowery language. While reading To Build a Fire, I found a full page of snowy, cold landscape description that I knew would be just perfect for a Blackout Poetry activity. The assignment was to black out words from the passage so that the remaining words would represent the mood of the story. You can read more about creating Blackout Poetry here: Blackout Poetry Ideas, Lesson Plans, and Examples […]

Do you want exclusive ELA teaching ideas and free resources? Let me send you a Building Book Love Letter!

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A Beginner’s Guide To Teaching Blackout Poetry

Teaching blackout poetry is an engaging way to help spruce up your poetry unit. Show a few examples, and your students will be eager to create a blackout masterpiece of their own. Keep reading to learn what blackout poetry is and just what you need to do to teach it.

So, you’re thinking about teaching blackout poetry, huh? (You totally should.)

I look forward to teaching blackout poetry every year. But it’s not just me. Blackout poetry is an activity my students love too. Can we do that again sometime? They ask. (My heart skips a beat.)

From one teacher to another, I know the last thing you need is to add something else to your overflowing plate. Luckily, blackout poetry can add a lot to your classroom without much work on your end. You just need some simple materials and a few steps, and voila! Your students will be on their way to creating poetic masterpieces.

What Is Blackout Poetry?

At its core, blackout poetry is a type of found poem that encourages students to create poetry from larger texts. It works by students carefully selecting words and phrases from texts ranging from newspapers, magazines, novels, and other printed texts to create a poem. Then, they black the rest of the text out.

The end result? Unique poems that emphasize a theme or emotion in the original text or take on a whole new meaning altogether! Safe to say, teaching blackout poetry is my teaching poetry analysis go-to.

Why I Love Teaching Blackout Poetry (And Why You Will Too).

Blackout poetry can turn into a piece of poetic and visual art. Visual learners and artistically inclined students are bound to love this creative opportunity. Some will enjoy the challenge of finding the poems “hidden” on the page. Others will just be glad they don’t have to come up with the words themselves. Regardless of which category a student falls into, they’re often pleasantly surprised with their final product. (You will be too!) Teaching blackout poetry is a unique opportunity to get students thinking about popular poetic devices. Thanks to the need for students to carefully select words from the page, blackout poetry gets them looking at the words with a more critical (and creative) eye. As they determine which words they’ll use in their poem, they must consider diction, tone, theme, and imagery. You can encourage them to employ poetic devices such as figurative language, symbolism , metaphors, similes, hyperbole, and rhythm.

Trust me. Blackout poetry is far more than selecting random words on a page and ignoring the rest. This poetic form requires students to interact closely with the text and derive new meaning. And that’s what I love about teaching it; it’s a unique opportunity for students to explore and express poetry.

Teaching Blackout Poetry: A Step By Step Guide

Here’s what you need..

No intense planning or last-minute runs to Target required. Instead, teaching blackout poetry can be as simple as you want it to be. All you need for your students’ success are pencils, black markers (Sharpies deliver the best results IMO), and pages of text that students can repurpose. Want students to dig deeper and get more creative? Provide art supplies like paint, colorful markers, colored pencils, or crayons.

What specific text to use is up to you, my friend. If you’re looking for an activity during a poetry unit that encourages students to interact closely with words and play with meaning and form, you can have students bring in their own text. Encourage students to bring in a school-appropriate book, magazine, or even song lyrics a day or two before you plan on doing the activity. Ask them to mark a few of their favorite pages so you can photocopy them.

Alternatively, if you are currently reading a novel or just finished one as a class, encourage students to complete the activity using a handful of preselected (and photocopied) pages to create their poem! It’s a creative way for students to see the various poems, interpretations, and perspectives that can come from the same text.

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO.

I always begin with a brief introduction of found poetry and a few examples. Consider sharing Austin Kleon’s Newspaper Blackout Poems . (There are some great examples there too!) Due to the unique nature of this poetic form, it’s helpful for students to see examples before they tackle it themselves. Then, simply share these five steps with your students and watch their poetic creativity unfold.

THE FIRST STEPS IN TEACHING BLACKOUT POETRY.

Step 1: Have students scan the text, looking for anchor words. These are the impactful words that jump off the page. These will be used to “anchor” their poems and their themes. They’ll want to circle these words lightly with a pencil. It’s helpful to remind students to not focus profoundly on reading the text, but rather just focus on the words, phrases, or general themes that jump out to them.

Psst… it helps to remind students to skim the page from top to bottom and left to right. They can’t change the order of the words on the page when they’re creating their poem.

Step 2: Students should write out the words and phrases on a separate paper in the order they appear on the page. This is an important step because the rest of the words can be a big distraction when students are trying to decipher the meaning and finalize their word choice.It might not look like a poem yet , but remind them it’s all part of the process.

Step 3: Next, students will read through their list and circle their favorite words and cross out the rest. Remind them that the words should flow together to express an idea, create an image, or develop a theme. (If needed, they can rescan the text for “missing” or “connecting” words that might help solidify their idea or increase the flow.) Before moving on to the next step, encourage students to read the selected words aloud and consult their peers if they wish. I love hearing them complement each other’s work or give constructive advice!

Step 4: Students will solidify their poem by going back to the page of text and finalizing their word choice and, therefore, poem. They will carefully outline their final selection of words with a black marker. Be sure to remind them not to rush through this part. Afterall, you cant erase marker!

Step 5: Use the marker to blackout all of the unused words. Yup. It’s as simple as that. However, if you’re looking for a way to bring the poems to life, add the step below. Imagery and poetry go hand in hand, right? Keep reading to learn how students can incorporate visual elements into their blackout poems.

The ART of Teaching Blackout Poetry

Blackout poetry can be just that – a poem with the rest of the words on the page blacked out. However, that misses a huge opportunity for student creativity and critical thought. That’s where the element of art comes into play. I always require students to include an artistic visual element with their blackout poem. Instead of grading students on their artistic ability, I consider how the art supports the poem by illustrating or adding to its overall meaning. Some students create epic visual representations of their poetry while others sketch some simple drawings or designs. Either way, this element adds some level of depth to the poem itself.

So, once students have their chosen words circled, ask them to think of a way to represent the theme or imagery of the poem visually. Then, before they take a sharpie to paper, have them sketch over their “throwaway” words using a pencil. Once they are satisfied with their design, they can begin outlining, adding color, and really bringing their poem to life.

Show off Their Work

In my experience, students are always excited to share what they did. So, be sure to showcase your students’ masterpieces. You can minimize the pressure of sharing by doing a gallery walk or simply decorating your classroom walls with their poetic art.

A Note on Grading Blackout Poetry

Could you grade this activity based on completion? Sure. However, blackout poetry is an excellent opportunity to assess students’ ability to dig a little deeper. Therefore, I grade blackout poetry using a simple rubric or a student reflection. Whichever way you divide to go, here are some elements you can consider:

• Is there a clear and well-developed theme in the poem?
• Is the theme supported by appropriate tone and diction?
• Does the word choice create powerful images and elicit emotion for the reader?
• How do the artistic elements complement, highlight, or develop the poem?

While I never grade based on artistic ability, I always include an element of neatness, use of markers, and color or shading. You can also give students a word count range or a limit on consecutive words to provide more guidance and prevent regurgitation of what is already on the page.

That’s a wrap! Now it’s time to bring the magic of blackout poetry to your classroom. Just bookmark my Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Blackout Poetry to reference as needed. And while you’re at it, share it with your teacher friends! Chances are, they’ll be eager to introduce this form of poetry into their classrooms too.

Just be warned. Once you’ve experienced blackout poetry, you might have a hard time not finding poems hidden on the page when you read. (Challenge accepted.)

3 thoughts on “A Beginner’s Guide To Teaching Blackout Poetry”

I am going to use tomorrow!!!

Oh that’s so exciting! I’d love to see the final products if you’d be willing to share. I hope your students have a blast!

Thank you for this fantastic clear, notes on Blackout poetry! Will be diving in with my students this week in Australia.

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Blackout Poetry – A Step By Step Guide

By  MARISSA DESPINS  Updated March 19, 2024

Introducing Blackout Poetry

Blackout Poetry is an engaging poetry writing process that sparks creativity while blending the worlds of literature and art. This unconventional approach encourages students to craft poetic masterpieces by blacking out words on a page. Through this activity, students learn to see the potential in every word and space.

In this post we explore the ways that Blackout Poetry can bring creativity, engagement, and deep literary analysis to your upper elementary and middle school ELA classroom.

What is Blackout Poetry?

Blackout Poetry is a creative and engaging way to explore the worlds of art and poetry. To create these works, students must take a page filled with words – from a newspaper, a book, or any piece of written text – and black out most of the words with marker. With the remaining words, students create their poems. The blank spaces and the chosen words work together to create meaningful works of art.

This effective exercise encourages students to explore themes, emotions, and their creativity. Because of this, Blackout Poetry is truly a perfect blend of literary analysis and artistic expression.

What is the History of Blackout Poetry?

Blackout Poetry stems from a long tradition of found poetry and art. It gained popularity in the 21st century, popularized by artists and writers who wanted to breathe new life into otherwise static texts. By selectively blacking out words on a page, they discovered that any text could become the basis for personal, political, or aesthetic statements. This creative approach recycles and transforms old texts into new works of art. Also, Blackout Poetry encourages readers to engage with language in a more deliberate and creative way.

What is the purpose of Blackout Poetry?

Blackout Poetry acts as a bridge between literary exploration and artistic creation. At its core, Blackout Poetry encourages readers to see beyond the original intent of a text, fostering deeper engagement with language. This creative exercise provides a unique way to explore personal expression, as it allows students to express emotions, opinions, or stories through the selective emphasis of words.

In the classroom, Blackout Poetry is a highly adaptable and inclusive activity. It is accessible to all skill levels, and supports a diverse range of learning objectives.

Examples of Blackout Poetry

Check out a few fun examples of Blackout Poetry below!

What are the steps to make Blackout Poetry?

Interested in creating Blackout Poetry with your students? Follow these easy steps!

• Introduction : Take time to explain what Blackout Poetry is. It is likely new to your learners, so be sure to share examples to help illustrate the concept and inspire creativity.
• Select Your Text : Provide students with texts they can use for their poetry. These could be pages from old books, newspapers, or any written material you have permission to use. Your school librarian can often share books past the point of repair that you can cut up and use with your learners. Whatever you chose to use, be sure to check that the content is appropriate for their age and understanding.
• Read and Reflect on the Text : Encourage students to read through the text first to get a sense of its themes and messages. Encourage your learners to look for words that stand out to them.
• Highlight Key Words : Using pencil, have students lightly circle or highlight words and phrases that catch their attention or help show the message or emotion they want to show through their poem.
• Plan Your Poem : Before blacking out any text, it is important that student plan their poem. This will help them connect the words they have carefully chosen into a piece of poetry that makes sense.
• Blackout Unwanted Words : Provide markers or pens for students to black out all the unwanted text, leaving only their selected words visible.
• Review and Revise : Once the blacking out is done, students should review their poems to see if the message is clear or if the visual presentation can be improved. This step may involve refining their work by adding illustrations or borders.
• Share and Discuss : Create an opportunity for students to share their blackout poems with the class. This can be a formal presentation or a gallery walk where students observe each other’s work and leave feedback.
• Reflect : Encourage students to reflect on the process and what they learned about poetic expression. Did working with constraints help encourage their creativity?

Looking for more posts like this?

Check out more writing related posts by clicking on the links below!

Descriptive Writing Activities for Middle School

Teaching the RACE strategy in ELA

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How to teach blackout poetry: 6 simple steps for classroom instruction

If you are looking for a fun and engaging way to hook your students on poetry? Consider teaching blackout poetry in your ELA classroom. This step-by-step guide to teaching blackout poetry will help you discover how to teach blackout poetry and deliver a great lesson and unit to your middle school ELA or high school English students.

• Teaching blackout poetry as part of your poetry unit is a simple and effective way to engage students in poetry.
• Blackout poetry is a form of found poetry that can easily be assigned in the middle school ELA or high school English classroom.
• Students do not need many supplies to create blackout poetry. You can either ask for old books the library is getting rid of or print out text for students to use.

How to Teach Blackout Poetry

What is blackout poetry.

Blackout poetry is a created form of poetry where the poet uses pages of text and blocks out some of the words to form a new poem. The remaining words on the page form the blackout poem. Blackout poetry is a type of “found poetry,” meaning it is found somewhere because poetry is everywhere.

I typically teach blackout poetry toward the end of my poetry teaching unit because students understand poetic elements and devices. After teaching blackout poetry to your students, they’ll be hooked!

Supplies needed for blackout poetry

Creating and teaching blackout poetry can be as complex or straightforward as one makes it. All your students will really need is a writing utensil, a black Sharpie works best, and a page of text. I like to encourage students to add artistic elements into their blackout poetry, and students may also choose to use a variety of art supplies.

There are quite a few options when it comes to gathering the text for students to use for their blackout poems. First, check-in with your school library. Many school libraries regularly purge older books to make room for new inventory. If your school library is giving away old books, grab some when you can because students can use those pages to create their own blackout poems.

If tearing pages from books is not an option for you is to use old newspaper clippings or print off PDF pages from novels you’ve read this year, novels students have read in previous grades, or pages from their favorite books. You can even print off informational text! The possibilities really are endless.

How to Teach Blackout Poetry: Getting started with blackout poetry in the classroom

Once you’ve gathered the necessary supplies for incorporating blackout poetry in your secondary ELA classroom, it is time to get started. Before setting your students loose to begin their own poems, you’ll first want to show them examples of blackout poems. This helps ensure that students have a good idea of what is expected of them. Then, you’ll want to teach students the simple steps to creating blackout poetry.

Teaching Blackout Poetry: Six essential steps to creating blackout poetry

• Scan the text
• Identify a variety of high-interest, impactful words that will help you develop a theme
• Read the poem in its entirety to look for connecting words
• Read the selected words aloud
• Finalize the poem by outlining the selected words
• Blackout all of the unused words

Continue reading to see a more in-depth and step-by-step look at these six steps to teaching and creating blackout poetry. In addition to sharing the steps for creating blackout poetry with your students, you’ll also want to make sure that you share guidelines for your students so that they create their poems. This will help your students apply the poetic terms they’ve learned to the blackout poems they make.

Some of the poetic elements you can have your students include are listed below. I suggest offering this list as a choice board. Have students include a predetermined number of the elements from the list in their poem. It isn’t necessary that they include every single item.

If you are looking for a pre-packaged and ready-to-go blackout poetry lesson, here is the link to my Blackout Poetry Teaching Unit on TPT . This teaching blackout poetry unit is ready for classroom use to help you help your students create the best blackout poems possible!

Poetic devices for blackout poetry

• Figurative language
• Word choice

Recommendation : Theme should be an element present in every poem. When I am teaching blackout poetry in my classroom, I make sure students know this.

Teaching Blackout Poetry: Diving deeper in blackout poetry

Now that you are ready to introduce your students to blackout poetry, it is time to start the six steps for creating blackout poetry.

The first step is to scan the text. Your students don’t need to read the entire page all at once when they first start blackout poems. Instead, it is best if they quickly scan the text. As students are scanning the text, instruct them to keep an eye out for interesting words that they can use that will help them develop a theme. As students scan the text, they should lightly circle the words they find.

Once students scan the text and select high-interest words, instruct them to go through the words and choose their favorite words. These words should work together to form a cohesive theme. Make sure that your students know that these words won’t make sense together at this point in the process. Students might worry that they don’t have a poem yet, but that is okay. What they have at this point should read as a list of words.

After students have a list of words identified on their page, it is time to instruct them to read the entire page closely. As students read the page, they should read it closely and intentionally to find connecting words that will help them link together their high-interest words. You might find that students need to complete this step a couple of times to find the connecting words and make sure their blackout poem makes sense.

Now that your students have gone through and identified the words they think they will use, it is now time to instruct them to read their poems aloud. This step can either be done individually, in partners, or in small groups. When students read their blackout poems aloud, they will self-check to see if their poems make sense.

Once students have their chosen words completely outlined, the sky is the limit for finalizing their poems. I like to encourage students to go beyond blacking out a poem with a single color. While every word that isn’t used should be colored or filled in, I like to encourage my students to include imagery from their poem onto the page.

They can add illustrations over the unused words to bring their poems to life! Students can use colorful markers, watercolors, oil pastels, and essentially any type of art medium. Don’t forget to instruct students to include a title at the top or side of the page.

To wrap up this project, I like to dedicate class time to sharing their blackout poems. You can do this in various ways: individual presentations, small group presentations, and even as a gallery walk.

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What Is Blackout Poetry? (Plus Examples and Ideas)

Blackout Poetry for the (easy) ELA win!

You’ve probably already seen some of the stunning photos on Instagram and Pinterest featuring pages from magazines, newspapers, and old books mostly blacked out to reveal striking bits and pieces that make up unexpected poems. As writer Austin Kleon notes , “It’s sort of like if the CIA did haiku.” It’s actually called blackout poetry.

Blackout poetry is an inviting way for students to experiment with poetry. It’s a way to eliminate the stress of writer’s block because when it’s time to “take out your notebook and a pen,” the words are already there—all students have to do is find them!

Keep reading for step-by-step directions for creating blackout poetry, plus examples and ideas for using it in the classroom.

Who invented blackout poetry?

What tools do you need to create blackout poetry, how to create a blackout poem, examples of blackout poetry.

• More blackout poetry teaching ideas

While it’s a matter of some debate who invented blackout poetry, there’s little question that Austin Kleon popularized it.

Fighting writer’s block one day, he began to search out words in his newspaper and arrange them into poems, blacking out the words he didn’t want. He created more and more poems, began to share them online, started a movement, and then began to hear from fans and foes that maybe he didn’t invent the concept after all.

He began to research the history of creating poetry from others’ words and found there were 250 years of creators before him experimenting with similar methods, including Tom Phillips, William Burroughs, and Brion Gysin, among others. Check out his TED Talk for an intriguing take on how creativity flows from a mash-up of all the ideas that have come before.

Ready to get started with your students? Begin by gathering pages of text from newspapers, old books, or magazines. You can even print digital pages from old books in the public domain, like Anne of Green Gables or The Great Gatsby .

Next, find yourself some pencils and black Sharpies or other black markers. If you want to give your students the option to illustrate their blackout poems between the words, then colorful markers or colored pencils could also help.

Of course, you can also create a blackout poem digitally. In that case, all you need is text on a Google Slide or a Canva project (and a lot of digital black rectangles). ADVERTISEMENT

Blackout poetry is really straightforward to experiment with. Students will probably be surprised by how quickly they can create poems. Here are the five easy steps I first learned from educator John DePasquale to walk through in creating your own example before introducing the lesson.

Skim your page of words. Don’t read carefully, as the point is just to grab an idea from the words, not take them in. Find a word, phrase, or general theme that you like.

Go through and lightly circle the words or phrases you might want to use, now that you have your idea. Grab a blank piece of paper and write them down in order, then read through them. Cross out the words you don’t want. If you need a few connecting words (like “a,” “the,” “it,” or the like), then dive back in and see if you can find them between the words you want to connect. You often can.

Go back through your poem and boldly box the words you are keeping with a pen, Sharpie, dark pencil, etc. Erase any circles around words you don’t want.

Read through your final poem. Sketch in a few images or symbols on your page that relate to the theme of your poem if you like. Now it’s time to start blackening. Using a Sharpie, pen, or pencil, black out everything that is not a word in your poem or one of your own sketches.

Write out your final poem to display next to your blackout poetry. Add punctuation if you wish.

Digital Remix

To create a digital blackout poem, follow the same steps but use the “insert line” tool to underline words and a combination of many black rectangles to black them out. You can drop your imagery on top of your completed blackout poem, making it easier to interweave complementary art.

Teacher Resources

If you’d like some help with your first blackout poetry lesson, try one of these:

Taking Blackout Poetry to the Next Level

Pulitzer Center Blackout Poetry Lesson

There are so many wonderful examples of student blackout poems! One of my favorite displays comes from the students of Kristin Arbeene at Marlborough High School. As you can see, they added complementary artwork to their blackout poems.

You can find some great roundups of examples to show your students around the web. Here are two fun starting points:

Winners of The New York Times Blackout Poetry Contest

Spark Creativity: Blackout Poetry Roundup

More Teaching Ideas

Remember, it doesn’t take long to get started with this fun activity! You can mix it up by inviting students to create blackout poems related to a text you’re reading, considering an essential question you’re exploring, or illuminating a theme you’ve been discussing. It also makes for a great spooky Halloween activity with Edgar Allan Poe’s text. Get free printable Edgar Allan Poe poems here.

Whenever and however you launch into blackout poetry, be sure to save plenty of wall space for a great display!

Did you find these tips helpful? Check out these TED talks for Poetry Month for more resources!

Plus, share your favorite blackout poetry in the we are teachers helpline group on facebook.

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Fahrenheit 451 Blackout Poetry Activity W/ Example, Rubric & Lesson Plans

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Pull students into the rich text of Fahrenheit 451 with this Blackout Poetry Activity! Students choose a page from the novel, choose words to reveal meaning related to the text, and blackout the remaining text with images that enhance the revealed meaning. Includes lesson plans, an assignment sheet, a detailed rubric, an example, novel pages to print, and a link to a student version in Google Slides !

Please click the PREVIEW above for a closer look at everything included in this resource!

This creative and rigorous Fahrenheit 451 Final Project includes the following:

⭐ Two Detailed Lesson Plans

⭐ Assignment Sheet

⭐ Blackout Poetry Example

⭐ PDF Pages of Fahrenheit 451 Text for Printing

⭐ A Student Version in Google Slides

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52: The Easy Guide to Blackout Poetry

• October 30, 2018

It’s a quest, isn’t it? Trying to help students see the point of poetry. Giving them reasons to love it.

I like to give students lots of easy ways to connect to poetry before I start bringing out the poetic canon. It’s like teaching kids to enjoy cooking by having them make fudge brownies with you, not braised Swiss chard.

I’ve written before about the power of using Poetry Slam (or jam) to get students to buy into poetry. But if you’re doing a poetry unit and you want a quick hook, a writing assignment to help students start enjoying poetry in just half an hour, it’s time to try blackout poetry.

To see blackout poetry in one of its simplest, quickest forms, check out these poems by Austin Kleon , a writer and artist who invented newspaper blackout poetry.

So today, let’s dive into how blackout poetry works in the classroom (you can sign up for a free download of these instructions in handout form for your students in a minute).

You can listen below, or on  iTunes ,  Blubrry , or  Stitcher .

Start by finding some pages with words on them. These can come from magazines, newspapers, or very old falling-apart books that you are ready to let go. Let students come up and grab a page.

Then give them these instructions…

1. Skim your page of words. Don’t read carefully, as the point is just to grab an idea from the words, not take them in. Find a word, phrase, or general theme that you like.

2. Go through and lightly circle the words or phrases you might want to use. Grab a blank piece of paper and write them down in order, then read through them. Cross out the words you don’t want. If you need a few connecting words (like “a”, “the”, “it”, etc.) then dive back in and see if you can find them between the words you want to connect. You often can.

3. Go back through your poem and boldly box the words you are keeping with pen, sharpie, dark pencil, etc. Erase any circles around words you don’t want.

4. Read through your final poem. Sketch in a few images or symbols on your page that relate to the theme of your poem. Now it’s time to start blackening. Using a sharpie, pen, or pencil, black out everything that is NOT a word in your poem or one of your own sketches.

(This is a nice time to play some music, a podcast, or a Ted Talk, so everyone can relax and enjoy this part of the process with a little entertainment.)

5. Write out your final poem to display next to your blackout poetry. Add punctuation if you wish.

The show begins.  Water swirled lighting up drifting glow. I watched its glimmer fleeting flicker out.  A trail of sparkles set out at sunset. 

6. Finally, share your poetry!

These make for a great display. Now, as promised, I’ve got a blackout poetry present for you. Just sign up below for me to send you this assignment, complete with examples for each step just like in this post.

sources consulted and cited:  DePasquale, John. “Blackout Poetry.” https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/john-depasquale/blackout-poetry/. 10/28/18. Kleon, Austin. “Newspaper Blackout Poems.” https://austinkleon.com. 10/28/18.

I’ll help you find the creative ELA strategies that will light up your classroom. Get ready for joyful teaching!

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47 Comments

This is awesome! I always wanted to try this with my students. Thank you so much for the student sheet.

My pleasure! I'm so glad it's helpful!

I create blackout poetry and had my first chance at teaching it today! The fifth-graders loved it. I found your blog post very helpful in getting organized 🙂

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“A blackout poem is when a poet takes a marker (usually a black marker) to already established text–like in a newspaper–and starts redacting words until a poem is formed. The key thing with a blackout poem https://www.assignmentdone.co.uk/ is that the text, AND redacted text, form a sort of visual poem.” The process can also be called found poetry, erasure poetry, redacted poetry and even Wite-Out poetry.

Os dejamos un vídeo de una ilustración de blackout poetry en directo, por si os gusta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwKGy_QuTtc 🙂

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Blackout Poems. Step 1: Scan the page first before reading it completely. Step 2: Now read the page of text in its entirety. Step 3: List all of the circled words on a separate piece of paper. Step 4: Select words, without changing their order on the list, and piece them together to create the lines of a poem. Check here https://floorrefinishingcincinnati.com/

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Blackout Poetry

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This easy art tutorial will show you how to transform an old book page (or anything you have with text on it if you can’t imagine ripping up a book) into a fusion of visual art and poetry. This is a great way to integrate writing and visual art and the results are always stunning.

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HI! My name is Sierra Machado and I am an art educator in Oklahoma. This is a creative space dedicated to the craft of teaching and art making. My goal is to inspire young artists, encourage and support fellow art educators and to push myself to create more art. View all posts by Sierra Machado

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