Stargirl Blackout Poetry

Blackout Poetry is fun for kids and adults alike.   All you have to do is select words of interest
from a written page such as a magazine, book, or other printed material.  We used a worn Stargirl book for ours.

Blackout Poetry is about deconstruction and then reconstruction.  A blackout poet believes that there is a poem lying within the words of any page.  You just have to discover it!  Single words and short phrases, when pieced together, can form a masterpiece!  To create yours, do the following:

1.  Materials: Plenty of black sharpies, pencils, and other colored markers.

2.  Find a Stargirl book that has been worn.  Carefully rip out some of the pages. 

3. Allow the students to select several pages.

4. Instruct the students to scan the page and look for key words that might form a theme.

5. Read the page and circle words with a pencil that stand out on the page.  You may not change the order.  Do not circle more than 3 words in a row.

6. Analyze the words circled and create your poem.  Erase the words you do not want to use.

7.  Decide on an illustration to enhance your poem. Do not color over your words.

8.  Create a masterpiece.  Share your poems in a Blackout Poem Gallery.

See the examples below:

                                                                 Page 95 - Stargirl

We were alone
The only ones in school
Walking in the hall
Noise melted away
Utterly alone
Two people in a universe of space and stars.
I had dreamed!

                                                                      Noteworthy
                                                                      Interesting
                                                    Strumming, Singing, Strutting, Twirling
                                                                     She's not real!