Blackout Poems (Grades K-2)

What’s special and mysterious about blackout poems? It’s up to YOU to reveal a secret poem!

Did you know that on every page of a book, newspaper or magazine there’s a hidden story waiting to be told? See what you can discover by creating a blackout poem out of recycled pages!

Text with words crossed out and a permanent marker

What You Need

  • A book or newspaper or magazine article that you can draw on
  • Black sharpie, dark colored markers, pencils or pens

What To Do

  1. Scan the page first before reading it completely and circle words that stand out to you.
  2. Now read the page of text in its entirety. Use a pencil to lightly circle any words that connect to the words you selected in step 1. Choose words that stand out or make you feel good.
  3. List all of the circled words on a separate piece of paper. List the words in the order that they appear on the page of text from top to bottom, left to right.
  4. Select words, without changing their order on the page, and piece them together to create the lines of your poem.
  5. Using a marker, pencil or pen, black out everything that is NOT a word in your poem.
  6. Show us your poem! Take a picture and send it to us at summeradventure@neric.org or post to social media with the hashtag #CapRegSummer.