For teachers · explanatory slides
Blackout poem
Project this deck before handing out the worksheet. Difficulty band: Accessible. Then try the form in the builder, or pick a follow-up move from the technique repertoire.
Blackout poem · slide 1 of 5 · what
What is a blackout poem?
A blackout poem is found inside a printed page. You circle the words you want, in the order they already appear, then black out everything else. You may not add, move or change a single word.
Say: Read this slide, then ask: who has seen one before? Take two answers only.
Arrow keys work too. Printing lays out every slide, one per page.
Blackout poem · what
What is a blackout poem?
A blackout poem is found inside a printed page. You circle the words you want, in the order they already appear, then black out everything else. You may not add, move or change a single word.
Say: Read this slide, then ask: who has seen one before? Take two answers only.
Blackout poem · how
How it works
1. Read the whole page once without marking anything — notice which words pull at you.
2. Circle candidate words lightly in pencil, reading them in page order to hear the poem hiding there.
3. Aim for the set target (often seven words), keep at least one verb and one concrete image, then ink out the rest.
Say: Walk the steps slowly. Students will follow them on their worksheet.
Blackout poem · example
Worked example — from an original page about a lighthouse keeper
Page: “Every evening the keeper climbed the tower, wound the clockwork, and watched the harbour lights come on one by one.”
Surviving words, in order: evening / climbed / watched / lights / come on
Poem: “evening climbed, watched lights come on”
Five surviving words, still in page order, and the keeper has vanished — only the action and the lights remain.
Say: Read the example aloud twice. Ask what the writer chose — and what they left out.
Blackout poem · traps
Common traps
• Marking in pen first, so there is no way to change your mind.
• Keeping words that need the deleted words around them to make sense.
• Choosing pretty words with no verb, so the poem sits still.
Say: Name the traps now so students can laugh when they spot one in their own draft.
Blackout poem · try
Before you start
Project one paragraph, circle in pencil as a class, and read the survivors aloud before any marker comes out.
Scaffolding: Every word is already on the printed page; the work is choosing, not inventing.
Say: Do the first move together, out loud, before handing out worksheets.