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By Jennifer L. Altieri
Writing is a bridge between the disciplines, offering a way to include social studies content in various lessons. In addition, writing serves as a way for students to process informational text, as they read content, reflect on it, and restate it in various ways— such as in a poem, a faux historical letter, or a caption under an illustration. In this article, the authors discuss in detail four types of formula poetry that easily connect with social studies content. Each formula helps students at various grade levels to write a basic poem. We discuss the structure for each type of poetry, give examples of integration with other content disciplines, and offer suggestions for implementation.