Margin Notes

Looking for a fun way to engage your students and make poetry instruction relatable? This one is for you! Whether you teach middle or high-school, this activity using Kristie Frederick-Daughterty’s Invisible Strings: 113 Poets respond to the songs of Taylor Swift, is certain to capture the attention of your audience. To learn more about this book that is loaded with mentor texts and classroom opportunities, you can read the recommendation here.

Here’s an activity right from the book recommendation that you might want to try tomorrow!

Choose 2–3 poems from Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift. Make sure they don’t list the specific song inspiration (or cover it up if needed). Print or display the poems for students.

Preview:
Give students a quick context and let them know that these poems were written by real poets who were inspired by Taylor Swift songs. Their job is to be a literary detective and figure out which song inspired each one.

Close Reading & Clues:
In pairs or small groups, have students read the first poem and highlight lines or phrases they think are clues. This could come from things like emotional tone, specific imagery, possible lyrics echoes, or themes (e.g., heartbreak, revenge, nostalgia). Have students label & annotate the poem to help guide their thinking & reasoning.

As a group, get them to compile their evidence and guess the Taylor Swift song & back it up! They must use evidence from both the poem and the original lyrics (if available) to support their guess.

Then reveal!
Share guesses and reveal the actual song (all of the answers can be found here).

Finally, Reflect & Discuss:

1. • What clues were strongest? What made you confident in your song choice? Did anything make you second guess it?
   • Did multiple groups choose the same song?
   • How did the poet reinterpret or respond to the song’s meaning?