For the month of March, each day I am writing and posting a slice of my life, hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
Slice of Life #22: Day 26/31:
Metaphor Dice
Lately I've been playing around with Metaphor Dice, a game designed by Taylor Mali. Metaphor Dice comes with a set of twelve dice with words on it. The red dice are concepts. The white dice are adjectives or short descriptive phrases. The blue dice are objects. The order is usually a red dice, white, and a blue dice. However, the order can be reversed or rearranged.
The game instructions describe the object of Metaphor Dice as, "roll the dice until you formulate a metaphor that speaks to you, one you think that you could explore for a few minutes in writing."
See below for what I rolled. I played around with combinations until I came up with four different metaphors.
Out of all of the metaphors, this phrase spoke to me the most.
I set a timer and did a quick write about the metaphor:
Some people say poetry is a bright mirror.
In that, poetry invites noticing
insights about yourself...
revealing beauty
you didn't know existed.
I used Metaphor Dice with one of my ninth grade classes last week. We played with the dice as a whole group using the document camera. Based on a metaphor we came up with, I wrote with my students in a quick write based on one of the metaphors. Later in the class I split up the dice so that students could play with a smaller set in small groups. They seemed to enjoy it, but it was a little clunky to play with as a whole class. I need to do some more brainstorming of how to make Metaphor Dice as a more effective writing tool with writers.
How would you use Metaphor Dice with students?
I love the metaphor dice! I picked up a set at NCTE in Houston years ago - a regular set and an erudite set. I keep them handy for use, and find that when I visit my dad, he loves them and will keep coming back to them. There is also an app that is three or four dollars that I love as well. I have found that for me, the app version works better in the larger classroom, while the dice work well with smaller groups. I love your favorite metaphor above - and your verse, discovering what we didn't know was there. How beautiful! I wish there were tools like this that inspired creativity and love of writing for all different modalities and even all different subjects. Roll on!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool! I will have to look for that app!
DeleteI have a set of Metaphor Dice and have enjoyed seeing what I can make out of the the rolls. I joined with a group of teacher-poets in a Zoom meeting recently to listen to Taylor Mali. He's amazing! I do think that Metaphor Dice in the classroom would work best in small groups. Everyone in the group wouldn't have to use the same words or metaphor, but they could coach one another. Your whole group modeling, however, is excellent - they have to get a feel for the process, and there's no better way than writing alongside the teacher, who's "the best writer in the room," as Kelly Gallagher would say.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Mai came to our Writing Project last fall for our first in-person workshop. He is very cool, and he had us engage in the Metaphor Dice process. It doesn't really work for me that well, but it's fun to see what you can come up with. I think I had: "Guilt is a futile sideshow." He also read his poem "Undivided Attention" which I really liked.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, these slice blogs seem to reflect my life back at me (and, oddly, you have mirror in your poem). I literally just learned of these dice, oh...a few weeks ago? And looked into them. Things brought me away, and now I am back. Is this something I should look into more? Worth it?
ReplyDeleteI think that this depends on you and what you want to use this for! Our school has another set that I could check out, so if you are a teacher, maybe your school has one!
DeleteMy friend gave me a set as a gift, but I have not cracked them open. Thank you for the reminder and inspiration. I love the poem you created and how you used them in class. I think I found my slice for tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI love metaphor dice. Your poem is fabulous. Do you have a set of Haikubes? I wonder if you can combine them w/ metaphor dice or paint chip poetry to create a new version of the game.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes, I have access to Haikubes. My school has a set that is currently checked out to me. That's such a great idea!
DeleteI have never seen these dice, but now I have 18 in a cart waiting for approval from my principal! Thank you so much for this inspiring slice.
ReplyDeleteWow, heard of these, would love to have some. I really like your poem made from the metaphor you chose. A great slice.
ReplyDeleteI love the Metaphor Dice! I've been thinking about setting up some stations for the week after break with Metaphor Dice, Paint Chip Poetry, and Haikubes, but I need a couple more options. Maybe magnetic poetry and.... I'll think of something!
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