Welcome
Welcome.... let's discuss.
You've found Explicate, the Poetry Card Game designed to get students thinking and discussing poetry in classrooms and beyond.
It's easy to get started and you can play with any poems. Students must consider different aesthetic values on their cards, such as surrealism or lyrical beauty and try to argue that the values in their hand are a match for the poem on the table!
Every time a player can convince the group they are right, they play a card and win a point! But be careful, if you cannot convince others---where's your textual evidence?---then you lose your turn that round!
How to Play
Basics: Students play cards from their hand arguing that their cards are a fit for the poem.
2-6 Players per deck.
Recommended: 6 poems per game (printed out by the teacher beforehand)
Free Resources For Download
This free unit with google slides teaches students ten key criteria that they find on the cards during gameplay. It is designed for high school Juniors with sample poems and includes a rubric. It also includes 10 days of lessons, aligned to Common Core Standards and a exam you can use to assess students new understanding of these criteria. All poems are translated in Spanish (by Google Translate :)) for ENL students in my classroom.
Give students feedback on their progress using the language on the cards to analyze and discuss poems. You can use this rubric as you observe and/or ask students to use the rubric to grade their performance after the game's conclusion. Linked here.
Thank you for your interest in Explicate the Game. Please visit K. Keener, the creator's page at: kkeener.com for collaborations and contact.
Special thanks to Charles Harper Webb! His article "Apples and Orangutans: Competing Values in Contemporary Poetry” The Writer's Chronicle, Vol. 37, Issue 2 was the inspiration for this game.