Are you prepping to teach poetry, but just aren’t sure where to start? I’ve compiled a list of tips to make teaching poetry a cinch AND get your students loving it too.
Tip #1: Use Relatable Poems to Teach Poetry
This is a big one. You have to hook students on poetry from the very beginning. Many of them have the idea already that poetry is boring, for older people, for girls, you name it they’ve heard it. My 2 favorite poems to read to students are “Sick” by Shel Silverstein. “Little Peggy Ann McKay cannot go to school today. She has the measles and the mumps, a rash, a gash, and purple bumps.” (You have to put on your silly acting hat and use a great voice when you read this poem to really get the students entertained and engaged.) At this point, all of the students are with me and are starting to see that poetry can be fun and creative!
Next, we read Silverstein’s poem, “Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.” Once students have heard these two poems, they stop resisting poetry as much. Most of my students can connect with these two themes of being sick and not wanting to take the trash out.
Tip #2: Read Aloud Multiple Times
When I teach poetry, I’m a firm believer in reading poems at least twice, if not more. Often on the first read students are so interested in the story that they miss all of the elements of poetry. By reading a poem a second time, students can start to listen for the important components and they’ll discover things they hadn’t heard before. When you reread the poem, ask students to listen for patterns and the flow of the words overall. Do any words stand out? Why do you think the author chose the words she or he did to convey the meaning? These pieces of the puzzle help create the mood, tone, and message of the poem. Most importantly, do this process with students the first few times so they realize you can’t just read a poem once and understand the meaning. It takes several readings.
Tip #3: Learn About the Poet
Many poets write about their mood, life events, family and relationships, and nature. First, learn as much as you can about the poet. Where and in what time period did she or he live? Understanding the time period the poem was written and the background of the poet is essential to drawing conclusions about the poem’s meaning.
Tip #4: Analyze the Poetry
The fun part of analyzing poetry is figuring out what the poet was trying to say. This is where the use of figurative language comes in. It’s what makes the poetry have the music-like rhythm and flow. It’s the flow of the words, the rhythm of the beat, the pattern of the syllables, it’s the words carefully chosen to create images in the reader’s mind.
It’s really important that you spend time reading poems yourself and fully understand it before you attempt to teach it to your students. Teaching children to analyze poetry isn’t one of those things you can just pick up and teach; some poems really are hard for adults to understand, let alone ask students to understand. You really need to spend time thinking, reflecting, asking questions about what you’ve read, and really understand the poem yourself.
Tip #5: Teach Figurative Language When You Teach Poetry
Some poems require very basic surface-level understanding while other poems are challenging to understand what the poet is really trying to say. Poems often use metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, idioms, and other figurative language. Teach students the meaning of these kinds of figurative language when you teach poetry to help them better understand what they’re reading. Understanding these poetic devices will help unlock the meaning hidden within some poems and allow for deeper critical thinking. Need a game to practice figurative language? Click here.
Tip #6: Show Enthusiasm
When you really enjoy reading and responding to poetry, your students will pick up on your excitement and it can become contagious. Use the funny voices when you read aloud. Laugh at the funny parts. I know that it can be hard to be enthusiastic when you teach poetry, but do your best so that your students will enjoy it. They catch your vibes more than you may realize.
Tip #7: Allow Students to Write Their Own and Share
To solidify students’ love for poetry, let them write! You can provide them with many different styles. As long as students are writing poetry, I don’t mind the type! When you teach poetry writing remind students that it doesn’t have to rhyme. Let them experience the fun of writing their own poems about what interests them.
Encourage students to share their poetry. There are a few ways I like to do this:
- You can pair up students to allow them to share their written works in buddy pairs. This is great because it’s a small group and helps build classroom relationships and confidence. I then encourage students to share kind feedback about the poem to their partners.
- Have students read their poems aloud to the class. I like this as well because it helps foster speaking and listening skills and students get to share something they can be proud of.
- Display their written works on the wall! Often times my students write their own poetry and add pictures to go with it, and it makes easy decor for your classroom.
