Teaching Poetry to Children

By David Greenberg

            “Do not ask students to figure out the deep meaning of poems.”  Words to live by, for sure.  This book is a wonderful resource for not only ways to teach poetry, but also for ways not to teach poetry.  There are nine rules to follow to make poetry enjoyable and approachable for children.  The sections that follow these nine basic tenets show the reader approximately 20 types of poems to use with students just beginning to learn poetry.  These include sound poems, naming poems, formula poems, recipe poems and many others.

            This book is a great jumping off place for working on poetry with your students, but does not provide any easily copied worksheets or lessons.  There are however, many examples of the kinds of poems taught for you to use with your class.