The Power of Poems
by Margriet Ruurs
Reviewed by Laura Jacobsma

This book takes the breaks down poetry into different kinds of lessons for all subjects. The author encourages the use of poetry into the teacherís daily schedule, even if the teacher only opens with a poem to get the kids thinking about the subject being taught.

All of chapter 3 is her suggested writing activities. These are really great because the author begins by introducing a prewriting activity, which can be extended to the writing activity. There are a total of 31 lessons.

All throughout the book the author gives helpful web sites and suggested books to use as examples. For those of you who like to know the goal of a lesson ñ that is also included.

In chapter 5 you will find many creative ways to publish and share the studentsí poetry. This even includes submitting poetry to magazines with the addresses to these businesses. I think this book was very practical, and I feel that I will refer back to it often as I teach poetry.