Children are naturally entranced by the rhythm of poetry, and rhyme can add interest to any lesson, but teaching children to write it can be quite a challenge. The art of poetry- writing has been simplified in several resources to appeal to young writers.

Resource Books

	Curr/Ref LangArts S973 1993	Classroom Events Through Poetry, by Larry Schwartz, is a collection of ideas on how to get children to respond to poetry. Illustrating poems, oral readings are among the ideas suggested.
	Curr/Ref LangArts O23 1990	Wiggle Your Words, by Allison Odell, offers ideas on how to teach figurative language and concrete poetry, and lists reference materials for each style of poem.
	Curr/Ref LangArts E92 1988	Writing Poetry With Children, by Joy Evens and Jo Ellen Moorel, give the basic steps for teaching the haiku, cinquain, and couplet forms of poetry.
	Folio LB1575.5 .U5P68 1994	Poetry Galore and More: With Shel Silverstein, by Allison Odell, offers ideas on how to teach figurative language and concrete poetry, and lists references.

Periodicals

“Math + Poetry = Shel Silverstein,” The Mailbox: Primary, April/May 1998, pp 14-17. Ideas on how to use popular poems by Shel Silverstein to teach money skills,addition, and measurement.
“A Patchwork of Poetry,” The Mailbox: Intermediate, Feb/Mar 1998, PP 5-11 Put together a poetry unit using these ideas for out-of-the-ordinary poems that children will love.
“Flavored with Figurative Language,” The Mailbox: Intermediate, Apr/May 1997, pp. 17-22 Learning to use figurative language is an important part of becoming a poet, and this article offers a plethora of ideas.

Manipulatives

Curr/TA LangArts 74

Poetry Works!, a collection of poster-size illustrated poems which make great visuals for a unit on poetry.

Poets and pigs
Poets and pigs
What is the difference I think?
Poets have pen and ink.
And pigs have pen and oink!

By John Schaum
(Poetry Works!, Word Play #7)

Big Books

	Curr/El BigBooks E26 1990 rb	The Eensy Weensy Spider, illustrations by Alan Daniel Show how poetry is used in music by reading the lyrics to a popular children’s song.
	Curr/El BigBooks F597 1991 rb	In the Tall Tall Grass, by Denise Fleming Explore onomatopoeia and rhyme by reading this short story about small creatures.
	Curr/El BigBooks M379 1991 rb	Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, by Bill Martin/Eric Carle A great example of a repeat-a-word poem and ABCB rhyme scheme.
	Curr/El BigBooks R211 1990 rb	My Family and Me, by Phoebe Rankin and Elizabeth Stenson A collection of poetry about the family.
	Curr/El BigBooks R211 1985 rb	I Like to Be Me, by Phoebe Rankin and Elizabeth Stenson Poetry about emotions, friendship, and being a kid.

Bursting
By Dorothy Aldis
We’ve laughed until my cheeks are tight,
We’ve laughed until my stomach’s sore.
If we could only stop, we might
Remember what we’re laughing for.
(From I Like to Be Me)

Children's Books

Children 821 O98o	The Oxford Treasury of Children’s Poems, from Lewis Carroll to Jack Prelutsky, this book has a large collection of poems children will love.
Children 821 S948c 1994	A Child’s Garden of Verses, a book of children’s poems written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Written in the 19th century, these poems expose children to classic English poetry.
Children 821.08 C131c,v.1	Classics in Poetry: Book 1, A collection of famous poems and rhymes with histories on poets such as Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Mother Goose, complete with teaching tips on various forms of poetry.
Children 821.08 A667t 1952	Time For Poetry, Classic poetry organized according to topics such as animals, people, seasons, etc, with a section on rhyme and meter for teachers.
Children 821 S948c 1994	Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls, A book of humorous poems for and about children, dealing with the comical side of being a kid.

Websites

Positively Poetry— A collection of student’s poetry which has been published on the Internet. End a unit on poetry by submitting student work. http://home.hiwaay.net/~emedia/kv/poetry1.html Kidzpage— A collection of poetry and verse offers excellent examples of all kinds of poetry by all ages. http://www.veeceet.com

Keep a poem in your pocket
and a picture in your head
and you’ll never feel lonely
at night when you’re in bed. .

By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
(Poetry Works!, Word Play #5)




Compiled and created by Harmony Vanhille 1998

Pathfinders

Education Curriculum Library Home

BYU-Hawaii Library Home

Please contact our Webteam with comments or suggestions.

Last updated 06/14/01

FastCounter by bCentral