We're in a new golden age of poetry, and you and your kids can explore poetry together, learning more by listening to poetry, reading poetry, and writing poetry.
How to Introduce Poetry
There may be no better introduction to poetry for younger and middling kids than the YouTube video "Ingredients of a Poem," created by poet Kwame Alexander.
We suggest you start there, and follow up with a practice called Poetry Teatime. Feel free to bend the suggestions to create relaxed, enjoyable times in your home with snacks and poetry read-alouds. Your librarian (and the Poetry Teatime website) will be able to suggest poem books kids and teens enjoy, and poetry may creep up on your family as you each read poems amidst the cookies and tea (or hot chocolate or juice or whatever).
When in doubt, Shel Silverstein's books always provide a good starting place for Poetry Teatime.
Older kids and teens might enjoy looking at song lyrics as poetry, perhaps exploring the question, Is Rap Poetry? Or perhaps they'd like to explore poetry in culture, including reading and discussing the article, Poetry's new golden age with poets of color taking the lead.
These ideas can create a foundation for appreciating poetry by themselves, or you could do additional activities (below) to deepen understanding of poems and help your kids and teens write poetry themselves.
Poetry Activities and Ideas
You and the kids could:
- Focus on poetry during National Poetry Month in April
- Have fun with Poem in Your Pocket Day (free printable/craft)
- Read aloud new and favorite poems
- Copy a favorite line or short poem together and decorate the page
- Do writing warm-ups that use poetry ingredients
- Write your own poems!
- Listen to poets talk about writing poetry
- Listen to poets read their own poems
- Visit the library to get poetry books
- Go to a poetry reading in your community—check with local bookstores
- Listen to an online poetry reading
- Memorize a favorite poem, line, or verse
- Play with poetry word magnets
And if you yourself didn't have a joyful experience with poetry during your school years, let your children and our poetry resources below help you rethink poetry.
Poetry is in revival, and your family can be part of it!
- Y—Young (PreK-3rd)
- M—Middle (4th-6th)
- O—Older (7th-12th)
- T—Teacher Resources
Poetry Lessons
Learning Poetry: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Homeschoolers (M, O, T)
Tools for learning, teaching, and writing poetry from the Society of Classical Poets.
Academy of American Poets Lesson Plans
The Academy of American Poets publishes poems, poets' biographies, essays about poetry, and resources for K-12 teachers on its site Poets.org. It offers a large collection of lesson plans and teacher resources for all ages.
TEDed Poetry Video Lessons
TEDed hosts a large collection of poetry-related video lessons that cover fascinating and unique topics. You can find lessons on famous historical poets, multicultural poetry, poetry from ancient cultures, and more.
PBSLearning Poetry Lessons
PBSLearning has a large collection of K-12 poetry lessons. The lessons include units on famous poets and poetic devices, as well as topics like poetry in pop culture, multicultural poetry, and using poetry to raise awareness.
Poetry Lessons from the Pulitzer Center
These five lessons from the Pulitzer Center focus on how poetry reflects current events and culture at the time its written. This page is updated annually with contests and workshops.
Poetry in America Courses
Poetry in America connects high-school students to online, college-level poetry courses from Harvard University and Arizona State University. Some are audit-only, while others can be taken for college credit.
Shadow Poetry: Ultimate Poetry Resource
Don J. Carlson hosts the site Shadow Poetry as a complete poetry writing and learning resource. Don is a poet, teacher, and retired activity therapist. His site features a free 21-chapter, online poetry guide, a poetry dictionary, introductions to major poetry types, and guides for learning about many famous poets.
Poetry Resources
Every student can be a poet
5 basic ideas from Edutopia to help middle and high school students write their own poems.
Poetry games
WeAreTeachers has 40 poetry games and activities for parents to use with elementary, middle, and high school-age students.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater Videos
Poet and author Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of The Poem Farm has a YouTube channel with 7 episodes called Coaxing Poems. These are great lessons on how kids (and parents) can coax their thoughts out of themselves—and turn them into poems! Check out her Poem Farm website, too!
Glossary of Poetic Terms
This extensive glossary from the Poetry Foundation covers everything from poetic devices to types of poetry and more.
Hip-Hop & Shakespeare? Akala TED Talk (Video) An excellent TED talk by Akala, a hip hop artist who fuses rap/rock/electro-punk with lyrical storytelling. He "demonstrates and explores the connections between Shakespeare and Hip-Hop, and the wider cultural debate around language and its power."
Slam Poetry Groups, Events, and Resources
Power Poetry is a site that features and facilitates slam poetry writers and events. Use the resource map to find a poetry group near you, discover numerous online poetry groups under the groups tab, or create your own! Check out the resources page to find lesson plans, teacher guides, and other resources for teaching poetry.
Master List of Themes for Poetry Teatime
Help kids embrace poetry with Poetry Teatime from Brave Writer! Poetry Teatime pairs reading poetry aloud with a special treat and tea, and can be made more engaging with seasonal or holiday themes. Additions to the master list of themes are ongoing. Be sure to check out the links to all kinds of delicious teatime treats for ideas on what to serve!
Newspaper Blackout Poetry
Even students who aren't poetry fans may enjoy this cool way of "writing" poetry. "Using a black marker," Austin Kleon "takes away the words he doesn't need, creating new poetic verses. He has compiled his poetry into a book called Newspaper Blackout and invites others to upload their own blackout poetry on his Tumblr page." Take a look at the examples on the linked page and let your kids try it out. The user submissions on his Tumblr page come from all ages, so if you visit that, preview for appropriateness for your family. Reading through the submissions inspires creativity and may encourage your budding poet to create his or her own blackout poetry.
PoetryFoundation.org
The PoetryFoundation.org publishes Poetry magazine. Their goal is to select good poetry and get it out to a large audience. The foundation regularly publishes articles to assist educators in teaching poetry.
Rhyming dictionary
Internet rhyming dictionary. Warning - program does not edit content for words some consider inappropriate.
Everything You Need to Celebrate Poetry Month
A large collection of lesson plans, activities, articles, and projects for teaching poetry from Education World. Activities include a PowerPoint poetry slam, illustrating poetry, and several other fun ideas.
Sea Life Poetry
A collection of poems about the oceans and sea life that features different forms of poetry. This is a fun way to integrate language arts into an ocean unit study.
FREE Online Rhyming Dictionary
Online tool to use when writing poetry. Just put any word in the form and specify whether you want results with end rhymes, first syllable rhymes, last syllable rhymes, beginning rhymes, or double rhymes. Your child is sure to find a word to use in their poetry or limerick from the results.
Modern American Poetry
MAPS=Modern American Poetry Site. Includes more than 30,000 pages of critical essays, images, biographies, and syllabi relating to 161 poets.
Knowing Poe
The complete guide to learning Edgar Allan Poe. The site contains biographical information, poems and stories, a collection of primary resources, and lesson plans.
The Emily Dickinson Museum
The Emily Dickinson Museum contains biographical information about Emily Dickinson and offers a multitude of lesson plans and learning resources to accompany her writing. The lessons encourage students to explore language, environment, and a writer's history when examining poetry.
Maya Angelou Educational Toolkit
This teacher's toolkit from KERA provides a good overview for learning about and teaching Maya Angelou. It includes several lesson plan ideas, biographical information, and links to additional resources. Designed for upper elementary to high school students. Be sure to review any content for age-appropriateness.
Poetry and Presidents
See and hear Amanda Gorman read her poem "The Hill We Climb," which she wrote and delivered as part of the Presidential inauguration in 2021, when she was 22 years old. Learn about other inaugural poems for U.S. presidents.
An emotional response to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the poem "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman was published in 1865. See our page on President Lincoln to learn more about Whitman's poem and its impact.
