The impact of poetry on students’ literacy and emotional development cannot be overstated, and as educators continue to look for engaging ways to introduce poetry into the classroom, certain resources have stood out this year. Here are our top 10 poetry resources that have been downloaded by teachers, each chosen for its ability to inspire creativity and a love of language among students:
1. Poetry Foundation’s Learning Lab: A comprehensive resource that provides teachers with lesson plans, essays, and discussion questions centered around both classic and contemporary poetry.
2. ReadWriteThink’s Poetry Interactives: This site offers interactive tools that help students learn about and create various forms of poetry such as acrostic poems, theme poems, and haiku.
3. Academy of American Poets’ Teach This Poem: A weekly service that delivers a poem along with accompanying lesson plans and activities directly to educators’ inboxes.
4. PBS Poetry in America Modules: PBS provides multimedia modules on American poetry that covers analyses of poems by influential American poets, providing teachers with videos, texts, and discussion questions.
5. PowerPoetry.org: As the world’s first mobile poetry community for youth, Power Poetry offers tools for writing and performance, along with tips for teachers on how to integrate them into their curriculum.
6. Poem Hunter’s Poetry Teaching Resources: This website has an extensive collection of poems along with critiques and biographies which aid teachers in constructing lessons around poets and their work.
7. The Poetry Archive’s Teaching Resources: Offering audio recordings of poets reading their own work, this archive is an invaluable resource for bringing the authentic voice of the poet into the classroom.
8. Scholastic’s Poetry Writing With Jack Prelutsky: Scholastic features a workshop format resource where children’s poet Jack Prelutsky walks students through the process of writing different types of poems.
9. Edsitement’s Lesson Plans: Provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities, these lesson plans cover a wide range of poets and poetic styles aimed at encouraging critical thinking and analysis among students.
10. National Poetry Month Toolkit From Poets.org: Perfect for planning National Poetry Month activities in April; this toolkit includes tips for teaching poetry, ideas for daily activities, and printable posters.
These resources highlight the diversity of approaches to teaching poetry, from interactive digital tools to downloadable lesson plans based on the wisdom of renowned poets. By leveraging these tools, teachers can cultivate a literary environment that not only enhances students’ reading comprehension but also allows them to express themselves through the powerful medium of poetry.
