Articles for Teachers & Students
How voice and attitude can change how we understand poetry.
For Students
Again! Again!
Children's poetry and the joys of repetition.
The Start: Writing Your Own Poem
Resisting the urge to interpret contemporary poems and “wrong” dreams.
Poems to Send the Person You're Crushing On
When you care enough to send the very best.
Ten Poems to Get You Through Science Class This Year
Stars and trees and birds, oh my!
Ten Poems to Read When You Get Stuffed in a Locker
Because it’s so funny you forgot to laugh.
Poems about Teaching and Teachers
Poetry about learning, for teachers and students alike.
For Teachers
Caroline Kennedy on Learning Poems by Heart
Poems and teaching resources from Kennedy's new anthology.
With A Little Help from Dr. Angelou
Resources for teachers for teaching African American poetry.
A Taste of Poetry
How to demystify and re-mystify poetry for your students.
Primary Sources
Getting your students to stop writing about what they know.
Ten Poems I Love to Teach
Surefire poetry hits for the classroom and beyond.
Finding Your Poet
Students venture out into the world to discover their own true love, then return to share it.
Visualizing Words and Worlds
Teaching students to see good writing through what’s around them
Escape Artists
Working with non-traditional students, and finding poetry in prison.
Against Slogging: Engaging Poetry in the Classroom
Ways to make every text, every minute count with struggling readers.
Nurturing the Omnivore: Approaches to Teaching Poetry
Explore the many paths to experiencing poetry in the classroom.
A Primer
How to Read a Poem (and Fall in Love with Poetry)
Curious about poetry, but don’t know where or how to begin? We’ve reprinted the first chapter from the book How to Read a Poem by Edward Hirsch. Its 16 sections provide strategies for reading poems, and each section has plenty of links to examples of poems in our archive to illustrate the points.
