The Power of Poetry

Gone are the droning days of memorizing and reciting Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. Farewell to frivolous class readings and renderings.  Poetry has so much more to offer our students. This is not to say that memorizing these poems has no significance in the lives of learners because that is certainly not the case. However, there are so many more facets to be faced concerning poetry in the classroom.

Often when the word “poetry” is mentioned in the classroom, the result is a wavering response of reluctant sighs followed by questions and exclamations such as “please don’t make us memorize a poem”-- “are we going to have to recite in front of the class?”-- and “poetry is so boring!”

I have discovered that the key to making poetry less horrifying for students is to make it relevant to them and their world.

I'm sharing three fun and creative ways that you can utilize poetry in your classroom:

•    Blackout Poems: A blackout poem is an artistic approach at creating one’s own poem without having to write it from scratch. Show an example of a blackout poem to your students and you will immediately grab their attention. Apparently, blackout poems are all the rage on Tumblr. The best thing about blackout poems is the fact that they are super easy to relate to any content you may be covering in your classroom. For example: For those covering The Diary of Anne Frank in your classes, try handing out newspaper articles to your students and ask them to create a poem from Anne Frank’s point of view. They will need to select the words they wish to keep and blackout the rest. Then, have them write about how their blackout poem reflects Anne’s thinking. This is a fun and simple way to have students create meaningful poems that relate to the content covered in class. (P.S. Be prepared for your students to blow you away with the stuff they come up with). It may look a little something like this:

•    “Where I’m From” Poems: “Where I’m From” poems are another unique way to introduce poetry to your students, especially when it comes to the writing of poetry. “Where I’m From” poems are less intimidating for students because they do not have to rhyme and they stem from content students are familiar with—their very own lives. They also tend to boost a student’s confidence concerning their writing due to the fact that the finished product typically sounds incredible regardless of what the student writes. Not only are these poems an easy way to introduce students to the writing of poetry, but they are also a great way for teachers and student peers to get to know one another. Wait—there is more! You can also apply this to content by having students create a “Where I’m From” poem from an author or character’s perspective (hello…fun way to assess student learning).

•    Poetry through Music: Music is definitely something all students can relate to. So, why not teach poetry through something they love? Today’s music contains many structural similarities to that of poems. So having students analyze the lyrics of a song rather than a poem is a no brainer. It’s a great way to introduce them to sound and literacy devices without it seeming boring or daunting. Try this in your classroom by having students choose an appropriate song and define as many of the sound and literary devices as possible. When finished, have them present their findings. They can even be creative and use PowerPoint or iMovie to show their analysis while having the song playing in the background. Students love this, and you will be surprised that the aftermath of teaching poetry through music results in students telling you all the sound and literary devices they have discovered in their most recent playlist (insert proud teacher moment).  

See, poetry doesn’t have to be blah or boring. It can actually be quite versatile. The big take away from this is when you teach students the significance of poetry through more real and relative ways, that is when the true learning, creating, and meaning takes place.  

The power of poetry lies in this: Make it real and make it relevant.