Favorite resource for teaching poetry?

[Kim C]

My DS has always struggled with reading/analyzing/understanding poetry. So, what is your favorite resource for teaching high schoolers to read and analyze poetry?

 

Thanks!

Kim

 

Edited May 3, 2016 by Kim C

[Lori D.]

STEM-based people and black and white thinkers can often have a tough time with poetry, as poetry is very image and metaphor driven -- so, not about trying to find a specific one-to-one meaning in a poem, like "solving for x" in an algebra equation. ;)

 

I haven't used it, but CAP's Art of Poetry looks very good. (Student Program, Teacher Guide, or set of both + Teaching DVDs)

 

We first went through Walsh's Prose & Poetry and learned about figures of speech frequently used in poetry, and then the different poetic forms (elegy, ballad, sonnet, limerick, haiku, free verse, etc.), and then went through the Progeny Press guide: Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements. The PP guide was fairly good -- a gentle, very comprehensible intro -- just not as deep as I would have liked. The PP guide is from a Christian perspective.

 

I would also highly recommend a new book by Tania Runyan: How to Read a Poem, based on the Billy Collins poem "Introduction to Poetry". I really like how Collins' short poem helps black & white thinkers see what poetry is about, and I think Tania Runyan does a great job in her book based on his poem of using the images in his poem to speak about and help the reader understand 6 aspects of poetry appreciation: imagery, sound, line, the "a-ha" moment, reading without the poet's help, and letting a poem be. For each of those 6 sections, she includes information about that aspect and then guided questions and her own personal observations on a specific poem as a helpful "walk-through" of how to approach the poem throughout that aspect, and then provides 8-12 poems to try out yourself. This would be a great mini-unit (maybe 4-6 weeks at a very gentle pace) of poetry study to do together WITH your grade 7-12 students. And most importantly, it's not a book about teaching you how to "beat a confession" out of a poem to find "what it means", but is more of an invitation -- that, through learning about several tools, it is an invitation to enjoy and appreciate poetry and hear what it has to say to YOU. :)

 

If you just want to include some gentle poetry study into your literature every so often, here are free lessons from Edsitement: Poetry for the Common Core -- poems/background/lessons for specific poems at the high school, middle school, and elementary grade levels (don't get too hung up on the Common Core aspect, just pick and choose through the lessons and enjoy :) ).

 

Here are a few more "starting to study poetry" free lessons from ReadWriteThink:

- What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose (gr. 6-8)

- Is a Sentence a Poem? (gr. 9-12)

- Poetry: Sound and Sense (gr. 9-12)

 

 

My thought would be to keep a poetry study enjoyable -- maybe start with light and humorous works to appreciate how poetry plays with language (rhymes, sounds, puns, double meanings, nonsense words, humorous insights), and then move into more narrative poems written in a form to be able to appreciate the poet's use of sound devices, syllable patterns and rhythms, stanza requirements, etc., while still being able to tell a story or express an important idea. From there, you could move into some works still written in form but that are more imagistic and emotional rather than narrative, and then to some free verse poems.

 

BEST of luck in finding what is a great fit for your family, and enjoy your poetry studies together! Warmest regards, Lori D. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by Lori D.

[Kim C]

STEM-based people and black and white thinkers can often have a tough time with poetry, as poetry is very image and metaphor driven -- so, not about trying to find a specific one-to-one meaning in a poem, like "solving for x" in an algebra equation. ;)

 

I haven't used it, but CAP's Art of Poetry looks very good. (Student Program, Teacher Guide, or set of both + Teaching DVDs)

 

We first went through Walsh's Prose & Poetry and learned about figures of speech frequently used in poetry, and then the different poetic forms (elegy, ballad, sonnet, limerick, haiku, free verse, etc.), and then went through the Progeny Press guide: Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements. The PP guide was fairly good -- a gentle, very comprehensible intro -- just not as deep as I would have liked. The PP guide is from a Christian perspective.

 

I would also highly recommend a new book by Tania Runyan: How to Read a Poem, based on the Billy Collins poem "Introduction to Poetry". I really like how Collins' short poem helps black & white thinkers see what poetry is about, and I think Tania Runyan does a great job in her book based on his poem of using the images in his poem to speak about and help the reader understand 6 aspects of poetry appreciation: imagery, sound, line, the "a-ha" moment, reading without the poet's help, and letting a poem be. For each of those 6 sections, she includes information about that aspect and then guided questions and her own personal observations on a specific poem as a helpful "walk-through" of how to approach the poem throughout that aspect, and then provides 8-12 poems to try out yourself. This would be a great mini-unit (maybe 4-6 weeks at a very gentle pace) of poetry study to do together WITH your grade 7-12 students. And most importantly, it's not a book about teaching you how to "beat a confession" out of a poem to find "what it means", but is more of an invitation -- that, through learning about several tools, it is an invitation to enjoy and appreciate poetry and hear what it has to say to YOU. :)

 

If you just want to include some gentle poetry study into your literature every so often, here are free lessons from Edsitement: Poetry for the Common Core -- poems/background/lessons for specific poems at the high school, middle school, and elementary grade levels (don't get too hung up on the Common Core aspect, just pick and choose through the lessons and enjoy :) ).

 

Here are a few more "starting to study poetry" free lessons from ReadWriteThink:

- What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose (gr. 6-8)

- Is a Sentence a Poem? (gr. 9-12)

- Poetry: Sound and Sense (gr. 9-12)

 

 

My thought would be to keep a poetry study enjoyable -- maybe start with light and humorous works to appreciate how poetry plays with language (rhymes, sounds, puns, double meanings, nonsense words, humorous insights), and then move into more narrative poems written in a form to be able to appreciate the poet's use of sound devices, syllable patterns and rhythms, stanza requirements, etc., while still being able to tell a story or express an important idea. From there, you could move into some works still written in form but that are more imagistic and emotional rather than narrative, and then to some free verse poems.

 

BEST of luck in finding what is a great fit for your family, and enjoy your poetry studies together! Warmest regards, Lori D. 

 

Thank you, Lori! You're awesome! :)

[Kareni]

It's not a curriculum but an engaging read ~

 

The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry

 

"Comedian and actor Stephen Fry's witty and practical guide, now in paperback, gives the aspiring poet or student the tools and confidence to write and understand poetry.

Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. In The Ode Less Travelled, he invites readers to discover the delights of writing poetry for pleasure and provides the tools and confidence to get started. Through enjoyable exercises, witty insights, and simple step-by-step advice, Fry introduces the concepts of Metre, Rhyme, Form, Diction, and Poetics.

Most of us have never been taught to read or write poetry, and so it can seem mysterious and intimidating. But Fry, a wonderfully competent, engaging teacher and a writer of poetry himself, sets out to correct this problem by explaining the various elements of poetry in simple terms, without condescension. Fry's method works, and his enthusiasm is contagious as he explores different forms of poetry: the haiku, the ballad, the villanelle, and the sonnet, among many others. Along the way, he introduces us to poets we've heard of but never read. The Ode Less Travelled is not just the survey course you never took in college, it's a lively celebration of poetry that makes even the most reluctant reader want to pick up a pencil and give it a try."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[helena]

I'm planning to use The Guardian's Poem of the Week next year: http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/poemoftheweek. I was so excited to find this! I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to use it.

It's probably not a good place to start, but it's worth checking out. 

 

I had charter school money last week that needed to be spent, so I ordered something called Classical Poetry, Poetry for Literacy Series from Rainbow Resouce. I might have bought the series?? It looks like it could possibly, maybe work.

 

 

[Holly]

I plan on using Memoria Press's poetry for high school.  

[happypamama]

CAP's Art of Poetry is very good, very thorough.

[Kim C]

I'm planning to use The Guardian's Poem of the Week next year: http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/poemoftheweek. I was so excited to find this! I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to use it.

It's probably not a good place to start, but it's worth checking out. 

 

I had charter school money last week that needed to be spent, so I ordered something called Classical Poetry, Poetry for Literacy Series from Rainbow Resouce. I might have bought the series?? It looks like it could possibly, maybe work.

 

Thanks for the Guardian link. That looks like fun!

 

Kim

[Kim C]

It's not a curriculum but an engaging read ~

 

The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry

 

"Comedian and actor Stephen Fry's witty and practical guide, now in paperback, gives the aspiring poet or student the tools and confidence to write and understand poetry.

 

Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. In The Ode Less Travelled, he invites readers to discover the delights of writing poetry for pleasure and provides the tools and confidence to get started. Through enjoyable exercises, witty insights, and simple step-by-step advice, Fry introduces the concepts of Metre, Rhyme, Form, Diction, and Poetics.

 

Most of us have never been taught to read or write poetry, and so it can seem mysterious and intimidating. But Fry, a wonderfully competent, engaging teacher and a writer of poetry himself, sets out to correct this problem by explaining the various elements of poetry in simple terms, without condescension. Fry's method works, and his enthusiasm is contagious as he explores different forms of poetry: the haiku, the ballad, the villanelle, and the sonnet, among many others. Along the way, he introduces us to poets we've heard of but never read. The Ode Less Travelled is not just the survey course you never took in college, it's a lively celebration of poetry that makes even the most reluctant reader want to pick up a pencil and give it a try."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

This looks like something my ds would enjoy. Thanks!

 

Kim

[Deee]

Just bought Stephen Fry's book. Thanks, enablers!

[Rebel Yell]

Progeny press. (Link in a previous posters reply)

[SilverMoon]

I'll echo Art of Poetry. We really, really enjoyed that book. Even with kids who claimed they didn't like poetry much.  FWIW, I only purchased a teacher edition. We did the course orally and shared the book.

[samba]

Dd and I enjoyed Art of Poetry.  It's thoughtful and lovely. :)

[happypamama]

I'll echo Art of Poetry. We really, really enjoyed that book. Even with kids who claimed they didn't like poetry much.  FWIW, I only purchased a teacher edition. We did the course orally and shared the book.

That's exactly what we did as well.  We bought the e-book version because it was inexpensive, and although I wish it came in Kindle form instead of the e-book form they use, that does allow us to have it on two devices simultaneously.  The answers are at the back of each chapter, so the teacher edition works just fine.  (I might actually put it on a third device; that way, the student and I can each read from a device, and then I can have the third one cued up to the answers so I don't have to flip back and forth.)

[borninthesouth]

Is the Frye book clean?  One of the reviews seemed to elude that it may not be.  Thanks!!

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2016 by rabonic2

[Kareni]

 

Is the Frye book clean?  One of the reviews seemed to elude that it may not be.  Thanks!!

 

Concerning The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry:

 

It's been a while since I read it, but I recall it having some content that some might find not well suited for teens.  We are fairly liberal, and I had no problem with my older teen reading it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[laughing lioness]

The Grammar of Poetry by Matt Whitling. Goes over 4 meters and 11 tropes. Also, being taught on-line this fall by yours truly! (woop, woop!). 

[borninthesouth]

Do you need the teacher's edition?  

CAP's Art of Poetry is very good, very thorough.

 

[Kendall]

We are using the Art of Poetry.  I only purchased the Teacher's edition.  I print the poems out.  So far I have found them all online, though occasionally there have been some differences in the versions I found online.  As a black and white math person I am enjoying poetry so much more as I have learned things about analyzing it.  I also see things now that I didn't before.  We are only in the 3rd chapter but so far so good.  

[Kim C]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Based on the glowing recommendations, I have decided to go with Art of Poetry. It looks like it will work well for us.

 

Kim