Teaching Poetry

1. Teaching Poetry A guide for secondary teachers Brandi Gilliland

2. The Steps According to Burke • First-Look at the poem’s title for clues. • Before reading a poem, a title is the first look a reader has to the contents. Interesting discussions can ensue just by asking students to give their best guess as to what the “poem’s title may allude to.” (81) • Students are often afraid of poetry and starting with something as simple as the title is a great way to ease the student into further exploration.

3. Step 1 cont..Exploring the Title • A great non-intimidating poem is “On The Subway” by Sharon Olds. • The title tells us nothing about the poem, really, except perhaps the location of the poem. • However, if we also sneak in a little context with the students, it can lead to fruitful discussions: “Now think about the title in the context of prejudice, racial and socio-economic.” • Now students may begin to guess as to what the poem may be about and as they read, they will discover if they were “right.”

4. Step Two: Just Read it! • Burke suggests that students read the poem straight though. No pausing, no analyzing, just reading. (81) • All too often, poetry is analyzed to death and then teachers are left wondering why their students hate it, or at the very least, are totally uninterested in it. • Before we can create poetry lovers, we have to let the students ease themselves into the genre at their own pace.

5. Step 2 cont…just read it! • Poetrysociety.org tells us that a poem is meant to be unfolded, that is how the poet intends their poems to be read. • This is why we must let the students do at least one uninterrupted read through, at their own pace.

6. Step 3-Start with what you know • Make it relatable • “I give my students any poem so long as there is at least one phrase that helps them to climb into it.” (82) Any literacy strategy system will tell you to give the students a reason to WANT to read it as much as is humanly possible. • Tell the students to try to find something they can relate to or are familiar with as they do a second reading. • “What stands out to you?” • “How does this relate to something you are experiencing or have experienced.”

7. Step 3 cont…some ideas • Found poetry is an excellent poetry exercise and at this step in the process, it may be worth while to allow students to use a particular poem to create some found poetry in order to make it relatable and familiar to them.

8. Step Four: Look for patterns • Remind students that a pattern can be anything that repeats itself: • Rhythm • Rhymes • Themes • Alliteration • Visuals

9. Step 5: Identify the narrator • Ask students who is telling the poem • Remind them, as Burke suggests, that the narrator isn’t always the author of the poem. • For example, the narrator of “On the Subway” is every white woman with money. • “Test the different narrative voices out in a poem to see if the text supports your notion of multiple personae, and be willing to concede that it does not.” (82)

10. Step 6: Reflect in Writing • Burke suggests this step because it allows students time to step back and collect their thoughts about a poem. • He also reminds us, the teachers, to model this for the student: “Students do not know what thinking looks like sometimes, so teachers must show them.” (82) • Have students keep a dedicated class journal for these purposes.

11. Step 7: Read the poem (again) • Read the poem out loud if this hasn’t been done by this point. Poems are meant to be heard, not just read. • Burke points out that this step is an excellent opportunity to teach students how to read poetry with dramatic emphasis (83).

12. Step 7 cont…Poetry society advice • Shared reading • discuss how students read • ask students to read to each other in groups or in pairs • ask them to add thoughts (questions, juicy bits etc) to the page (or comment on displayed poems) with post-it notes • value listening • give the poem time • give the students time • value everyone's opinion • reinforce the broad spectrum of poetry subject matter by using poetry elsewhere in the curriculum such as poems on science, history, geography, music or art* *Poetrysociety.org

13. Step 8: Find the crucial moments • Burke reminds us that poems can be like stories: • They can have rising and falling action • Moments of particular change or intensity • Encourage students to find these moments through hunting for grammatical clues, specific words, or formatting changes.

14. Step 9: Consider form and function • “There are no accidents in poems.” (83) • Have students hunt for certain features of the poem and use those as a guide for further meaning. • This is where a teacher can bring in some teaching about poetic elements such as meter, repetition and compression. • Have students consider the space surrounding the poem as part of its form rather than blank white space.

15. The last step,Step 10: Look at the Language • “Words are the poet’s medium, their paint.” (85) Remind students of this as they take a closer look at the words. • Have students closely examine each word of the poem for meaning, then examine the poem’s words as a whole. • The words before or after a phrase can alter the poem’s entire meaning-have students look for this and take note of how the poet uses words and phrases to communicate with the reader.

16. Poetry resources • Poetry Society: www.poetrysociety.org.uk • Poetryclass: www.poetryclass.net • Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award:www.poetrysociety.org.uk/foyle • The Poetry Archive: www.poetryarchive.org • Poetry 180: www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ • NAWE (directory of writers): www.artscape.org.uk