Books for Teaching Poetry

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From Unit Plan: Music without the Melody

These books can be used to support poetry lessons by providing lesson extensions, printables, and enrichment activities.

25 Great Grammar Poems with Activities by Bobbi Katz
Katz presents grammar instruction through the form of poetry in these easy-to-use lessons.

Classroom Tip: I use this book to easily integrate grammar mini-lessons with our poetry unit.

50 Reproducible Strategy Sheets That Build Comprehension During Independent Reading: Engaging Forms That Guide Students to Use Reading Strategies and Recognize Literary Elements and Help You Assess Comprehension by Anina Robb
This book is a great language arts resource for teaching any genre.

Classroom Tip: There are two sections in this book that focus on poetry. One section guides the reading of the poems while the other helps students explore the facets of poetry. Students work these activities independently during the poetry unit.

Easy Poetry Lessons That Dazzle and Delight by David Harrison and Bernice Cullinan
This book offers suggestions for studying and creating poetry by providing reproducible activities for students.

Classroom Tip: I use this book to provide independent practice for my students.

Favorite Poetry Lessons by Paul B. Janeczko
The focus of this book is strictly about teaching students how to write poetry.

Classroom Tip: I use this book towards the end of the poetry unit when students begin creating poems on their own.

Instant Poetry Frames Around the Year: 40 Fun and Easy Reproducible Poetry Frames That Help All Kids Write Different Kinds of Poems, and Practice Rhyme, Alliteration, and More by Mona Melwani
Infuse the practice of writing poetry throughout the school year with the frames provided in this book.

Classroom Tip: After writing our own poetry, students publish the poems in these frames to create a beautiful display on our bulletin board.

Metaphors & Similes You Can Eat and 12 More Great Poetry Writing Lessons: Inspiring Mini-Lessons, Model Poems, and Reproducible Activities That Spark Creativity and Sharpen Writing Skills by Orel Protopopescu
This teacher-created resource provides classroom-tested lessons on figurative language and different forms of poetry.

Classroom Tip: I use this book to help guide students through the writing of original poems.

Opening a Door by Paul B. Janeczko
Janeczko walks us through successful poetry instruction in a middle school setting. By offering background as to why each strategy works, he empowers teachers to use his suggested lessons and reproducibles to help students make connections to the learning.

Classroom Tip: The lessons and strategies in this book are used and consulted during every phase of the poetry unit.

Perfect Poems with Strategies for Building Fluency: Grades 5-6: Easy-to-Read Poems with Effective Strategies to Help Students Build Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension
Compiled by a reading specialist, this book includes 50 engaging poems specially selected for building different aspects of oral reading fluency.

Classroom Tip: I make transparencies of selected poems in this book to use on an overhead projector during direct reading instruction. The pages have pictures and cool fonts that pique students’ interest throughout the lesson.

Teaching 10 Fabulous Forms of Poetry: Great Lessons, Brainstorming Sheets, and Organizers for Writing Haiku, Limericks, Cinquains, and Other Kinds of Poetry Kids Love by Paul B. Janeczko
This book contains step-by-step lessons with companion reproducibles that make teaching poetry fun and easy. The focus of this professional book is mainly on guiding students through creating different forms of poetry.

Classroom Tip: This book is a great resource for demonstrating that writing poetry is a concrete process for our adolescent students. I pick a couple of mainstream forms of poetry and use these pages to guide instruction.

Using the Power of Poetry to Teach Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and More: Engaging Poetry Lessons, Model Poems, and Writing Activities That Help Kids Learn Important Content by David Harrison, Kathy Holderith
By providing dozens of model lessons and poems, writing prompts, reproducible activities, and more, this book encourages the integration of poetry instruction in all disciplines.

Classroom Tip: Not only do I use the lessons in this book in my language arts class, but I also share lessons with teachers in other disciplines so that poetry instruction is not departmentalized.

Playing with Poetry: Activities that Make Reading and Writing Poetry Even More Fun
Activities that encourage you child's love of reading and writing poetry. Ideas include making a poetry collage, reading poetry aloud, finding your kid's name in a poem, and more.

Fine-Tuning Metaphors
Learn how to craft well-controlled metaphors with U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.

What Am I?
Expand your student's poetic sensibilities and develop their critical thinking ideas with this fun poetry lesson.

LESSON PLAN	What is Haiku? Demonstrates a lesson plan for exposing students to Ancient Japanese culture through reading, writing, discussing, and researching Haiku poetry.
UNIT PLAN	American Journeys: California Welcome to American Journeys: Learn About California-a dynamic educational program developed for fourth graders that encourages the use of language...
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Home | Write It Write It is the premiere site for kids' and teens' writing instruction and online publishing. In genres like poetry, essays, short fiction,...