Help kids learn to enjoy poems – barbaric yawps optional!

We've always loved the way Cheryl Mizerny began her MiddleWeb article Poetry Writing Made Fun: 10 Cool Teaching Ideas with a clip from The Dead Poets Society. It's the scene where teacher John Keating has his students rip out the introduction to their poetry textbook, shouting "excrement!" as he derides the author's formula for poetry analysis and ignites a passion for "rhythmic literature" in his young charges. Cheryl writes: 

While I would have loved for my students to feel moved to sound their barbaric yawps over the rooftops, I knew I would be content with them appreciating poetry as an art form and the apotheosis of word choice. To achieve this, I decided to focus on enjoying and crafting poetry and not analyzing it to death at the start.

Cheryl goes on to share 10 of her favorite ways to engage students as readers and writers of poetry – from "poems in your pocket" and "book spine poems" to the addition of music, illustration and collaboration. Her post is a huge resource, with more than 32,000 reads since April of 2017. Poetry is timeless!

For even more engaging poetry hooks, try:

• Ideas to Integrate Poetry Throughout the Year (Megan Kelly)

• Celebrate Poetry Month with Five Fun Activities (Marilyn Pryle)

• What Changes Kids’ Minds about Poetry (Linda Rief)

• Using Poetry Pauses to Elevate Student Writing (Brett Vogelsinger)

• Invite Your Students to Peel Some Poems (Kathleen Palmieri)

• Teaching Students That Poetry Is a Necessity (Dina Strasser)

•  Novels in Verse: The Why, Which and How (Kasey Short)