In this article an elementary literacy specialist reflects on the use of multigenre, multimodal texts to support the teaching of poetry. She explores the synergy between poetry and related informational, visual, and auditory texts to afford deeper insights into the poem and the poet, in this instance, the poem, "The Negro Speaks of…

Starting with the writer's own experience as a reader, this article discusses poetry by Eric Roach, Derek Walcott, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Agard, Edward Baugh, Michael Smith and Velma Pollard. It explores the sense of place felt by writer and reader, going on to analyse the poets' use of Nation Language, poetic metre and intertextuality in…

Compares poetry to a dead body that teachers, like mad scientists, are trying to revive. Suggests that teachers stop trying to teach students to find the meaning in a poem but to simply accept the experience in a nonjudgmental, open way. Offers three activities designed to help students to explore poetry in their own way. (PRA)

For the sake of keeping language alive, contemporary American poets must be included in the English curriculum. (JH)

In an instructional experiment in poetry in a college English literature course, chronology of publication and labels of authorship were ignored in the study of Wordsworth and Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads." In the original plan for the "Lyrical Ballads," Coleridge was to supply poems treating supernatural elements as real,…

Deals with teaching a Walt Whitman unit in a high school American literature course. Discusses ways of making the poet's work relevant to the current generation of students. (RBW)

Explores how poetry differs from other modes of discourse and how poetry should be taught. (AEA)

Written by teachers and poets, this book offers insights into the nature of poetry and the ways in which children can be taught to enjoy reading and writing poetry. The book contains the following articles: "Poetry and the Magic of Words," by Colin Thiele; "Poetry and the Child," by Charles Causley; "A Verse Along the…

Probes William Wordsworth's relationship to the young reader. Concludes that although many young people today cannot have the direct, immediate experience of nature that overawed Wordsworth, they can, in a room where they sit down together and read a poem, "learn a contemplative solitude--and respond to [a] poem in their individual…

Describes a teacher's personal memories which, when shared with students, helped make the poetry of Wordsworth and Whitman more meaningful. Suggests that for true comprehension of poetry to occur--Romantic or otherwise--teachers must lead students and model from within their own personal connections. (NH)

Author describes teaching unit of Rod McKuen poems for sixth grade class study. (RY)

Discusses the public's lack of appreciation for poetry. Gives examples of poems expressing irony and emotions. Argues that poetry's philosophy, mode, and tone of communication make it difficult. Considers poetry's subversive, exploratory, and entertaining aspects. Presents detailed analyses of four poems. (DMM)

The persona Robert Frost communicated to most of his wide, diverse, and often non-academic audience was that of a rather isolated New England farmer, who--because of his limited experience with city folk and urban living--was untouched and thereby uncorrupted by the ways of the world. In teaching Frost, as in teaching any poet, some sort of…

A method of involving students in the processes of writing poetry to enrich their appreciation. Emphasis on sensory awareness precedes the writing experience. (AP)

The articles in this journal issue focus on the use of poetry for study in classrooms at all levels. Titles and authors of the articles include (1) "Summoning the Poem: Several Roads to Xanadu" by Ben F. Nelms; (2) "ABC's of Reading and Writing Poetry in Junior High" by Barbara Arnold; (3) "Invitations" by Elizabeth D. Nelms; (4) "Teaching Poetry…