Presents ways to help young elementary school students successfully write poetry, including: introduce the lesson; share models of student poets' work; demonstrate poetry writing (write for and with children); brainstorm to help students get started; provide sustained time for writing; and regroup and celebrate the students' poems. (SM)

Presents two letters to a young writer, modeled on the influential "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke. Notes the first letter situates itself when a young writer first turns toward poetry; and the second addresses the relationship between mentorship and the imagination, questioning the right of any writer to presume to guide the…

Presents an interview with poet and novelist Fanny Howe. Discusses the nature of titles, the peripatetic poem, and the "perilous point" from which her favorite authors write. (RS)

Discusses the work of Andrew Debicki, an academician with a commitment to twentieth century poetry. Considers the position of peninsular Spanish literature within the context of the humanities today. (Author/VWL)

Asking children to use a dictionary without discussion to expand their vocabularies is uninteresting, unnatural and unwarranted. This type of assignment requests that the student teach him or herself. Directing students with words without showing them what to do is quite difficult. Asking them to do it independently without observing a model is…

This brief paper describes the process of writing and teaching haiku poetry, which can be a wonderful activity to allow reflective time for both teachers and students. All that is needed to teach haiku is lined and blank paper, regular pencils, colored pencils, crayons or markers for inspiration, and lots of enthusiasm. Since many haiku poems are…

The usage of poetry for learning mathematics is discussed. Formula poetry involves repetition instead of rhyme and is thus useful in understanding mathematical concepts.

The use of hip-hop music and spoken word poetry helps urban students engage in the study of literary terms. Spoken word poetry uses the cadence and direct language of hip-hop music to uplift the critical consciousness of those who listen to it.

Adrian C. Lewis asked the author if he could write a poem using their e-mail conversation. That ordinary conversation was the source of the poem that came about as a result. And the poetry--a major voice of literature, especially Indigenous literature--came about simply as an act of community, simply as an act of empowerment.

This article presents a poem aimed at library media specialists. This poem relays how elementary school library media specialists can survive the monthly demands of their jobs.

A leading TA and writer speaks to the human importance of art making in schools, prisons, and beyond. This article attempts to demonstrate that, as human beings and as artists, we should speak up for nourishing the art-making instinct at its core, and not only for placing this gift in the service of other laudable goals.

Often, teaching poetry offers a special challenge to children and teachers alike. This author, a curriculum director at Middletown Township Public School in New Jersey, noticed that students routinely scored poorly on poetry questions, and attributed this to the lack of exposure at the elementary grades, as well as the discomfort that adults feel…

This article examines the ways in which the poetry strand of literacy instruction can help teachers infuse geography into the elementary classroom. Teachers can use poems to target important aspects of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. When the poems contain substantive geography…

This study investigates the cultural and educational ideas of the French deaf poet-teacher Pierre Pelissier (1814-1863) who was an instructor at the Paris Deaf Institute from the early 1840s until his death in 1863. As a young man, Pelissier became interested in composing poetry and through his verse, captured many of the social frustrations…

The children's novel "Out of the Dust" (Hesse, 1997) is an evocative portrayal of the drought and dust storms that devastated Midwestern farms in the 1930s. Through the voice of her 13-year-old narrator, Karen Hesse intertwines history and free verse poetry to create what many readers find to be a moving depiction of the Oklahoma…