A Poetry Bibliography for Teachers

Here are a few books that I recommend and use frequently when teaching poetry to kids.  I hope you’ll find one or two that are helpful for your teaching style and grade range.  Some are older, but if you can get your hands on them, they are still rich and helpful.

Also, please, please don’t hesitate to write me and ask additional questions about using poetry in your classroom. My email is below. It is fun to see how effective poetry can be in helping young writers find their voices and get excited about writing—some for the very first time. 

Mostly these texts are listed in alphabetical order, except for Georgia Heard--she’s tops.

Heard, Georgia.  Awakening the Heart.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann, 1998. Wow, what an amazing resource!  Still the best around.  It inspires me each time I pick it up.  Filled with ideas & tips, but also provides depth for understanding the tools and power of poetry for kids.  Mostly elementary in focus.

Heard, Georgia and Lester Laminack. Reading and Writing Across the Year. Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann, 2008. Part of a marvelous three-book package (see below).  This one is the central book, with ways to create a poetry-rich classroom, and lots of fine mini-lessons for using poetry year round in little daily or weekly bites.  K-2 mostly but can be extended to 3.

Heard, Georgia and Lester Laminack. Climb Inside a Poem & Lessons for Climb Inside a Poem (two books).  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann, 2008.  29 original poems in a big book, and the lessons to use with the poems in the other—just 5-10 minutes a day for a week, with each poem.  Marvelous and easy. K-2 mostly but can be extended to 3.

Fletcher, Ralph, Poetry Matters - Writing a Poem From The Inside Out.  New York: Harper Trophy, 2002.  This little gem is mostly a guide for young writers, but teachers can learn a lot about the craft of poetry writing too. Includes some fine interviews with poets. Grades 4-8.

Harrison, David L.  Easy Poetry Lessons that Dazzle and Delight.  New York: Scholastic, 1999.  Like Paul Janeczko’s two great Scholastic texts below, this is a marvelously teacher-friendly resource.  50 reproducible poems and activities with loads of great tips and lessons for teachers.  Grades 3-6.

Harrison, David L. and Kathy Holderith,  Using the Power of Poetry to Teach Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and More.  New York: Scholastic, 2003.  When you need tons of great poetry ideas to connect across the curriculum, this workbook has many marvelous lessons and writing activities you can plug right in and use.    Grades 2-6

Hewitt, Geof.  Today You Are My Favorite Poet:  Writing poems with teenagers  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998.  This is an excellent book for working with teenagers.  The tone and the exercises have just the right inspiration and irreverence to get teen emotions rolling into poems.  High and middle school.

Holbrook, Sara, Practical Poetry A Non-Standard Approach to Meeting Content Area Standards, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2005.  Sara Holbrook’s poetry is always “non-standard” and fun, and this book has lots of great examples and kid-friendly lessons for each of the major content areas.  Definitely 5^th – 8^th grade.

Hopkins, Lee Bennett.  Pass The Poetry, Please!,  New York: HarperCollins, 1998. (3rd Edition)  This scholarly book is filled with some good references for teachers, but is thin on actual examples. Good short bios of the most famous children’s poets of the last century. 

Janeczko, Paul B.  Favorite Poetry Lessons.  New York:  Scholastic, 1998.  What a teacher-friendly reference. Clear explanations, lots of great examples, and he lays the lessons out in wonderfully logical progressions.  Grades 4-8.

Janeczko, Paul B.  Teaching Ten Fabulous Forms of Poetry.  New York:  Scholastic, 2000.  This teacher-friendly resource has great lessons very carefully planned for instant use with great directions.  Grades 4-8.

Lewis, J. Patrick, Poems for Teaching in the Content Areas, New York: Scholastic, 2007.  Pat Lewis (my favorite poet for kids) has written 75 very diverse poems to fit with easy-to-use lessons from Laura Robb. Grades 5 -6 and above.

Mack, Nancy, Teaching Grammar With Playful Poems, New York: Scholastic, 2005.  Practical lessons that isolate and highlight each element of grammar with fun poem models and templates for easy kid and teacher-use.  Grades 3-5.

Routman, Regie,  Kids’ Poems.  New York:  Scholastic, 2000. With four books (K, 1st, 2nd, 3/4th grades), Routman provides clear justification and process for teaching poetry with kids, along with some great examples of kid’s work for teachers to use as models.  A bit thin on ideas for different lessons and poetry types.  Grades K-4. Published by grade.

Tiedt, Iris McClellan, Tiger Lilies, Toadstools, and Thunderbolts, IRA, Newark, DE, 2002.  This book seems easy to use and read.  It covers using poetry across the curriculum, and has lesson plans.  Grades 1-8.

The Best Books for Reading Poems Aloud  (Daily if you can)

These treasures are anthologies--spectacular collections of poems on just about every subject, and in just about every style.  Most of the poems are rhymed, and delightfully fun to share.  Every elementary library (and classroom!) should have these books on the shelf.

1. The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, Random House, New York, 1983.  A classic.    

    Edited by Jack Prelutsky.  “A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today’s Child.”

2.  The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1999.

     Edited by Jack Prelutsky.    211 poems from 137 great poets.

3.  The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2008.

4.  Worth, Valerie, All the Small Poems and Fourteen More, Farrar, Straus...NY, 1996.    

     Delightful, small poems, rich with figurative language and imagery. Great for K-6.

A few good Poetry Web Sites for teachers that I have found:

http://42explore.com/poetry.htm - Lots of links and lessons.

www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listpoetrymr14.html  -  “Poetry Place” - Created by Elaine Magliaro with great links to resources, poems, poets and bibliographies.

www.potatohill.com  -  With new lessons each month to instantly use, and links for publishing.

www.proteacher.com/070034.shtml   Several pages of great links and lesson plans to plug into.

Good Luck!

Ted

e-mail: poetryguy at comcast.net

© 2010 Ted Scheu