Poetry Goes to School: From Mother Goose to Shel Silverstein

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Poems Please! is a comprehensive guide for the teacher wishing to
incorporate poetry into his/her program. Beginning with a definition of
poetry followed by a brief discussion of its history and evolution, the
authors identify the various genres of poetry. Samples of each type of
poem are given, along with suggestions for sharing with students.
Sidebars contain examples and/or comments and reminiscences about poetry
from writers, educators, or the authors themselves.

The answer to “Why use poetry with children?” is followed by a
thorough discussion of the “how-tos” of reading, sharing, and
writing poetry. Practical, ready-for-classroom-use suggestions are
abundant and include techniques for assessment. An extensive
bibliography of poetry books, categorized according to type (single
poets, picture-book poems, themed anthologies, etc.) complements this
valuable resource.

Poetry Goes to School is a blueprint for using poetry in the classroom.
Each chapter focuses on a specific form of poetry (e.g., riddles and
rhymes, poetry patterns, poems as pictures, story poems). A description
of the genre is followed by examples of each, along with ideas for
sharing and teaching. Included are activities (many of them reproducible
for immediate use) that encourage students to respond to the poetry in a
variety of ways through reading, writing, dramatization, art, and music.
Finally, each chapter introduces and features a well-known poet whose
work best illustrates the poetic form being explored (e.g., Mother Goose
rhymes, Dennis Lee; story poems, Naomi Shihab Nye).

Five appendixes—which include three case studies, a checklist for
assessing a classroom poetry program, and a list of poets (in addition
to those featured) whose work illustrates the various forms of
poetry—supplement the text.

Poems Please!, already a classic, will be even more useful in this
updated version; Poetry Goes to School is a nice accompaniment.