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POETRYCLASS: FRESH IDEAS FOR POETRY LEARNING FROM THE POETRY SOCIETY
© 2014 POETRY SOCIETY & THE AUTHOR/S
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KEY STAGE AGE
EYFS 3-5
KS1 5-7
KS2 7-11
KS3 11-14
KS4 14-16
KS5 16-18
AT A GLANCE
• READING
• WRITING
• LITERACY
• CONFIDENCE
• SOUND
TEACHING THE READING OF
POETRY: TIPS FROM A POET
BY MANDY COE
The reader as writer
Understanding an artist’s technique or process can
enhance our appreciation of art. With a painting this
might mean considering the use of light or colour; in
music it might involve identifying melody or lyrics. But
with poetry the reader is already part of the process.
The poet’s canvas, their musical instrument, is you: the
reader; the speaker-aloud. Poets are lost without you.
When teaching the reading of poetry, this is a good
place to start - from a position of power. In stressing
that readers work alongside the poet to discover the
poem, teachers will be challenging the belief that
experiencing art is an act of consumption rather than
one of creation. This approach also invites students to
see the poem as provisional, still growing, thereby
encouraging rereading.
KEY IDEA 1: READER AS WRITER
Remember (and tell students):
• the reader works alongside the poet to unfold
the poem
• a poem continues to grow even after publication
• give a poem time: poets structure their poems
so they will reveal a little more with each reading
• every reader responds to a poem in a different way
Teacher as role model
Many adults have mixed feelings about poetry. Most of
us were not raised being read Beowulf at bed time and
at school poetry was too often presented as a dry and
inaccessible subject. It is no wonder that some of us
Poetry plays a powerful role in increasing students’
literacy skills in schools. But unless literacy starts with
goosebumps, laughter, or contemplation, none of us
would bother to read anything but bills, instructions and
road signs. When teaching the reading of poetry the guide
words should be: immersion, leisure, enjoyment, fun.
As an art form, poetry has sustained and nourished us
for thousands of years. Throughout recorded history
people from all cultures have used poems to share the
full range of human experience. By associating poetry
with pleasure we allow young people to make a
connection with the minds of these thinkers and
continue this tradition. The following article explores
ways in which primary and secondary school teachers
can teach the reading of poetry. It looks at resources,
makes connections between the writer and reader and
suggests practical activities.
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feel that poetry is like an optician’s eye chart: a jumble
of text designed to test us. “I don’t get it” is not an
unfamiliar response. But poets are not deliberately
hiding the ‘it’. A poem is more like a series of questions,
a close up of a leaf, or a glimpse of a slightly familiar
face. It takes a while for things to come into focus and
each reader will find a different ‘it’ each time they
revisit the poem. That is what reading poetry is about:
you don’t get it – you discover it.
I visit schools as a guest author and like many poets
have seen first-hand how a teacher’s attitude can
influence their pupils. Young people are nearly always
keen to write poetry whether their teacher’s approach
to it is one of pleasure or indifference. But the teacher
who “doesn’t get it” passes on a reluctance that is hard
to shift. This is the class where the word poetry brings
a tiny shiver.
How are we to break this chain? I think it is already
being broken. Initiatives like Poetryclass INSET
sessions, where poets work with teachers through
creative writing, indicate how schools now recognise
the need for teachers to be given time to explore and
celebrate their own creativity. Few writers-in-schools
residencies take place in the UK now without INSET
time being built in.
Whether you are a teacher who is passionate about
poetry or you still feel a little uncertain, here are a few
things to discuss with other teachers. These points
explore one of the most crucial resources in the
classroom when teaching the reading of poetry – you.
KEY IDEA 2: YOU AND POETRY
Ask yourself these questions about poetry:
• the reader works alongside the poet to unfold
• what do you tell yourself if a poem is not clear at
first reading?
• what elements of poetry do you enjoy?
• how do you use poetry in your life?
• Can you recall a time when a poem had a
particular resonance for you or your family?
• which of the following classroom activities do you
feel are most helpful in teaching the reading of
poetry?
o reading poetry (quietly or aloud)
o writing poems
o sharing attitudes and responses to poetry
o understanding the structures, techniques and
thinking behind specific poems
•
can you identify two things that would give you
practical assistance in teaching the reading of
poetry?
If young people are to develop a confident approach to
poetry they need to see a positive model of how adults
read poetry. Hearing a teacher read a poem out loud
(although this is wonderful in itself) is not always
enough. Modelling the reading of poetry means that the
normally hidden inner dialogue of a reader is made
apparent by being spoken aloud.
Reading poetry: a model
Rather than discovering a set of correct answers or
identifying poetic techniques, this activity is about
showing the pleasures of reflection, question and
discovery. Students should see reading poetry as a
leisure-time activity. Normally, there are strict demands
made on the teacher: analysing teaching material before
it is presented to the class, and working within a
hierarchical framework of established meanings. In this
instance those demands are temporarily set aside,
because the modelling of reading poetry is about being
tentative, changing your mind, making subjective
connections and enjoying the pleasures of imagery,
language and form.
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KEY IDEA 3: MODELLING READING POETRY
Try reading a poem in class, and follow these points:
• have photocopies of the poems for students to
share
• use open comments to help unfold a poem:
“That reminds me of...”
“That made me see...”
“What puzzles me is...”
“I wonder if...”
“It made me think...”
“Tell me...”
• be honest: if you don’t understand a poem, ask
pupils what they think
• model how your connection with the text
continues after the book is closed. Have certain
ideas and lines stayed with you? Have you been
thinking about the poem at home, or whilst
travelling to school?
Coleridge said that “Poetry gives the most pleasure
when only generally and not perfectly understood.”
Indeed some subjective resonances you might have
with a poem can be made less powerful through too
much objective dissection. To avoid overanalysing the
text, give yourself a time factor: a stopwatch or alarm
clock. If it interrupts a good discussion, let students
know, that by request, the poem can be revisited next
time.
Let some of the poems be unfamiliar. If the poems are
new, the whole class is on an equal footing. As a
teacher you are a powerful figure and your opinions or
interpretations will carry weight. Adults have broader
frameworks with which to interpret poems but young
people’s insights can be just as perceptive. This initial
modelling is to signal your role as a gatekeeper and
listener and should eventually lead to group readings,
readings in pairs and even readers’ groups. This will be
discussed later on.
Line breaks and stanzas
A poem comes into the world in two ways: how it looks
on the page and how it sounds out loud. In contemporary
poetry, sentences often run across lines and verses
(enjambment). But if lines do not end on a rhyme, a
comma or full stop, how are they to be read aloud?
Rather than pausing at the end of each line you should
let the poem’s punctuation be your guide. Don’t worry if
you hesitate on the first reading – even poets stumble
when reading a new poem.
Poets use line lengths and verse-shapes to enhance
sound and rhythm or deliberately work against them to
create tension. For the eye, a poem will use the white
space on the page as a way of altering pace as well as
creating thought-units within or across lines and
verses.
KEY IDEA 4: LINE BREAKS AND STANZAS
Explore the shape of the poem using this activity:
• take a poem and remove all the lines and stanza
breaks
• present it as one solid paragraph of prose and
read it aloud with the class
• compare it with the original poem, read it again.
Discuss what changes the spaces and shape make
to the piece
• (N.B. Try Pulitzer Prize winner, Gwendolyn
Brooks’s poem, ‘We Real Cool’. The poem is
nearly 50 years old, but it is as vibrant and
relevant today as on the day she wrote it. Another
example of this activity, this time using war poetry,
can be found in poet Roshan Doug’s Poetryclass
resource Rhythm and pace in poetry
.)
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Shared reading
When reading alongside the students, encourage them
to try reading aloud in their heads. A young person
might not be aware if they are speed-reading
(skimming). Discuss how they read. Ask them to read
the poem silently but more slowly – pronouncing the
words to themselves as if they were rehearsing it to be
read aloud. Think of it as music. If you read notated
music you can either say to yourself: “A flat, B sharp,
crochet, F sharp major”, or you can read it by hearing
the tune.
Poetry books are invaluable resources for shared
reading because it is possible to:
• start reading anywhere in the book
• read more slowly and discuss imagery and ideas
• read the book many times
• read aloud
• listen for sounds and rhythms
• enjoy the shapes of poems and (often) illustrations
KEY IDEA 5: SHARED READING
Open a discussion about approaches to reading:
• discuss how students read
• ask students to read to each other in groups or in
pairs
• ask them to add thoughts (questions, juicy bits
etc) to the page (or comment on displayed poems)
with post-it notes
• value listening
• give the poem time
• give the students time
• value everyone’s opinion
• reinforce the broad spectrum of poetry subject
matter by using poetry elsewhere in the curriculum
such as poems on science, history, geography,
music or art
The poet Simon Armitage says, “The best literature, I
feel, is a kind of written-down talk. Not talk as might
come from between the teeth, but a sort of imagined
talk.” (Short and Sweet, Faber and Faber 1999).
Although this observation is more about writing than
reading it does have a connection: voice. In teaching the
reading of poetry we uncover just how many elements
of poetry – rhythms, rhyme, the writer’s voice – shine
only when the text is viewed as speech.
Building a library and reading groups
There are many wonderful single-author collections and
poetry anthologies for children and young people. The
Poetry Society Education team or the staff at the Poetry
Library are always happy to help if you’re stuck for
ideas of which books might work for you. Build a class-
library of favourite poems. Make a folder and fill it with
poems brought from home or the school library. Include
poetry written by the students. The poems can then be
illustrated and compiled according to theme or mood.
Teachers should contribute poems too – ones
remembered from childhood as well as poems they
enjoy now, or even their own creations. Do not be
restricted to poems for children. A teacher sharing a
favourite poem is modelling the role poetry can play in
your life – not just that particular piece of text.
KEY IDEA 6: BUILDING A LIBRARY
AND READING GROUPS
Tips to make your classroom a poetry classroom:
• ensure your class has at least 6 poetry books that
remain in your class and can be read and
borrowed
• take a fresh look at school library stock and make
links with your public library
• build reading poems into the class routine
• reward poetry readers! Children who borrow the
most poetry books in a term can be given a
readers award by the school library
• form a poetry club in the class or library
A poetry club can read poems, write poems, write to
poets (via websites and publishers). They can write
reviews, make displays and form an advisory group to
select poetry for assembly. If they have internet access
there are some fabulous websites where children and
young people can engage with poetry. The Poetry
Society has some useful lists of websites: general
poetry links and education-related links. It also runs a
website for young adults called Young Poets Network.
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The right poems for the right age-group
“While there are some good poems which are only for
adults, because they presuppose adult experience in
their readers, there are no good poems which are only
for children.” (W.H. Auden)
Of course there are poems written just for children, but
as Mr Auden says, the good ones will give pleasure to
children and adults. You will have some input in
presenting a wide range of poetry, but your students
will be the guide. Younger pupils do adore a dose of
rhyme, rudeness and the ridiculous, and older pupils
can rebel against all things perceived as ‘childish’. But
this is not an absolute. I regularly use adult poetry with
young children.
As a child, I saw the library as a refuge and so read
poetry indiscriminately. It wasn’t until I was given a
children’s poetry book at the age of 13 that I had any
idea there was such a thing as children’s poetry.
Consequently, most of the poems I read, I experienced
as a vital message told in another language. I remember
reading Siegfried Sassoon’s poem, ‘Everybody Sang’:
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on – on –
and out of sight.
I was haunted by those lines and knew there was
something important to be understood and that one day
I would. As a result I avoid matching poems to age
groups too tightly. It would be sad to deny a young
person the chance to read a poem they don’t quite
understand, because this would be denying them the
realisation – a year or two on – that they do. Just as the
pencilled lines on a doorframe show a child’s growth in
height, these poems can be used to mark our growth in
relation to ideas and use of language.
Access live literature
In reading a poem on the page you will discover things
like heightened language and metaphor and imagery, but
in reading it aloud you will notice that the poet, through
using alliteration, assonance, consonance or rhyme,
chooses words that challenge your tongue, teeth and
breath in a surprisingly physical way.
By creating “memorable speech” as Auden put it, the
poem delights even the youngest of children with
nursery rhymes, playground chants, dipping games,
jingles and songs. Live literature celebrates this and
performance poetry is a vibrant element of today’s
popular culture. Most cities in the UK have venues
where poetry is regularly shared in public. Guest spots
will feature well known contemporary poets reading
alongside local writers. This is a great opportunity for
teachers to see first-hand the range of poetry out there,
and the variety of ways a poem can be performed.
KEY IDEA 7: ACCESS LIVE LITERATURE
Try out some of these ways to see and hear poetry:
• take your students to a poetry reading. Some LEA
literature events specifically involve readings
from poets included in the curriculum, or keep an
eye on listings for local theatres for readings by
visiting poets
• organise a poetry reading in your school (the
Poetry Society’s Poets in Schools
scheme can
help with this)
• listen to recordings of poets reading and
discussing their work at The Poetry Archive
• the former US Poet Laureate, Billy Collins
launched a programme called Poetry 180
. This
site provides one poem for each day of the school
year (suitable for secondary students). It also has
information on how to read aloud as well as
featuring input from pupils.
Siegfried Sassoon by George
Charles Beresford (1915).
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Some useful resources
• Poetry Society: www.poetrysociety.org.uk
• Poetryclass webpages:
www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/education/
poetryclasshome
• Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award:
www.foyleyoungpoets.org
• Young Poets Network:
www.youngpoetsnetwork.org.uk
• The Poetry Archive: www.poetryarchive.org
• Poetry 180: www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
• NAWE (directory of writers):
www.nawe.co.uk/professional-directory.html
Mandy Coe writes poetry for adults and children. Her
book, Our thoughts are bees: Writers Working with
Schools (Wordplay Press, 2005) is co-authored with
Jean Sprackland and can be seen at
www.wordplaypress.com
Writer as reader
Curriculum requirements in secondary education leave
little space for creative writing. This imbalance between
critical and creative writing is regrettable. The
knowledge gained through writing poems gives valuable
insight into the more theoretical aspects of poetry.
Being asked to appreciate poetry without having an
opportunity of writing it is like reading recipes without
tasting the food.
The benefits of writing poetry can have a huge impact
on students, teachers and the school in general. If you
want help with writing poetry in the school, invite a
guest poet to read alongside the students, run
workshops or deliver INSET. The Poetry Society and
the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE)
have created databases where you can find poets
experienced in working in schools.
KEY IDEA 8: WRITER AS READER
Consider these ways to ensure your students’ creative
writing is shared and valued:
• invite a poet to visit your school
• display students’ poems
• hold a reading of students’ work in your
class/school
• publish an anthology, or post poems on the
school’s website
• shrink poems on the computer and copy them on
to letters to parents
• ask your school or public library to host a display
