Teaching poetry in high school English is often a challenge. Students, even students in AP® Literature, think they do not like poetry. So here are some options to help them gain confidence in poetry analysis and have some fun while they are at it.
Teaching Poetry Through Collaborative Annotations
Check out this post on using collaborative annotations. Several ideas on how to engage students in poetry through group annotations.
Focus on the Sonnet in Poetry
Need a quick poetry mini unit. This poetry unit can be completed 5-8 class periods. Spend a day or two going over form and practicing together, then have students work with a partner to do collaborative annotations. Check it out.
Grab the unit ready to go here.
Make Teaching Poetry a Game with Poetry Slams
I had gotten away from using the poetry slam (a bracket style competition of poems or poets) until I realized the depth that poetry analysis could take in a poetry slam. Read more about it here. Oh and grab a free Poetry Slam Guide for High School Teachers.
Teaching Poetry with a Poem of the Week
Use poetry as your bell ringer. This is Poetry Analysis spread throughout the week, a little at a time. Read more about it here.
Use Theme Based Poetry Units
Set up a poetry unit based on a theme, time period or genre. Try Poems of the Harlem Renaissance or Poems for Women’s History Month or Poems for Back to School.
Use Reader Response
Reader response is a great option for teaching students to enjoy poetry because it validates their opinions. And it gives them an opportunity to express them. For lots of ideas about how to incorporate reader response into teaching poetry, check out this post.
Student Curated Anthologies
I love this project because it is part research and part poetry analysis. Students choose a topic. They find poems related to the topic to develop an anthology of poetry. They write an introduction that explains how the poems are linked and they write an essay or two to dive deeper into the analysis of a poem or two that they have included in their anthology. Grab the project here.
7 Ways to Teach Poetry Analysis
I hope that you will try one or two or all these ideas for teaching poetry in your high school English classes. Let me know in the comments the ones you try or if you have any that ideas that you love.
Related Resources
Free How-to Guide: Poetry Slam for High School
Looking for more ideas? 4 Ideas to Teach Poetry Analysis
Seasonal Poetry Ideas: Adding Color to Your Winter Poetry (Smith Teaches 9 to 12)
Poetry Writing Activities: No Writing Poetry Options (Smith Teaches 9 to 12)
Use Lyrics: How to Teach Taylor Swift as Poetry (The Teacher Rewrite)
Shop This Post
Focus on the Sonnet–Poetry Mini Unit: Sonnets (5-8 days)
Ready to Use: British Poets vs. American Poets Poetry Slam
Grab 20 weeks of Bell Ringers: Daily Poetry Analysis (Poem of the Week)
Poetry Project for AP® Lit: Student Curated Poetry Anthologies
