Elementary School
Laura Shovan's Poetry Residency
Poetry Lesson “Menu”
Below is a list of poems/lessons that I often teach in the elementary school setting. Before a residency, teachers and I sit down with this list and choose the best lessons for their students. I am always looking for new poems and ideas in my teaching, so if you have a favorite poem you’d like to work on, let me know!
Introduction to Poetry
“You Enter a Poem,” Hirsch
“Conversation with a Mouse,” Bly
“Under the Sky Is,” Izarek
Poetic Form
Imagery/Haiku & Tanka:
Haiku by Basho & Issa, with Haiku Hike and Tanka by Harter & Kizer
Imagery/Odes: “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes,” Soto
Stanzas/Opposites Poem: “Swift Things are Beautiful,” Coatsworth
Revising Poems/Line Breaks: “Good Hotdogs,” Cisneros
Literary Devices
Onomatopoeia/Poems of Place: “Weather,” Merriam
Imagery/Food Poems: “Good Hotdogs,” Cisneros
Imagery/Activity: “Summer Magic,” Singer and “Skating in the Wind,” George
Simile/Animals are Like Feelings: “Hedgehog,” Chu Chen Po
Wordplay/Zany Poems: “The Unwritten,” Merwin and “Eliza’s Jacket,” Brown