I have always loved poetry. I was one of those strange kids who would keep copies of poems we learned about in class and I can still recite some of them. :)
One of the things I think it is very important for students to know is that poems do not have to follow any rules. They do not need to rhyme, they don't even need punctuation (e.e.cummings). Vocabulary in poems is also very succinct because a poet doens't have the space of a novel to make their point-so a great way to incorporate new vocabulary.
I posted about poetry a few weeks ago and received a comment asking for what poems specifically would work with the young kiddos. So here is a list:
Robert Frost-The Road Less Traveled, Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Nothing Gold Can Stay
Langston Hughes-Mother to Son, Democracy, Dream Variations, The Blues
Shel Silverstein-Sick, Snowball, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Polar Bear in the Frigidaire (great for alliteration)
Jack Prelutsky-New Kid on the Block (great for visualizing and making inferences)
Robet Hayden-Those Winter Days
Silvia Plath- Mirror (I only use the first stanza-told from the perspective of a mirror)
Alfred Lord Tennyson-The Eagle
Robert Louis Stevenson-My Shadow, The Moon
Maya Angelou-I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Life Doesn't Frighten Me
A.A. Milne-If I Were King
Nikki Giovani-Tennesee
Carl Sandburg-Fog
Margarita Engle-Memory, Dream Drum Girl
Hope that helps get you started. :)
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