Poetry Everywhere: Teaching poetry Writing in School and in the Community

This book is wonderful. I had the privilege of goin to a poetey workshop with Jack Collom several years ago,and I have wanted to lead a workshop for kids at my school ever since. This book allowed me to do just that. We finish our workshop soon. The kids have really responded to the different genres, and the suggestions in the book have helped us a lot in our planning of the workshop. I highly recommend this book.

Had to buy this for a class. The lessons are actually pretty useful to the classroom if you are a teacher. I used some of them, but only about a handful and didn't find the rest of them relevant. Many of them were adaptable to my class. If you are an elementary school teacher or a literature/language teacher I can see this being extremely useful!

This book is filled with unique ways to explore poetry in the classroom. It is an excellent resource for the classroom. The transaction was easy and I received the book quickly.

Worked for class!

I am using this to write poetry with my students. This book is very well written and very helpful!

Great book in great condition at a reasonable price. Great resource for teachers to successfully integrate poetry in the classroom.

In her preface, Sheryle Noethe writes that the genesis of "Poetry Everywhere" was the year she spent as a resident poet in Salmon, Idaho, visiting school "in an effort to make creative writing full of opportunity." This mission was synonymous with mine when I entered the DC public school system two years ago to lead poetry workshops for inner city middle school children. I had little teaching experience and embarked on my journey with only my enthusiasm and my copy of "Poetry Everywhere." Luckily, these two things were all I needed to launch a successful series of classes. "Poetry Everywhere" turned out to be a phenomenal resource, a stew of delicious ideas meant to inspire-but not to instruct. This is not a manual for lazy teachers. There are no pages to be photocopied and filled with blank lines for students to "finish the story" or "imagine a very bad day and describe." Instead, as co-author Jack Collom writes, "This is a how-to book. It is also a big many-gated entrance to pleasure and excitement in learning . . . The writing exercises in this book allow for the possibility of poetry." In this sense, the book is entirely honest in its assessment of itself. It does not ensure success in the classroom, but it does provide creative teachers willing to put in a little extra effort an elaborate list of writing exercises. These include everything from acrostics to pantoums to William Carlos Williams imitations. In my experience these exercises are great launching pads, but in order for them to resonate with students both willing and hesitant to write, a teacher must be able to expand on the suggested courses of actions. For instance, as the book itself suggests, most children like to brainstorm in a group before they sit down to write. Also it is invaluable for them to see their work in print, or at least on the board, and also to have the opportunity to share what they write in an open and positive environment. Although it seems the authors have tried all these exercises with age groups varying from first graders to high schoolers, I found that it is important to assess for oneself which activities are age appropriate for whom. Still, the examples given in each chapter of actual poems written by students are great to read out loud to the class. This way, students can be inspired by the potential of each exercise. Also, I found it encourages students to see their teacher trying the exercises along with them. And teachers, don't worry. Most of the activities are fun and sometimes challenging even for adults. Fortunately, once teachers have run the gamut of these exercises "Poetry Everywhere" provides supplementary chapters on enlivening standard English instruction, activities for more advanced students, revision, and inventing more exercises. In the past two years I have read through a variety of books claiming to be manuals for the teaching of creative writing to children. But in essence these types of curriculums should be organic to the classroom, and "Poetry Everywhere" seems to be the only book out there that truly understands this idea. Nowadays, as creativity is is increasing squashed by the restrictions of hardened syllabi, I can only hope that teachers everywhere will realize the importance of doing exactly what this book recommends, encouraging students to discover not only that it's fun to write poems but also that the art of writing is central to the process of learning in general.

This book is a Poetry 101: A-Z for the novice teacher, or one like me wanting to incorporate poetry into my art classroom. This book is structured so that whatever you are looking for you will be able to find it easily. Though an easy read, this book fully engaged and inspired me to go forth into unchartered territory. There are NUMEROUS poetic styles to fit into just about any teacher's curriculum at ANY grade level. The ideas and exercises that the authors suggest to get you going are simple but extremely effective. The exercises work as a springboard to which you use your creativity to jump from and expand. I benefited from this book professionally as well as personally and my students (basically the entire student population) took to it from the first day of introduction. Many of them got so into it that they would write at home and bring what they had done in the next day to my class, eventhough they didn't do their "homework" for their homeroom teacher. Poetry has struck a chord in my students and that wouldn't have been possible without the Poetry Everywhere book to inspire me and get me majorly enthusiastic about the subject. I highly recommend this book for any teacher wanting to inject something new yet so beneficial into their daily routine.