In this collection you will find:

• A Song of the Woods by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.
• A Fall Song by Ellen Robena Field
• Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Autumn, Queen of Year by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.
• Down to Sleep by Helen Hunt Jackson
• Farewell to the Farm by Robert Louis Stevenson
• How the Leaves Came Down by Susan Coolidge
• November by Alice Cary
• November Morning by Evaleen Stein
• September by Helen Hunt Jackson
• October’s Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson
• The Huskers by John Greenleaf Whittier
• “After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost
• The Migration of the Grey Squirrels by William Howitt

A Song of the Woods

by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. (1902–1983) (Written between age five and twelve.)

“My leaves are turning crimson,” the giant oak tree said,
“It’s almost time these children should seek their winter’s bed,
But how they still cling to me and gleam with crimson hue,
They truly are more lovely than cirrus clouds of blue.

“And now throughout the forest – list! hear their voices ring,
But ’tis in tones of sadness and sighing they now sing -
‘Alas! ’tis gone, fair summer, and winter’s reign is near,
He cruelly strips the forest of all her summer cheer
By killing all her lovely leaves and likewise flowers gay
And driving all her fairy folk to homes of far away.’”

A Fall Song

by Ellen Robena Field (published 1894)

Golden and red trees
Nod to the soft breeze,
As it whispers, “Winter is near;”
And the brown nuts fall
At the wind’s loud call,
For this is the Fall of the year.

Good-by, sweet flowers!
Through bright Summer hours
You have filled our hearts with cheer
We shall miss you so,
And yet you must go,
For this is the Fall of the year.

Now the days grow cold,
As the year grows old,
And the meadows are brown and sere;
Brave robin redbreast
Has gone from his nest,
For this is the Fall of the year.

I do softly pray
At the close of day,
That the little children, so dear,
May as purely grow
As the fleecy snow
That follows the Fall of the year.

Autumn Fires

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Autumn, Queen of Year

by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. (1902–1983) (Written between age five and twelve.)

When the pumpkins are so yellow
And the vines with grapes abound,
When the melons are so mellow
And the nuts fall to the ground;
When persimmons lose their bitters,
And the apples are so red;
When we love to eat corn fritters
Since the roasting ears have fled;
When vacation days are over
And the children go to school,
They no longer play in clover,
But much learn “Arithmos-rule,”
When weird Hallowe’en’s most naughty elves
With gnomes and sprites appear,
While fat Thanksgiving fills the shelves -
‘Tis AUTUMN, QUEEN OF YEAR.

Down to Sleep

by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830 – 1885)

November woods are bare and still;
November days are clear and bright;
Each noon burns up the morning’s chill;
The morning’s snow is gone by night.
Each day my steps grow slow, grow light,
As through the woods I reverent creep,
Watching all things lie “down to sleep.”

I never knew before what beds,
Fragrant to smell, and soft to touch,
The forest sifts and shapes and spreads;
I never knew before how much
Of human sound there is in such
Low tones as through the forest sweep,
When all wild things lie “down to sleep.”

Each day I find new coverlids
Tucked in, and more sweet eyes shut tight;
Sometimes the viewless mother bids
Her ferns kneel down full in my sight;
I hear their chorus of “good-night”;
And half I smile, and half I weep,
Listening while they lie “down to sleep.”

November woods are bare and still;
November days are bright and good;
Life’s noon burns up life’s morning chill;
Life’s night rests feet which long have stood;
Some warm soft bed, in field or wood,
The mother will not fail to keep,
Where we can “lay us down to sleep.”

Farewell to the Farm

 by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)

The coach is at the door at last;
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

How the Leaves Came Down

by Susan Coolidge (1835 – 1905)

“I’ll tell you how the leaves came down,”
The great tree to his children said,
“You’re getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown,
Yes, very sleepy, little Red.
It is quite time to go to bed.”

“Ah!” begged each silly, pouting leaf,
“Let us a little longer stay;
Dear Father Tree, behold our grief;
Tis such a very pleasant day
We do not want to go away.”

So, for just one more merry day
To the great tree the leaflets clung,
Frolicked and danced, and had their way,
Upon the autumn breezes swung,
Whispering all their sports among,–

“Perhaps the great tree will forget,
And let us stay until the spring,
If we all beg, and coax, and fret.”
But the great tree did no such thing;
He smiled to hear their whispering.

“Come, children, all to bed,” he cried;
And ere the leaves could urge their prayer,
He shook his head, and far and wide,
Fluttering and rustling everywhere,
Down sped the leaflets through the air.

I saw them; on the ground they lay,
Golden and red, a huddled swarm,
Waiting till one from far away,
White bedclothes heaped upon her arm,
Should come to wrap them safe and warm.

The great bare tree looked down and smiled,
“Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
And from below each sleepy child
Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured,
“It is so nice to go to bed!”

November

by Alice Cary (1820 – 1871)

The leaves are fading and falling;
The winds are rough and wild;
The birds have ceased their calling–
But let me tell you, my child,

Though day by day, as it closes,
Doth darker and colder grow,
The roots of the bright red roses
Will keep alive in the snow.

And when the winter is over,
The boughs will get new leaves,
The quail come back to the clover,
And the swallow back to the eaves.

The robin will wear on his bosom
A vest that is bright and new,
And the loveliest wayside blossom
Will shine with the sun and dew.

The leaves today are whirling;
The brooks are all dry and dumb–
But let me tell you, my darling,
The spring will be sure to come.

There must be rough, cold weather,
And winds and rains so wild;
Not all good things together
Come to us here, my child.

So, when some dear joy loses
Its beauteous summer glow,
Think how the roots of the roses
Are kept alive in the snow.

November Morning

by Evaleen Stein (1863 – 1923)

A tingling, misty marvel
Blew hither in the night,
And now the little peach-trees
Are clasped in frozen light.

Upon the apple branches
An icy film is caught,
With trailing threads of gossamer
In pearly patterns wrought.

The autumn sun, in wonder,
Is gayly peering through
This silver tissued network
Across the frosty blue.

The weather vane is fire tipped,
The honeysuckle shows
A dazzling icy splendor,
And crystal is the rose.

Around the eaves are fringes
Of icicles that seem
To mock the summer rainbows
With many colored gleam.

Along the walk, the pebbles
Are each a precious stone;
The grass is tasseled hoarfrost,
The clover jewel sown.

Such sparkle, sparkle, sparkle
Fills all the frosty air,
Oh, can it be that darkness
Is ever anywhere!

September

by Helen Hunt Jackson (1831 – 1885)

The goldenrod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian’s bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusky pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest
In every meadow-nook;
And asters by the brookside
Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes’ sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.

October’s Bright Blue Weather

by Helen Hunt Jackson (1831 – 1885)

O sun and skies and clouds of June
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fringes tight,
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks
In idle, golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunt
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers hour by hour
October’s bright blue weather.

O sun and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.

The Huskers

by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 – 1892)

It was late in mild October, and the long autumnal rain
Had left the summer harvest-fields all green with grass again;
The first sharp frosts had fallen, leaving all the woodlands gay
With the hues of summer’s rainbow or the meadow flowers of May.

Through a thin, dry mist, that morning, the sun rose broad and red;
At first a rayless disk of fire, he brightened as he sped;
Yet even his noontide glory fell chastened and subdued
On the cornfields and the orchards and softly pictured wood.

And all that quiet afternoon, slow sloping to the night,
He wove with golden shuttle the haze with yellow light;
Slanting through the tented beeches, he glorified the hill;
And, beneath it, pond and meadow lay brighter, greener still.

And shouting boys in woodland haunts caught glimpses of that sky,
Flecked by the many-tinted leaves, and laughed, they knew not why;
And schoolgirls, gay with aster-flowers, beside the meadow brooks,
Mingled the glow of autumn with the sunshine of sweet looks.

From spire and barn looked westerly the patient weathercocks;
But even the birches on the hill stood motionless as rocks.
No sound was in the woodlands save the squirrel’s dropping shell,
And the yellow leaves among the boughs, low rustling as they fell.

The summer grains were harvested; the stubble-fields lay dry,
Where June winds rolled, in light and shade, the pale green waves of rye;
But still, on gentle hill-slopes, in valleys fringed with wood,
ungathered, bleaching in the sun, the heavy corn crop stood.

Bent low by autumn’s wind and rain, through husks that, dry and sear,
Unfolded from their ripened charge, shone out the yellow ear;
Beneath, the turnip lay concealed in many a verdant fold,
And glistened in the slanting light the pumpkin’s sphere of gold.

There wrought the busy harvester, and many a creaking wain
Bore slowly to the long barn-floor its load of husk and grain;
Till broad and red, as when he rose, the sun sank down at last,
And like a merry guest’s farewell the day in brightness passed.

And lo! as through the western pines, on meadow, stream, and pond,
Flamed the red radiance of a sky set all afire beyond,
Slowly o’er the eastern sea-bluffs a milder glory shone,
And the sunset and the moonrise were mingled into one!

As thus into the quiet night the twilight lapsed away,
And deeper in the brightening moon the tranquil shadows lay,
From many a brown old farmhouse and hamlet without name,
Their milking and their home-tasks done, the merry huskers came.

Swung o’er the heaped-up harvest, from pitchforks in the mow,
Shone dimly down the lanterns on the pleasant scene below,
The glowing pile of husks behind, the golden ears before,
And laughing eyes and busy hands and brown cheeks glimmering o’er.

Half hidden in a quiet nook, serene of look and heart,
Talking their old times over, the old men sat apart;
While up and down the unhusked pile, or nestling in its shade,
At hide-and-seek, with laugh and shout, the happy children played.

Urged by the good host’s daughter, a maiden young and fair,
Lifting to light her sweet blue eyes and pride of soft brown hair,
The master of the village school, sleek of hair and smooth of tongue,
To the quaint tune of some old psalm, a husking-ballad sung.

After Apple-Picking

by Robert Frost (1874–1963)

My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

The Migration of the Grey Squirrels

by William Howitt (1792 – 1879)

When in my youth I traveled
Throughout each north country,
Many a strange thing did I hear,
And many a strange thing to see.

But nothing was there pleased me more
Than when, in autumn brown,
I came, in the depths of the pathless woods,
To the grey squirrels’ town.

There were hundreds that in the hollow boles
Of the old, old trees did dwell,
And laid up store, hard by their door,
Of the sweet mast as it fell.

But soon the hungry wild swine came,
And with thievish snouts dug up
Their buried treasure, and left them not
So much as an acorn cup.

Then did they chatter in angry mood,
And one and all decree,
Into the forests of rich stone-pine
Over hill and dale to flee.

Over hill and dale, over hill and dale,
For many a league they went,
Like a troop of undaunted travelers
Governed by one consent.

But the hawk and the eagle, and peering owl,
Did dreadfully pursue;
When lo! to cut off their pilgrimage,
A broad stream lay in view.

But then did each wondrous creature show
His cunning and bravery;
With a piece of the pine-bark in his mouth,
Unto the stream came he;

And boldly his little bark he launched,
Without the least delay;
His busy tail was his upright sail,
And he merrily steered away.

Never was there a lovelier sight
Than that grey squirrels’ fleet;
And with anxious eyes I watched to see
What fortune it would meet.

Soon had they reached the rough mild-stream,
And ever and anon
I grieved to behold some bark wrecked,
And its little steersman gone.

But the main fleet stoutly held across;
I saw them leap to shore;
They entered the woods with a cry of joy,
For their perilous march was o’er.

Other Autumn Poem Resources:

• Leaves by Elsie N. Brady
• A Child’s Calendar (September, October, November) by John Updike
• Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost
• http://www.teachingfirst.net/Poems/Autumn.html

Combine teaching these pattern based poems with the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program and your students will be both highly effective and highly creative authors!

Diamante Poems

Keys to the Diamante Poem:
• Has seven lines formed in the shape of a diamond.
• You can base the poem around either synonyms or antonyms. What’s similar or what’s the complete opposite?
• Using antonyms seems to be the more popular version. “Two sides of the same coin” is a fun and interesting concept to explore. It’s the “ying and the yang” that makes it so much fun!
• There is a turning point midway through the poem where the focus shifts from one subject to the other subject.

Outline:
Line 1: One noun (Subject 1)
Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Subject 1 noun
Line 3: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 1
Line 4: Four nouns – Two connected to Subject 1 and two connected to Subject 2
Line 5: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 2
Line 6: Two adjectives describing the Subject 2 noun
Line 7: One noun (Subject 2)

Example:
Puppies
Funny, playful
Ripping, running, licking
Ball, leash, bell, mouse
Stalking, sleeping, watching
Silly, cuddly
Kittens

Rhyme Schemes

 To really use rhymes in an effective manner rhyme schemes are important for the teacher to be aware of. Rhyme schemes most often represented using the letters “A” and “B.” Rhyme schemes show you the pattern of the rhyme.

Examples of rhyme schemes:
AABB – hat, cat, top, mop
ABAB – hat, top, cat, mop
ABBA – hat, top, mop, cat
AABA – hat, cat, top, sat

Rhymes 

Word families are a great place to start with rhymes.

 –ack, -ail, ake, -all, -ame, -ank, -ar, -ash, -ate, -ay, -eep, -ell, -ick, -ide, -ight, -ile, -ing, -ink, -it, -oat, -ock, -oil, -oke, -ook, -oom, -ood, -ool, -ore, -ought, -ouse, -ow, -ump, -unk!!

Nursery rhymes are riddled with these word families.

Fun Idea – Choose a nursery rhyme and try substituting different word families.

Example:
Hickery, dickery doc, the mouse ran up the clock.
Becomes::::
Hockery, dockery, ick, the mouse became quite sick.  

Acrostic Poems

Keys to the Acrostic Poem:
• The letters in the title of your poem become the first letter in each line of your poem.
• If the title of your poem is “HAT” your poem will be three lines and if your title is “ELEPHANT” your poem will be eight lines.

Example: HAT
Held on the tip-top of your head,
A thing of warmth or beauty,
To be worn, warm, and admired!

Quatrains

Keys to the Quatrain:
• Four lines
• There are many different rhyming patterns that can be considered correct. (Alternating, Enveloping…)
• Many follow these rhyme schemes (AABB, ABAB, ABBA, ABCB, AABA)
• It is great (but not absolutely necessary) if you can make the rhyming lines have the same number of syllables!

Example:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
              By William Blake

Cinquains

Keys to the Cinquain:
• Five lines
• Unrhymed
• Contains either a word count or syllable count. Modern versions use the word count.

Outline:
• Line 1: One noun that is both the subject and title.
• Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Line 1 noun.
• Line 3: Three verbs with –ing that tell an action related to the Line 1 noun.
• Line 4: Four words in a complete sentence that describe a feeling about the Line 1 noun.
• Line 5: One word that means the same thing as the Line 1 noun.

Example: Beach
Beach
Sandy, salty
Swimming, playing, sunning
I love the beach.
Seashore

Haiku

Keys to the Haiku:
• Three lines
• No rhyme. 
• Nature based
• Count the syllables!

Outline:
• Line 1 – 5 Syllables
• Line 2- 7 Syllables
• Line 3 – 5 Syllables

Example:
Cold arctic winds blow
Around majestic glaciers
Now melting, soon lost

Limerick

Keys to the Limerick:
• Contains five lines
• It’s a joke, a rhyme, a funny poem all wrapped up in one!
• Contains one couplet and one triplet. (Line 1, 2 and 5 rhyme. Lines 3, 4 rhyme.)
• Often contains exaggeration, play on words, and just plain silliness.

Example:
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!’
          By Edward Lear

Clerihew 

Keys to the Clerihew:
• Four lines
• Lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. (AABB)
• Line 1 contains the name of a character.
• Light, funny, and even silly.

Example:
Robert Wise
The horse he road was a big surprise.
It is tall and big, and I don’t know how
But it seems the horse he rides is really a cow.

Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets

Keys to Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets:
• Can be an entire poem in itself or just one part of a larger poem.
• Rules and complexity seem to vary on couplets, triplets and quadruplets based on how simple or complex the teacher wants to make it for their students.
• Each line rhymes, most of the time.
• Each line contains the same or a similar meter.
• Ideally each line will have the same number of syllables.
• Couplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Triplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Quadruplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.

Tanka

Keys to the Tanka:
• Five lines.
• Each line has a specific syllable count.  (5-7-5-7-7)
• Does not rhyme
• Traditional themes are nature, seasons, friendship, and love 

Outline:
Line 1: 5 Syllables
Line 2: 7 Syllables
Line 3: 5 Syllables
Line 4: 7 Syllables
Line 5: 7 Syllables

Example:
Happy days are here
Good weather and my good friends 
Spending time well spent
Days are long and time runs fast.
Grateful in life, day and night.

Free Verse

Keys to Free Verse:
• No set pattern or structure.
• Doesn’t rhyme or have a specific rhythm. However, it is acceptable if there is some rhyme or some rhythm.
• Often used to express “deep thoughts” or “deep emotions.” 

Example:
The wily winds blew down barren landscapes.
Free yet contained by natures forces.
Caught in the middle,
A pioneer,
Heading west, west, west…

Simile

Keys to Similes:
• Compares things that are unalike.
• Uses the words “like, as”
• Have some fun and use “as if” and “as though”

Example:
The little boy rode his tricycle proudly, as if he were the ruler of both land and time. 

Metaphor

Keys to Metaphors:
• Makes a comparison of two things by saying that one is the other.
• If the question is “To be, or not to be?” with metaphors the answer is “It is!”

Examples:
• It is raining cats and dogs…
• All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
William Shakespeare: As You Like It

Alliteration

Keys to Alliteration:
• Words in a sequence which begin with the same stressed consonant sound.
• Alliteration makes things easy to remember and easy on the ears.
• Why use alliteration? Just ask a kid!  “Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Fred Flintstone, Woody Woodpecker, Wonder Woman, Road Runner, Porky Pig, Roger Rabbit, Richie Rich, Mighty Mouse, George of the Jungle, Huckleberry Hound, Peter Pan, Captain Crunch…”
• Why use alliteration? Just ask, “Coca Cola.” It has worked well for them!

Are you a true lover of poetry? Are you an avid and exceptional teacher of poetry in the classroom? If so… then this article is not for you.

This article is for the rest of us teachers who know that poetry has value… but with limited time and so much to cover… poetry needs to prove its case.

Poetry for Teachers Who Prefer Math and Science

Some have felt they were missing the point… or the value of teaching children to write poetry. It just wasn’t their style… and they thought they sounded kind of funny when they tried to explain the profoundness of poetry in being able to uniquely express the human condition.

These teachers understood that poetry could be fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. Great! But they wanted more than fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. There had to be some kind of “academic” reason for teaching poetry that students would understand and apply… beyond poetry.

Like many teachers, I myself suspected that poetry had the power to communicate to children what ordinary essay and report writing could not. I suspected poetry could be harnessed for academic gains and not just artistic revelry.

The goal for me with poetry was not to simply transform children into “poets” but also to transform them into “skilled and observant communicators.” I believed and dreamed… that poetry had the potential to help transform students writing… across the curriculum!

Here is what I discovered along the way…

Six Traits, Poetry, Patterns, and Communication

I’ve long felt that being a skilled communicator is among the most valuable assets that a person can possess. Even if a person ends up in a science or math oriented profession, being able to effectively communicate one’s ideas will likely have a larger impact on a career than the ideas themselves. A truly skilled communicator has complete mastery over the words they use and the meaning those words convey.

The “Six Traits of Writing” along with “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” has transformed my teaching of poetry in the classroom. When teaching poetry I now achieve many goals that transfer over to all of the writing that my students do… across the curriculum.

Out of the six traits found in the “Six Traits of Writing” model it seems that there are three traits that are inherently intertwined with the teaching of poetry writing to children. They stand out for me because I find that I am able to communicate their concepts very effectively when teaching poetry… and the concepts learned transfer over into all the writing my students do. This makes teaching poetry fun… and a good use of time!

Three Traits of Poetry Writing Which Improve Student Writing… Across the Curriculum

1. Organization and structure - The most popular forms of poetry that children are taught all seem to have a very definite pattern and structure. They are powerful and compact patterns that create powerful rhythm and meaning. By putting focus on the structure and the pattern in these rather simple poems you can help children to see the organization and structure in much of what they will both read and write… across the curriculum. (If you have used “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” with your students, you will find that these poems and the patterns found within them are almost a natural extension of the Pattern Based Writing program. Be sure to go to the “PatternBasedWriting.com” home page and see what I mean…)

2. Word choice and usage – The major poetry patterns have descriptive use of language built right into the pattern. Each word in student created poetry is carefully chosen and each word has a specific intent within the poem. Students often consider many choices for that one valuable word in that one specific position. When you have only 17 syllables for an entire poem… you have to be very picky and consider many different word choices… until you find the one that is just right! I’ve found it’s pretty easy to transfer this skill over to students’ essay and report writing.

3. Voice – Often a complete and unique voice is both started and completed in as little as 17 syllables! The most popular poems children are taught to write are powerfully condensed units of expression. It is easy to compare these short poems and clearly hear a unique voice in each one of them. When you compare a Limerick to a Haiku the shift in voice is… an easy teaching moment.

Getting the Most Out of Poetry

Poetry has a lot to offer in helping students to become artistic poets as well as successful students. Using a combination of “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” and the “Six Traits of Writing” model will transform your teaching of poetry writing into both an artistic and academic endeavor!

Be sure to read “Popular Forms of Poetry to Teach Children” and discover over 15 different types and aspects of poetry that children just love!