I’m a working poet ready to endlessly discuss poetry. I keep a big pink binder in my classroom with hundreds of poems photocopied for student use. Students can flip through and choose poems that speak to them. I love listening to them react aloud as they glance over poems — “Whoa, what’s that mean?” or “He really wrote about fruit?” But there isn’t always time for this poetic serendipity, so I like to study a single poem each week in class.
I use the Poem of the Week as a warmup. Students receive a physical copy of the poem, and I encourage them to annotate and keep it ( they try to toss it in the trash as they leave my room). On the board, they see the same six questions. They are given 10-15 minutes to read and annotate the poem. I ask for a volunteer to read the poem aloud. After students have independent annotation time, we read the poem aloud and discuss it as a class.
Why Students Fight Poetry
Very few students are excited about poetry when they enter my classroom. When I ask why they don’t enjoy poetry, here’s what they say:
“I don’t get it. I’m dumb.”
“Why can’t they just say what they mean?”
“Who talks like that?”
As teachers we need to be realistic about what students can do with a poem. In a pre-designed curriculum, you may have a handy little box that explains what Williamm Carlos Williams meant in “This Is Just To Say” or why the father’s suit in Tess Gallagher’s “Black Silk” is so important. But students don’t have this box. And if you’re relying on it, you really don’t have that knowledge either. Someone at CollegeBoard or Pearson handed it to you.
So stop asking what a poem “means.” Stop thinking you’ll “get” a poem after you’ve read it only twice. A poem is like a good friend; it takes time to understand and appreciate its excellent qualities.
How We Approach a Poem
Here are the six questions I give students. I’ve provided my explanations for each one.
- What images do you see in the poem?
This question invites students to look for the visual elements of the poem, such as images or objects the poet describes. It’s like finding the props the poem needs to make its case. - What sounds do you hear in the poem?
This question asks students to listen to the poem’s sound work – direct strategies like rhyme and alliteration or indirect strategies like the description of the wind. - What words do you notice in the poem?
This question allows students to highlight any unusual or striking words the poem uses, even if they’re not sure what the words mean. - What is the speaker feeling, and what are you feeling?
This question encourages students to chart the poem’s emotional landscape, working towards precision by pinpointing where the feelings are located in the poem. They can track specific emotional words like “grief” or “pride” or they can simply point to a spot in the poem that seems resonant. - What questions does the poem ask?
I tell students that nonfiction makes arguments while fiction and poetry ask questions. The poem may ask literal questions and include question marks, or the poem may invite students to question something they’ve always taken for granted. - What promises does the poem make?
Starting with its title, a poem always makes at least one promise – leading readers to expect something. This question helps students recognize that they possess knowledge
about the poem that flies under the radar.
These questions are deliberately non-technical in their approach. I do not emphasize literary terms, like consonance or enjambment, unless we are entering a deeper study of poetry. I think these terms intimidate students, but they also lead to overly technical nonsense statements where students are attempting to “sound smart” or say what they think I want to hear. I would rather them notice a pattern and describe its effect than spout highfalutin garbage about motifs or slant rhyme.
My six questions are designed to build students’ confidence as they approach the poem. They are six ways into the poem that make it less frightening. Even if a student does not find answers for all six questions, they may have a few insights to share. Other answers emerge as we discuss the poem together.
Two Favorite Poems — and What I Notice When I Read Them
Read Nikki Giovanni’s “Legacies.” Listen to it here.
- Images: The grandmother’s apron, the little girl with her “lips poked out”
- Words: “i don’t want to know how to make no rolls”
- Feelings: the grandmother’s pride, the grandmother’s frustration, the little girl’s fear
- Questions: What makes a legacy?
Read Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” and listen to Heaney reading it here.
- Images: the squat pen, the spade
- Sounds: snug as a gun, gravelly ground, buried the bright edge
- Words: the squelch and slap of soggy peat
- Promises: “I’ll dig with it.”
Keep the Momentum Going!
Do you want more poetry in your life? Of course you do! If you still feel intimidated or anxious about reading and understanding poetry, here are a few resources that can help.
Poetry belongs in every classroom; it’s a low-tech engine of literacy, critical thinking, and empathy. Be courageous and approach poetry. Your time and effort will be repaid.
On the Blink 