[Source: Reading Rockets]

By: Keith Schoch
Often when I mention poetry during a workshop, at least one teacher laments, “I would love to do more poetry with students, but there’s so much else to teach in my curriculum!” What I try to encourage (and I’m often helped big time by the workshop participants) is for this teacher to consider using poetry within her curriculum, as an integral part of her language, reading, and writing lessons, rather than as an add-on. In other words, I ask her to find a purpose for poetry.

Now, before you poetry purists flame me and cry out, “Poetry is in itself worth reading!” let me explain that I agree with you. I fondly recall organizing poetry picnics in third grade, where we would spread sheets and blankets on the field adjacent to the school playground and share favorite poems as we munched on morning snacks. So yes, I believe in poetry for its own sake.
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