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"Poetry writing is an excellent practice for strengthening one's writing skills. Through poetry writing, we gain command of language, cultivate a robust vocabulary, master literary devices, and learn to work in imagery. And that's just a small sampling of how poetry improves basic writing skills." Articles discusses the emotional and intellectual benefits of reading and writing poetry.

A great collection of links to poetry of the ages for all ages. Divided geogrpahically by sources of poetry: Poetry of Africa, Poetry of the Americas, etc., and by specific authors, e.g., Mahmou Dariwsh, Vinicious de Morais, etc. Some bilingual.

A great place to find poetry online. Search almost 800,000 poems by 78,000+ poets, songs, quotations, etc. Also has a forum for discussing various aspects of poetry. You can collect favorite poems, read a poem of the day, and browse through poetry links and contests. Great literature site.

"The First day of Geekmas: A short talk on using Poetry…" Cool and clever - lots of ideas for using poetry to teach language - and explore the rest of this great blog by David Petrie.

Poetry Forge has online (Flash) tools for generating instant poetry, as well as a downloadable version of the tools to use on the desktop. It's really fun to add some words to a list and then have the poetry-maker pop up your new poem. Students can learn a lot about metaphorical language here.

"In the past I have shared Google Drawing templates for students to create drag-and-drop "magnetic" poetry with a winter-theme as well as for Valentine's Day. "This time I have updated the template for Springtime. Just like before, doing this activity with technology such as Google Drawings provides many benefits: " No limit on the quantity of words provided. Just copy and paste more of them as needed. Great tech skills practice with dragging and dropping and copying and pasting. Ability to edit the words provided if needed. Ability to add your own words. Easy collaboration with others. Easy to share or download your final creation. No pieces to get lost. It's free! "See below to get your free copy of the Springtime Magnetic Poetry template to use with your students (or yourself) however you want, as well as directions on how to use it." A template and instructions follow. T/h to Eric Curts blog, Control Alt Achieve

A lesson in writing and reading poetry. Poetry is a great way to introduce students to the idea that English is not only for science, but can also express feelings vividly. This activity makes a good lesson plan for listening, discussion, speaking, reading, and writing. Can be adapted to many ages-levels.

Several suggestions for teaching short poems, and websites with author interviews and poetry readings. Learning how to write poetry will help students appreciate the language better.

This slideshow illustrates many of the different types of poetry taught by Kenneth Koch in Wishes, Lies, and Dreams. Miking poetry themselves is really the only way to get students to understand the power of metaphoric language--and they will begin using it in their academic writing as well. You can quickly analyze the short poems structures, and then have your students make similar poems themselves. I usually start by having students generate a poem with the whole class at the board, and then send them off in pairs or individually to create their own. Be sure to have students "publish" their poems, either on the Web or in a class magazine. They will be very proud of their work.

An online resource for classroom teachers teaching international poetry. Language Arts standards in poetry (preK-8)

This is a great description of how a teacher organized a poetry slam in his high school. Includes a video of the slam and Flickr photos, and detailed directions for how to elicit poetry, ground rules, etc. This is a great way to bring a school together.

The blog article combines a great many areas: hands-on learning, analyzing poetry using robotics, and sTEM/STEAM, the creative element in the sciences. Great cross-over ideas to think about.

The New York Times offers poetry paired with visuals, in this case an animation, and music, as well as two or more related poems. Readers are asked to write what they think, and the comments are very interesting also. Some adult content may be found in the sidebar, so this is for older students, not small children, though the idea is a good one for inspiring writing at any age. You may be able to strip the video and text and use the materials offline (being careful of copyright issues).

All videos tagged poetry in EFL Classroom 2.0. Nice additional respurces that allow students to hear as well as read poems.

More on teaching poetry from D. Deubel as a means to teaching language. See esp. Billy Collins "visual" poems.

"ReadWriteThink.org's Word Mover student interactive can be used to supplement classroom instruction, reinforce concepts taught in class, offer increased student engagement, and promote out-of-school literacy. "Word Mover allows children and teens to create "found poetry" by choosing from word banks and existing famous works; additionally, users can add new words to create a piece of poetry by moving/manipulating the text." Use Word Mover to start a story or poem. Good writing activity from an exceptionally excellent educational site.

Linked from More Poetry Resources: Videos, blogs, and other resources from EFL Classroom 2.0. Free to join. This particular link has at present 3 YouTube videos of poets reading poems. Nice to watch and listen while reading the text.

"For a little inspiration, we're showcasing twelve terrific poetry projects from our incredibly creative community of educators. You'll find projects for first graders and high schoolers, and everything from sensory poems to color explorations to poems about polliwogs. (We also think any of these would be just as fun for adults to try - a little creative expression is always good for the soul!)"

This is a Google film on some useful search terms to find resources for teaching poetry writing. Many useful ideas in just 53 seconds.

Online lessons for students 9-12 using jazz to learn poetic concepts