How to Write Poetry

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Barbara J. Feldman

Want to write a poem, but don't think you know how? Staring at a blank page (or computer screen) may not be the best way to get your creative poetry writing juices flowing. Experienced teachers and famous poets offer poem writing advice, lessons and tips at the following sites.

The English Room: 30 Days of Poetry

5 stars

Marsha Rogers is an ex-English teacher who now focuses on integrating technology into school curriculum. 30 Days of Poetry was one of her first websites, and is over ten-years old! Each day's lesson consists of a short explanation of a type of poetry (such as Diamonte or Cinquain), and a few samples written by high-school students. The implied assignment is to write one or two poems in the featured style each day.

Giggle Poetry: Poetry Class

5 stars

The thirty-five poetry lessons at Giggle Poetry's Poetry Class are written by a variety of children's poets including Bruce Lansky, Kenn Nesbitt, and Eric Ode. Because each lesson stands on its own, they do not need to be tackled in any particular order. So just pick a few that sound fun, and jump in. Most focus on poetry starters, such as How to Write a "Mary Had a Little Something" Poem and How to Write a "Roses Are Red" Poem.

Poetry Zone: How to Write Poems

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This is the complete text of Roger Stevens' 1997 children's book "How To Write Poems." Published on one long, scrolling page, Mr. Stevens suggests printing it out, as long as you respect his copyright, and only use your copy for personal or classroom use. " William Shakespeare wrote some of the best plays in the world and some of the best poetry. He had a simple rule. If he wanted to write something serious he used blank verse (I'll tell you all about that later) but if he wanted to make people laugh he used rhyme."

Scholastic: Writing with Writers: Poetry Writing

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Join Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin and Jean Marzollo as they share poetry writing tips and techniques in three Scholastic workshops. Each poet's workshop includes samples of their work, warm-up exercises, the poet's biography and the opportunity for students to submit poems for possible publication online. Prelutsky's lessons are geared to students in grades one to four. Marzaollo's riddle writing project targets grades two to five. Kuskin's tips are for older writers between the grades of four and eight.

Writer's Resource Center: Poetry Writing Tips

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John Hewitt of the Writer's Resource Center shares thirty-eight tips he calls his "personal guidelines for writing poetry." Here's one of my favorites. "Make a list of poems you can remember specific lines from. Go back and read those poems. Figure out why they stuck with you." Following the tips, is a virtual poetry workshop (written for grownups but suitable for high-school students) titled "30 Poems in 30 Days" that provides a month's worth of daily lessons, featured poets, and daily writing assignments.