Adrian's Top Five

Here are five of my favorite poems to teach fifth-graders.

Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash

Happy National Poetry Month! Teaching poetry to my fifth-graders is one of my favorite things. I incorporate poetry throughout the school year, but in April, I really focus on reading, writing, and speaking poetry. Since most elementary-aged students are only familiar with Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and (maybe) Judith Viorst, I try and share a variety of poets, both past and present. I want students to see themselves in the poems they read, and not assume all poetry are nursery rhymes. Poetry can be silly, but can also be used to protest, share deep feelings, or console us in times of sorrow. Here are five of my absolute favorite poems to teach.

1. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Most students are familiar with the Alice in Wonderland story. They have probably seen the 2010 Disney movie (maybe even the original 1951 classic), but many of my students have not read the actual story. I love using Jabberwocky to illustrate that not all poems are understood upon a first reading. In fact, some poems can be just nonsense and fun, playing with language, rhyme, and meter. The above TEDEd video is a great way to introduce this crazy poem to students because by listening to it with pictures, certain nonsense words and phrases become more clear.

2. Digging by Seamus Heaney

I love Seamus Heaney. His poetry has a prized place on my home bookshelf. I use his poetry to reconnect with nature, reading and rereading his lyrical lines that are both beautiful and deep. Digging is one my favorites because of its reverence of familial generations. The last lines: “Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests./I’ll dig with it.” always resonate with me because I love to write, and this is such a different skill-set than my German-immigrant kin. It reminds me of my own immigrant grandmother, spending time with her in her garden. Digging has lots of great imagery for annotation and discussion. Heaney’s recitation is incredible.

3. Wild Horses by Paisley Rekdal

I read Paisley Rekdal’s Nightingale just before the pandemic lockdowns. It not a book of poetry for the faint of heart. She rewrites the myths central to Ovid’s Metamorphoses discussing themes of change, violence, and memory.

When I returned to the classroom, I wanted to share her imagery with students and found this excellent lesson from the Academy of American Poets. They pair Rekdal’s Wild Horses with the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses. Their Teach This Poem series includes multiple readings, class discussions, and extensions for different grade-levels. Any time I can pair poetry with music, I’m happy.

4. A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman

Again, this is another great animation of a poem from my all-time favorite poet, Walt Whitman. A Noiseless Patient Spider is a great poem for fifth-graders because it is short with lots of room for analysis and reflection. What I love about this particular video is how they have three different animators interpret the poem. Same words, vastly different visual representations. The TEDEd page for this lesson offers great discussion questions to use in class. This is a great reminder that poetic interpretation is always in the eye of the reader.

5. Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

From Shakespeare to Dickinson, I believe all poetry should be read aloud. You get something special when you hear poems recited, something different from analyzing words on the page. If you can find recordings of a poem’s author, even better! Check out Poetry Speaks: Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath. When I hear poets read their own work, I feel transformed. No one does this better than Dylan Thomas. His rich, baritone voice is like an earthquake that demands attention. Do not go gentle into that good night is my favorite poem to share with students because it is intense and beautiful and commanding. I’ve never played Thomas’ voice to a class and not had a student react in some way. Last year, I was able to find vinyl recordings of much of his poetry. I love filling my classroom with his voice!

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I would love to hear some of your favorite poems or poets. Let’s start a chat and share some poetry with each other!

Have a great week!

— Adrian

Resources

Poetry In Voice

• Last week, I shared how I used Poetry Out Loud in my classroom. Another great resource is Poetry in Voice, a Canadian charity that promotes poetry recitation. They have great lesson plans for educators!

• This is a great introduction to poetry video. Again, TEDEd has good resources for discussing poetry with students.

Using Flip to practice poem recitations

• I’ve been using Flip in my classroom for a few years. If you are not familiar, it used to be called FlipGrid, a free video discussion and video sharing app from Microsoft. I use it as a reflection tool for various assignments. Many of my quieter students (or those who struggle with writing) appreciate the medium to share their reflections or insights. Here is an example of me reciting another favorite poem as an example for students as we practiced for our poetry recitation.

30 Writing Prompts for National Poetry Month by Kelli Agodon

• I found this collection of poetry prompts from poet, Kelli Agodon, during the pandemic lockdowns. It’s a great list that I use for daily creative writing. Number One is my favorite prompt! Students love writing different poems using different books they pull from the shelf.

Poetic Forms Choice Board

• I created this slidedeck for students to explore various poetic forms. There are videos and other links embedded. Feel free to use with your students!

Magnetic Poetry

• When I was a teenager, my girlfriend’s parents had a bunch of magnetic poetry on their refrigerator door. One day, I will figure out how to build a huge magnetic wall in my classroom. In the meantime, this link is great for those students who feel like they “can’t write poetry.” Playing with words is half the fun!

International Poetry Circle

• During quarantine, I discovered International Poetry Circle. I was feeling isolated and lonely and Tara Skurtu created a virtual place for poetry lovers and poets around the world to record themselves reading poems. It helped me feel more connected and hopeful during quarantine and social distancing. I even submitted a video reading one of my own published poems. This experience reinforced the idea of how important it is to hear poetry aloud instead of just reading it on paper.

A few more poems I love sharing with students.

I couldn’t help myself. Here are a few more of my favorite poems that have excellent videos to show students.

• One of my favorite lessons (from Kenneth Koch’s book, Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?) is where students read William Blake’s poem, The Tyger and then write a poem in which they talk to a beautiful and mysterious creature, asking it anything they want. Every time I have students do this activity, the resulting poems are incredible. Can you spot the tiger in the video slowly materializing?

• Do you want students to hear the jazz and musicality in poetry? Read We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks. Here is the text of the poem.

• I felt a Funeral in my Brain is a great poem, full of strange darkness and madness. It is a great poem to annotate, studying line breaks, punctuation, and word choice.