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Explore Sites to See: About Poetry​

Teachers use poetry to enrich students' vocabulary and spark their imaginations. Believe it or not, a poem might be just what you need to add interest to more mundane lessons. The poetry sites below provide teachers and students with practical help for writing poetry, resources for studies of poetry and poets, and opportunities to experience the sheer pleasure of reading poetry. 

All students, no matter what their grade level, can benefit from reading or listening to poems. Students can enjoy the simple sensory pleasure of listening to the rhythm, alliteration, or onomatopoeia of the words themselves. Poetry also appeals to the emotions and allows for critical thinking opportunities. When you teach poetry, you absolutely have to slow down and everyone needs to stop rushing once in awhile!

Bartleby.com: Great Books Online
Bartleby.com offers complete electronic texts of classic books, and an extensive poetry archive of works dating from 1250 to 1920. Containing thousands of poems by hundreds of poets, Bartleby.com provides one of the largest free collections of verse on the Web.

Knowing Poe: The Literature and Life of Edgar Allen Poe
This resource for language arts teachers provides engaging lessons on poetic devices, the narrative in short story, and intersections between literature and history. The site is filled with fun features, visuals, sounds, video, music, mysteries, and learning exercises. The classroom connections provided will help teachers make the best use of the site's materials and primary resources.

Poetry Express
Poetry Express features fifteen activities to inspire aspiring poets to get started, as well as examples of poetry-writing techniques, and tips for writing effective poetry. If that fails, visitors still can click e-muse for inspiration! The site also provides resources for sharing, editing, and publishing poetry.

Poetry4Kids
Children's poet Kenn Nesbitt offers a large collection of humorous poems for kids, as well as several lessons on how they can write funny poems too. Additional resources include links to other children's poets on the Web and suggestions on how teachers can incorporate poetry in their curriculum.

The Poetry and Literature Center of the Library of Congress
Be sure to check out Poetry 180, a poem a day for American high schools.

Have any good sites to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated 4/1/2015