A Weeklong Unit to Explore Poetry Forms

Teaching poetry is daunting for high school teachers. Nevertheless, we know that effective poetry instruction is good for students. It is an opportunity to explore often-underutilized speaking and listening standards. Poetry also provides access points for students with diverse proficiency levels—including our English language learner students. Poetry instruction, no matter the grade level or course, develops literary analysis, writing skills, and community.

A WeekLong Poetry Unit

My favorite approach to teaching poetry is through poetry forms—the physical arrangement of a poem like the haiku or the sonnet. Poetry forms help novice readers by giving guideposts for identifying and exploring poets’ writing choices. Additionally, they provide students with a structure to replicate as they work to put their own words on paper. They stretch students who want to write too little; they focus students who like to write a lot. Students who study poetry forms come away with confidence to analyze, create, and share their writing.

Introducing the form: Before I introduce a new form, I prepare a packet of approximately five classroom-appropriate poems for study. PoetryFoundation.org is one of my go-to resources for finding background on and examples of poetry forms. My favorite poetry forms to teach are the villanelle, a French poetry form made up of 19 lines that utilizes repeated lines throughout and an ABA rhyme scheme; and the sijo, a Korean poetry form that is made up of three lines and relies on a fairly strict syllable count. 

For each poetry form, no matter which grade level or class I am teaching it to, an elective or a core content course, I usually use a week. The first day, I introduce the form. On subsequent days, I alternate between having my students analyze other poets’ work and having them create their own. At the culmination of our study, students read their poems to the class.  

Day 1: The first thing I do when I introduce a new poetry form is explain its rules. Rather than figurative elements like irony, metaphor, and symbolism, the rules that poetry forms rely on are often concrete elements, like repetition, rhyme, and syllable count—elements that provide straightforward entry points for novice readers and writers as well as concrete thinkers. Here is a template of the slide deck that I use to teach the villanelle.

Additionally, the Sejong Cultural Society created the slide deck that I use to teach the sijo. Their website is full of useful information and resources for bringing the sijo into the classroom. Before I go through any presentation, I give each student a packet of the poems. As I present the rules, students write down notes. Once we have explored the rules and have examined the examples together, I give students time to brainstorm ideas for their own poems.

Days 2–4: On each of the next few days, I provide one or two additional examples of the poetry type. For these examples, I like to use poems in which the poet has gone against the traditional form in some way. Perhaps the author of a villanelle disregarded part of the form’s rhyme scheme, as in Anne Waldman’s poem “The Lie.” Or maybe the author altered the lines that were supposed to repeat, as in Dan Lechay’s poem “Ghost Villanelle.” As we work to analyze the example poem, I have students discuss with a buddy what they notice about the piece. Then in a whole class discussion, I ask my students to evaluate how the poet used the rules as well as how they broke the rules. This provides a solid review of the form’s traditional structure, but it also shows that sometimes poets modify these structures.

After discussing the poet’s choices, we shift focus back to student work, allowing time for writing, revising, and editing their poems. Initially students might say that they are not sure where to start. I ask them what they think about often. If they tell me that they think about their pets, I ask them the first thing that comes to mind when they think of their pets.

If we are working on the villanelle, that becomes the first line in their poem, and this line will repeat three more times. At this point, I have them number the lines on their paper from 1 to 19. On lines 1, 6, 12, and 18 they record their first thought. Then I ask them about their second topic-related thought that comes to mind. They use that to fill in the lines 3, 9, 15, and 19. At that point, I leave them to fill in the missing lines with thoughts about whatever their topic is. 

If we are working on the sijo, I have them write down these first two thoughts as their first and second lines. Then I leave them to create the twist that is required in the third line. The last thing I have them do is adjust their lines to fit the sijo’s syllable count.  

Day 5: On the day when students read their poems aloud to the class, I like to set the desks up in a poetry circle—all desks facing each other. I begin by asking a few get-to-know-you questions. We go around the circle sharing our favorite color, our favorite animal, the worst gift we ever received, etc. It breaks the ice and provides insight into my students’ lives. Next, we listen to poems and snap our fingers in celebration of each. 

I never grade students’ poems based on content or structure. Instead, they earn participation points simply for sharing. I provide positive feedback on each poem in front of the whole class. Comments like “I love how the alliteration in your poem created a playful rhythm” or “The imagery in your description of the night sky is really beautiful” or “I noticed that the extended metaphor throughout your poem elicited an intense macabre feeling” encourage the other students to consider the effects of the poet’s choices. I am hoping, too, that they will consider incorporating these elements into their own future writing.

moving Beyond Existing Forms

After we have explored multiple poetry forms, I have students invent their own forms. Students decide on a name for their invented poetry type (I secretly love it when they name the poetry form after themselves) as well as the rules that dictate its structure (I require at least three). They must also create a completed poem using the rules. For me, seeing students share their new literary invention with the class feels like a triumphant culmination of the work that we have done. 

These two poems, a villanelle and a sijo, were written by my former students.

“The Immortal Pain,” by Lilly Ray 

Grief is a pain that never dies. 
You faded behind eyes of pale blue. 
I watched life leave your eyes. 

Death is one I despise. 
It’s been five years and oh how time flew. 
Grief is a pain that never dies. 

I watched life leave your eyes. 
How much of this pain can one go through? 
It doesn’t get easier despite the dozens of tries. 

I’ve suffered through the continuous cries. 
I long for the way you said, “I love you.” 
I think of you when I look up into the Kentucky skies. 

Grief is a pain that never dies. 
Life will never be the same, no matter how much I fantasize. 
I’ll never forget how I had to watch life leave your eyes. 

This pain bears no specific length or weight or size. 
One thing I know to be true is that I miss you. 
I had to watch life leave your eyes. 
Grief is a pain that never dies. 

“8:01 P.M.,” by Riley Wyatt 

I stayed out past sunset 

kicking at rocks by the riverside 

tumble and plummet and skid they did 

but who was I to care 

little did they know, oblivious I walked  

still sleepwalking 

By the end of the semester, students have developed robust literary skills, and they have also become a part of a literary community. In the end, students not only master the art of poetry but also gain the confidence and creativity to tackle any writing challenge.