Welcome to Poetryland

Welcome to Poetryland: Teaching Poetry Writing to Young Children draws from Shelley Savren’s forty years of teaching poetry writing in grades pre-K–6 and to focus populations, including gifted and special education students, students in after school programs and at art museums, and homeless, abused, or neglected students.

Each chapter begins with a student quote and an original poem, followed by heartfelt stories of working with that particular group, and concludes with lesson plans, complete with introductions of poetic concepts, model poems by professionals, open-ended writing assignments, methods for sharing and critiquing, and one or two student poems. Designed for use in a classroom, this book features thirty-eight lesson plans and twenty-three additional poetry-writing workshop ideas. It provides guidance and inspiration for anyone who wants to teach poetry writing to children.

“I wish Shelley would teach the whole world poetry.” –1st grade student.

“I want to be a poetry writer when I grow up.” –2nd grade student.

“What I found out about myself was that I have an imagination. And a good one.” –6th grade student.