Can Poetry Matter? is an important book, and anyone who professes to care about the state of American poetry will have to take it into account. --World Literature Today.

A practical guide to demystify the process of writing poetry, by the bestselling author of A Writer’s Notebook and the ALA Notable Book Fig Pudding. Poetry matters. At the most important moments, when everyone else is silent, poetry rises to speak. This book is full of practical wisdom to help young writers craft beautiful poetry that shines, sings, and soars. It features writing tips and tricks, interviews with published poets for children, and plenty of examples of poetry by published writers—and even young people themselves. Perfect for classrooms, this lighthearted, appealing manual is a celebration of poetry that is a joy to read. Young poets and aspiring poets of all ages will enjoy these tips on how to simplify the process of writing poetry and find their own unique voice.

Making Poetry Matter draws together contributions from leading scholars in the field to offer a variety of perspectives on poetry pedagogy. A wide range of topics are covered including: - Teacher attitudes to teaching poetry in the urban primary classroom - Digital poetry and multimodality - Resistance to poetry in Post-16 English Throughout, the internationally recognised contributors draw on case studies to ensure that the theory is clearly linked to classroom practice. They consider the teaching and learning challenges that poetry presents for those working with learners aged between 5 and 19 and explore these challenges with reference to reading; writing; speaking and listening and the transformative nature of poetry in different contexts.

UKLA Academic Book Award 2016: Highly Commended Making Poetry Happen provides a valuable resource for trainee and practicing teachers, enabling them to become more confident and creative in teaching what is recognized as a very challenging aspect of the English curriculum. The volume editors draw together a wide-range of perspectives to provide support for development of creative practices across the age phases, drawing on learners' and teachers' perceptions of what poetry teaching is like in all its forms and within a variety of contexts, including: - inspiring young people to write poems - engaging invisible pupils (especially boys) - listening to poetry - performing poetry Throughout, the contributors include practical, tried-and-tested materials, including activities, and draw on case studies. This approach ensures that the theory is clearly linked to practice as they consider teaching and learning poetry to those aged between 5 and 19 from different perspectives, looking at reading; writing; speaking and listening; and transformative poetry cultures. Each of the four parts includes teacher commentaries on how they have adapted and developed the poetry activities for use in their own classroom.

This deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives examines the importance of poetry and its diverse applications in the world.

Introduces the different kinds of poetry and the mechanics of writing poetry, providing an opportunity for the reader to experience the joy of making a poem.

`This excellent book provides the reader with comprehensive coverage of all aspect of poetry teaching. The book does more than inform us - it inspires profound reflection on the best ways it support poetry writing and draws us into the debate about assessment-driven curriculum′ - School Librarian `A must for trainee teachers and English departments′ - Booktrusted News `Drafting and Assessing Poetry is thoroughly researched and shows how attitudes towards teaching of poetry and indeed the place of poetry on the syllabus, has changed with political fashion over the years, but more importantly, Sue Dymoke shows how a handful of contemporary poets go about drafting their work and sees this process as an essential tool in the classroom, advocating that students should keep drafting notebooks, just like real writers. Getting students, or indeed members of writing groups, to understand that one draft of a poem may not be the final or best work they can produce will never be a problem again!′ - Writing in Education `Sue Dymoke′s book is a much needed antidote to the ubiquitous guides to poetry analysis.... This book is well worth reading for its clarity and wealth of ideas′ - Bethan Marshall, TES Teacher Magazine `Every English department should buy this remarkably comprehensive book. Inspiring approaches for teaching children to write poetry are clearly described. Sue Dymoke draws upon her extensive experience as a poet, English teacher and researcher to explore the place of writing poetry in English lessons and examinations. Her unique insights into both the writing and teaching of poetry should prove invaluable to English teachers′ - Dr Mark Pike, Lecturer in English Education and Head of PGCE English, University of Leeds `It is a useful book: a theoretical text, but with a practical focus, which makes it very readable and interesting, to teachers of young people particularly, but also, to teachers of adults and indeed in parts to poetry writers themselves, particularly those interested in working in schools, or simply curious about the general process of drafting and evaluating poetry′ - County Lit, Nottinghamshire County Council Literature Newsletter Drafting and Assessing Poetry offers a range of teaching strategies for developing students′ poetry writing skills, and guidance about assessment approaches. Critical commentaries combine with illustrations of successful classroom practice to consider this essential but under-explored aspect of English teaching. Based on theory but with a practical dimension, the book engages readers in current critical debates about poetry teaching and its place in an assessment- driven curriculum. This book is for reflective practitioners, including trainee teachers, who want to develop their understanding of poetry teaching and to gain insights, which will inform classroom practice. It will also be useful for literacy co-ordinators, teacher educators and other advisory staff in the field of English teaching.