Welcome to the youngpoets.ca Teachers' Lounge
We are Canada's national association of professional poets, and we want to help you share the joy of poetry with your students. On our site you'll find workshop ideas, poetry teaching links, and resources. You'll also find a forum especially for teachers where you can share ideas, questions, theories, and complaints. We're hoping teachers across Canada will use this site and encourage their classes to visit as well.
Latest Additions
Inspiring Writing that Makes You Stand Up and Cheer
In part two of her series, Dawna Proudman continues to explore the process of inspiring great work in young people. Find more lessons on how to inspire young writers in this article.
Performing your Work: Finding the Actor Inside of You
Many young people are terrified of speaking in public. But ask them to perform a piece of poetry in front of their peers, and they'll be hiding under the bed til graduation. In this inspiring new work, Penn Kemp offers a visualization technique to bring out a poet's inner actor.
Encouraging Amazing Writing
Writing is an art, much the same as painting, sculpture or dance. And like any art, writing requires practice, feedback, skill and encouragement. In this article, Dawna Proudman provides a set of practical tools to encourage amazing writing from people - and a love for their work.
Get Rhythm: teaching students to hear rhythm and metre
In poetry, sound is paramount. As it approaches music, it reaches our body, and moves through our body to our emotions in ways that only the best prose can rival. In this article, poet and educator Katherine Parrish provides practical methods for teaching rhythm and metre in poetry.
Keep it Simple: Concrete Imagery in Poetry
Toronto-Montreal corridor poet Michael Mirolla defines concrete imagery and explains its necessity in poetry in this article for high school teachers. Mirolla offers an analysis of two poems, one that uses concrete images effectively and another that rests on cliches and tired images. Concluding with a succinct and specific lesson plan and a thorough list of resources, teachers will be well-prepared after reading this article.
Dispelling the Myth of 5, 7, 5: A Haiku Lesson for Elementary Students
Haiku poet and author Naomi Beth Wakan sets a clear path to teaching haiku in this article. By dispelling the myth of 5, 7, 5, teachers, students and poets alike gain a deeper understanding of the simple beauty and complexity of this Japanese style. Wakan offers a few concrete steps on teaching and learning to "capture the moment."
Canadian Poets Across the Curriculum: Fred Wah and Joy Kogawa
Poetry offers a unique opportunity to introduce the voices, both historical and contemporary, of Canadian who have battled racism and discrimination. Poet and Educator Kathryn Bjornson provides strategies for the introduction of work by Canadian poets Fred Wah and Joy Kogawa that create space for an honest discussion of racist and exclusionary policies in Canadian history and their enduring legacy within contemporary Canadian society.
Digital Spaces, Reading, and Poetics
What impact does the online age have on poetry? Whether it's allowing immediate access to multiple texts or providing opportunities for multi-media, the Internet offers a wealth of compelling poetry projects that go beyond the potential of the book. High school students are particularly comfortable reading in digital environments. Join Aaron Tucker for a look at using the Internet to teach poetry.
Teaching Form Poetry
In this five-part series, Victoria poet and teacher Yvonne Blomer offers lessons for the classroom on teaching formal poetry including sonnets;
modern couplets and ghazals; fugues, sestinas and pantoums; villanelles and triolets; and Japanese forms.
En Francais
Teaching History With Poetry
Many Canadian poems deal with events that shaped our history. In this unit, former Poet Laureate Glen Sorestad looks at poems that offer a window into our shared past, with a particular focus on the Beothuk.
En Francais
Identity and Autobiography
The relationship between the universal and particular is especially important in Canadian poetry. In this poetry teaching unit, Aaron Tucker explores how Canadian poems explore and explain both personal and national identity.
En Francais
Canadian Poets Across the Curriculum: Al Purdy and the Dorsets
Poet and teacher Kathryn Bjornson uses Al Purdy to reinforce the connection between the past and the present and the tension between archaeological evidence and the imagination in her high school classroom.
En Francais
Poetry for Performance
en Francais
Poet and performer Hilary Peach illuminates the connections between writing and performing in this step-by-step guide for the classroom.
Contemporary Canadian Poetry-Tasting Hour
en francais
Looking to introduce contemporary Canadian poetry to your students? These exercises will get their poetic juices flowing.
The Art of the Chapbook
en francais
Do your students want to publish their own book-length work? Join poet and publisher Ursula Vaira and learn how to create chapbooks in this informative exploration of one of poetry's easiest publications. (PDF)
Using Contemporary Canadian Poetry in the Classroom
en francais
Help your students experience a shift in perspective by reading contemporary Canadian poems and suddenly viewing the world through someone else’s eyes.
Book Arts Unit for Teen Authors
en francais
New for teachers of grades 8 to 12, lesson plans that teach students to the skills and processes necessary to create, write, read aloud expressively and publish their own books the way professional authors do.
Teacher's Discussion ForumWant to share questions or concerns about teaching poetry? Visit the new teacher's discussion forum and join teachers across Canada in creating a valuable resource.