Poetry in the classroom

[Frederic Vial]

In teaching history, I reference poetry whenever possible.  The analysis and breakdown of the figurative language used in poetry forces students to use descriptive language in their own words in the analysis required.  The idea of first masticating a poem, analyzing it, explaining it in one's own words can be a difficult process for middle-schoolers, however it gets the flywheel turning and offers an excellent opportunity to teach students the value of being able to express themselves in detail, especially when it comes time to writing their college essays.