Cornelius Eady: I used to teach in the Poets-in-the-Schools program, and what I think was best about that program was that it allowed, just for a few hours a day, the idea that it was OK for the students to use their imagination --- not that they would all turn into published writers, but that the school was sanctioning this as something "official", even "normal" as anything else that happened there. It was also wonderful that the concept of reading just for the fun, discovery and pleasure of it was encouraged. I don't know how (or if) schools are incorporating poetry these days into classes, but I think what one really exposes a student to when poetry is brought into an elementary classroom is the opportunity to have their imagination and lives recognized and validated.
Honor Moore: My twin nieces seem to have been exposed to poetry --- they are 12 now --- but I think there's always more to do. I think poetry should be taught everyday. When I was in third grade there was always a poem on the blackboard and we read it aloud. That would be great.
Kenneth Koch and others connected with Teachers and Writers have come up with great ways to teach poetry to kids. I would have kids imitate great poems, write imitations of them, mimicking line lengths, rhythm, line breaks, lengths, types of imagery, etc. I would have them read poems aloud, a stanza or a line apiece.
Jeffrey Greene: First of all, I'm not exactly sure how poetry is taught, in what schools and to what sorts of kids. Poetry in America has a small audience compared to novels and films but it is a very avid one for which I'm personally grateful. Many of my friends are highly educated. They went to privileged schools. Some poetry has been taught to them but they manage to live happily without it. I think a majority of teachers and schools fit into this category, too. Even some of my English department colleagues have little interest in contemporary poetry. Our society is so complex and varied, but much of it has been traditionally focused on the practical and utilitarian for the sake of mere survival or to achieve incredible levels of prosperity. I have to say that I'm much more concerned about the teaching of writing itself in schools, to get parents and their kids, businesses, and communities to appreciate the value of careful thinking and written expression. Obviously, kids should be exposed to poetry, but I'm afraid it would be a chore for them unless it is made relevant to their value systems.
Mary Jo Bang: No, schools don't adequately expose children to poetry. Teachers don't understand how to teach it because they are frightened by it, and that's because no one taught them how to read it. I'd bring in poems that I thought would interest them and have them talk about them. Help them see how the poem was working to do whatever task it had set itself. And I'd have them try their hand at writing poems so they would appreciate the process.
Billy Collins: I have started a project called Poetry 180 to have a poem a day read out loud to high school students. No studying the poem, just listening to it. I hand picked the poems which are listed on the Internet at www.loc.gov/poetry/180.
Marge Piercy: I'd give them lots and lots of it and have them pick out what they liked and try to write something like that. I would have them find poems to read to each other to say things they wanted to say, like you hurt my feelings, I really like you, I'm depressed about something, I'm really happy --- but poems that say these things in ways that make you listen and really experience what the poet wanted you to go through.
Marc Woodworth: I'm a great fan of asking kids to memorize poems. To have those lines in you from an early age makes poetry something somatic, a permanent part of how you hear language, how you think, and who you are.
Richard Matthews: I am not well enough acquainted with what goes on in schools to comment much. My nearest authority, my ten-year-old nephew Thomas, seems to be reading and writing a fair amount of poetry and having a very happy time with it. My general, if limited, experience with children leads me to believe that have a natural love of poetry, and that much of what is necessary scholastically is not to interfere with that early affection.
