When using the critical process strategy, explain to students that all poems are not created equal. There is "good" and "bad" poetry, or there wouldn't be a reason to learn poetry technique. Instruct students to read, evaluate and appreciate poetry. Offer examples of modern poetry, using "good" and "bad" samples. Get their feedback. Instruct students to expand on why they do or do not like a specific poem. Encourage class involvement. Instruct students to vote on which poem is the worst and which is the best. After separating the good from the bad critically, discuss what makes good poems good and bad poems bad. Discuss what makes a good poem. Discuss what words or phrases are most memorable about the good poems. Discuss how these aspects are important parts of technique and the writing process.
Make poetry more fun by placing it to music. Singing poetry helps to emphasize the accents and the rhythm. Rhythm is a major element of poetry, yet it isn't meant to be a rigid standard. Teach students to enjoy the freedom of figurative language and the wonders of the metaphors by putting a poem to music. Sing various poems together as a class. Discuss which poems are the class favorites and why.
Most contemporary poetry is free verse. It doesn't bother with rhythm or meter. However, teaching meter is a positive teaching strategy for many types of poetry. Emphasizing meter too much could turn students off of poetry, being too rigid and forceful, instead of simply allowing students to enjoy the poem as it was intended. Poems with rhythm should be enjoyed by teaching meter and by dividing syllable accents. Teaching students to have a theoretical grasp of meter is a strategy used by many poetry teachers, who have a goal not only to help students to hear the meter, but to be able to write poems that include meter within them, as well.
Riddles are positive ways to introduce students to poetry reading and writing. Riddle poems can be explored by riddle games where students answer questions after analyzing the riddle. Riddles include creative metaphors, similes and imaginative presentation. Concrete imagery, metonymy and description of an object or a concept are also important parts of riddle poems. Define what makes a positive riddle poem. Divide students into groups. Instruct each group to write a riddle poem together. Instruct the class to vote on the best, funniest and most creative riddle poems.