Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose

Multimedia poetry resources

The ever-evolving capabilities of technology including apps, social media platforms and websites mean that poetry is available in new forms and delivered in new ways. The following list focusses on Instapoetry and Slam Poetry, but educators are encouraged to be on the look out for other forms and opportunities to share poetry in new ways.

Instapoets

Instapoetry is, simply, poetry written and formatted especially to be shared through the Instagram platform. As such, it tends to be short, and use a range of visual devices to support the text, including font, layout, illustrations, backgrounds and, sometimes, props. Poets who use Instagram to share their work are commonly known as Instapoets. While Instapoetry is not generally written specifically for children, the following Instapoets, and other Instagram accounts which share poetry, often have content in their feeds which is suitable for children, especially upper primary and secondary readers.

• @capolavoro_kids The account of Capolavoro Kids, sharing art by children, including digitised poems.
• @cleowade The account of US poet Cleo Wade, sharing short poems and photographs. Some adult themes.
• @cm.writer The account of Canadian poet and author Cassandra Mackenzie Wood, sharing inspirational poems. Some adult themes.
• @nikita_gill Account of US based poet and creator Nikita Gill, sharing poems and other posts. Some adult themes.
• @rupikaur_ The account of Rupi Kaur, arguably the best known Insta Poet, with over 4 million followers and three published poetry collections in book form. Some adult themes.
• @imannpoetry The account of Canadian poet and writer Mahn Sing with short poems and inspirational sayings.

Poetry on YouTube

• The channel of young Australian poet Solli Raphael, who won the Australian Poetry Slam at age 12.
• The Poetry Out Load channel includes performances of poetry as part of the USA Poetry Out Loud contest from the last several years. With the contest aimed at high school students, there are some mature themes. Suitable for upper primary and secondary classrooms.
• The channel of SPARC Poetry, a US based poetry organisation. Featuring numerous performances by children and young people.
• The channel of poetry organisation Button Poetry featuring spoken word poems. Not all are aimed at children, but there is a playlist with child-friendly poems, and others are also suitable.
• For individual poetry videos: Asha Christensen, aged 12, performs at TedX Kids, on the topic of writers block. Suitable for primary classes. A seventh grade student, Olivia Vella, shares a poem about insecurities.

Curriculum content descriptions

Foundation Year

• Recognise and generate rhyming words, alliteration patterns, syllables and sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.  AC9EFLY09
• Recognise some different types of literary texts and identify some characteristic features of literary texts, for example beginnings and endings of traditional texts and rhyme in poetry.  AC9EFLE03
• Replicate the rhythms and sound patterns in stories, rhymes, songs and poems from a range of cultures.  AC9EFLE04
• Retell familiar literary texts through performance, use of illustrations and images.  AC9EFLE05
• Innovate on familiar texts through play. AC9EFLE05

Year 1

• Listen to, recite and perform poems, chants, rhymes and songs, imitating and inventing sound patterns including alliteration and rhyme.  AC9E1LE04
• Innovate on familiar texts by using similar characters, repetitive patterns or vocabulary. AC9E1LE05
• Recreate texts imaginatively using drawing, writing, performance and digital forms of communication.  AC9E1LE05
• Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements, for example illustrations and diagrams.  AC9E1LY06

Year 2

• Identify, reproduce and experiment with rhythmic, sound and word patterns in poems, chants, rhymes and songs. AC9E2LE04 
• Identify aspects of different types of literary texts that entertain, and give reasons for personal preferences.  AC9E2LE02 
• Discuss different texts on a similar topic, identifying similarities and differences between the texts. AC9E2LY01
• Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose.  AC9E2LY06 

Year 3

• Discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning and shape the reader’s reaction, including rhythm and onomatopoeia in poetry and prose.  AC9E3LE04 
• Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts, for example characterisation, rhyme, rhythm, mood, music, sound effects and dialogue.  AC9E3LE05 
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print, and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose.  AC9E3LY06

Year 4

• Understand, interpret and experiment with a range of devices and deliberate word play in poetry and other literary texts, for example nonsense words, spoonerisms, neologisms and puns.  AC9E4LE04 
• Create literary texts that explore students’ own experiences and imagining.  AC9E4LE05 
• Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts.  AC9E4LE02 
• Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view.  AC9E4LE02 

Year 5

• Understand, interpret and experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile, metaphor and personification, in narratives, shape poetry, songs, anthems and odes.  AC9E5LE04 
• Create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected authors.  AC9E5LE05 
• Present a point of view about particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage, and reflecting on the viewpoints of others.  AC9E5LE02 
• Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audiences.  AC9E5LE02 
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience.  AC9E5LY06 

Year 6

• Identify the relationship between words, sounds, imagery and language patterns in narratives and poetry such as ballads, limericks and free verse.  AC9E6LE04 
• Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways.  AC9E6LE05 
• Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice.  AC9E6LE05 
• Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an author’s individual style.  AC9E6LE03 
• Understand how authors often innovate on text structures and play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous and persuasive purposes and effects.  AC9E6LA03 
• Identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphor, influence personal response to different texts.  AC9E6LE02 

Source for content descriptions and related text above: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)