Beyond Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue: A Practical Guide for Helping Students Write Free Verse

For many teachers, poetry can be a difficult subject to teach. Poet Benjamin Green makes it easy with this practical and insightful book.

His step-by-step process is halfway between formulaic fill-in-the-blank exercises and open-ended (“Write a poem about peace”) assignments.

With clear examples, Green talks students through each of 25 exercises, helping them create high-quality, thoughtful poems. The process begins with “word gathering,” a series of prompts designed to generate words, phrases, information, ideas, and images. Students then “extract” a poem from this material, choosing the most interesting and descriptive words. Finally, Green guides them through the revision process, using a series of questions to help them refine and polish their work. The book also includes suggested readings and samples of poems created by real students.