Please visit the Favorite Poem Project, and hear Americans read the poetry they love.

Submission Guidelines:

Your poem can be as long or as short as you like. Spacing, font size, and placement on the page are up to you, but the poems must be typed, and please make sure your name is on every sheet of paper you submit. We are not about to tell you what a poem is! Decide in your own mind, and send us whatever you come up with. Illustrations are welcome as well.

Teaching This Genre:

Reading poetry is a good road to writing it, and children should read the classics as well as the more colorful, accessible works of contemporary children's poets! Read Yeats but also Shel Silverstein. Visit http://www.poetry4kids.com but also read and listen to Walter de la Mare. Children can absolutely appreciate excellent classical work: try Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake, and Emily Dickinson. but they also need writing they can relate to, that makes them laugh. The best way into poetry for children may be humor. Rhyming, humor, and funny animals unlock the doors to this art form. But don't be surprised if profundity follows fun.

2008 Finalists:

Kindergarten-2nd Grade:

Kaferi M., "The Little Mouse"
Calvin Rain W., "If I Had an Old-Fashioned Car"
Elena B., "Down in the Wood"
Abigail M., "Fall"
Iain L., "The Sun" "Lightning"
Adriana W., "The Birds"

3rd-6th Grade:

Mara C., "Little Monster"
Kathi M., "To Touch a Scuba Diver's Heart"
Nicholas B, "I Love Tulips"
Zoe M., "The Water Horses of Fay"

7th-9th Grade:
 

10th-12th Grade:
 

College-Adult: