Happy National Poetry Month! One of the single most transformational things that has happened in my classroom over the last decade is working with poetry collections instead of picking and choosing poems to read. Whether reading a collection as a whole class or students exploring them on their own (as in our poetry blogging assignment), reimagining poetry instruction with collections in mind (particularly from living poets) has brought a new energy to my classes.

Melissa Smith (#TeachLivingPoets) and I felt so passionately about this that we made a video sharing our strategies for teaching collections (with specific lesson ideas in the second half) for NCTE’s 2020 (covid) conference which I’m sharing here. I would encourage you to experiment with a poetry collection or two in your classroom if you haven’t yet.

Below the video you can find some new collections my students are most excited about along with my Top Ten poetry collections for the classroom. Happy Reading!

Promises of Gold – Olivarez 

I did not realize (even though I had already started reading) that these poem are in English and (flip the book over) in Spanish until I listened to The Stacks podcast and my mind was blown. Students are already using this collection in my classroom, but I could not wait to introduce our ESOL teacher to the book due to its unique nature. She immediately ordered copies and her students are choosing a poem and creating a lesson for it using both the English and Spanish versions.

The Hurting Kind – Limon

My students are very familiar with Limon’s “Instructions on Not Giving Up” and “How to Triumph Like a Girl” (my favorite of hers), and many have been awaiting this new collection. None of us are disappointed.

Above Ground – Clint Smith

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance reader’s copy of this collection, so many of my students have been exploring this collection since the fall. We love that Smith is showing a different side of himself as he writes about fatherhood and family. We read Counting Descent as a class in the fall, and I am just thrilled to have this second collection added to my classroom library. (Also shout out to him for creating a TikTok dance with two of my students who went to see him when he was in Atlanta).

Tapping Out – Nandi Comer

Nandi Comer was named the Michigan Poet Laureate this week – exciting news! I plan on reading this collection later tonight/tomorrow mainly due to my students continually telling me how much they enjoy it.

Look at This Blue – Allison Hedge Coke

I finished this collection yesterday and found it so interesting. This is really a book length poem as opposed to several different poems and has been attractive to my students due to the focus on environmentalism. This poem is interesting also in that it lifts words and phrases from historical documents creating very interesting content as well as form.

Call Us What We Carry – Amanda Gorman

Many students became fans of Amanda Gorman on January 20, 2021 when she recited “The Hill We Climb” on the steps of the Capitol. This first collection of poems from her (correct me if I’m wrong here) delivers the same truth and energy as when the world was introduced to her.

In addition to these newer collections, here are what I would call the Top Ten collections (in no particular order) that students love in my classroom. 

Counting Descent – Clint Smith (Counting Descent Unit Plan)

Oceanic – Aimee Nezhukumatathil

The Tradition – Jericho Brown (Pulitzer Prize winning collection in 2020, also a local poet. I highly encourage you to connect your students with local poets).

Good Bones – Maggie Smith (Congratulations to her on the publication of her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful this week).

Citizen Illegal – Jose Olivarez

An American Sunrise – Joy Harjo

Deaf Republic – Ilya Kaminsky

How to Love a Country – Richard Blanco

Life on Mars – Tracy K. Smith (Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize)

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin – Terrance Hayes (sonnet lesson by Adrian Nester)

Blanco Unit, Citizen Illegal hyperdoc, Teach Living Poets Units

Susan Barber teaches AP Lit and Writers Workshop/Advanced Composition at Midtown High School in Atlanta, Georgia and serves as the College Board Advisor for AP Lit. In addition to reading, writing, and investing in the next generation, she loves watching college football with her family especially when Alabama is playing.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash