How to Teach Poetry in Primary Schools: Three Practical Ideas

In this exclusive extract from 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Poetry, you’ll find three simple approaches to teaching poetry. Use the links below to jump to each idea:
Idea 1: Collecting words and phrases
Idea 2: How to analyse a poem
Idea 3: Become a poetry detective

1) Collecting words and phrases

‘Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.’ – Rudyard Kipling

These activities create a language-rich environment, inspiring pupils to broaden their vocabulary through interactive, visual and game-like strategies. By making vocabulary enrichment multi-sensory and creative, new words become more memorable, exciting tools for writing.

1. Model metacognition: Teachers can model lifelong learning by thinking aloud during shared reading. Pause when encountering an engaging word or phrase and say, ‘I must jot this down! I love how the author has portrayed/compared/encapsulated/contrasted… .’ This approach demonstrates how to notice and value vocabulary.
2. Word wizard journal: Give pupils special notebooks for tracking new words, their meanings and example sentences. Add a ‘magic spell’ section for them to create their own sentences using these words.
3. Word scavenger hunt: Provide poetry books or anthologies for a scavenger hunt. Create challenges like, ‘Find a word that describes movement’ or ‘Locate a phrase about weather.’ For added challenge, pupils can design their own scavenger hunts for classmates.
4. Magpie corner: Set up a bulletin board for pupils to pin inspiring words and phrases they discover. If stuck for ideas, they can ‘magpie’ (borrow) words from the board to use in their writing.
5. Word collector treasure chest: Create a physical or digital ‘treasure chest’ for pupils to store words they ‘discover’. Use gold coin cutouts or cards to write down the word, its meaning and an example sentence.

Teaching tip
Model using new vocabulary. For example, use the ‘Word of the week’ in your explanations, questions and even when giving feedback. The more children hear and see a word in action, the more likely they are to internalise it and use it themselves.

Taking it further
Provide pupils with blank bookmarks where they can write down words and phrases they want ‘to keep’. Once filled, bookmarks can be laminated as a keepsake, and a new one started.

Bonus idea
Introduce a ‘Word of the week’ and encourage students to use it in their writing and discussions. Keep a tally of who uses it or reward the pupil who uses it most creatively!

2) How to analyse a poem

‘The question is not what you look at, but what you see.’ – Henry David Thoreau

In this lesson, pupils will learn how to analyse a poem using the SMILE method. They will discover how Structure, Meaning, Imagery, Language and Emotion can help them understand and appreciate any poem.

Begin the lesson by reading a short, accessible poem aloud to the class. A simple nature poem, a classic children’s verse, or even a poem written by a pupil in a previous lesson can work well.

After reading, ask pupils what they think the poem is about and how it makes them feel as this will encourage initial, instinctive responses before deeper analysis. It is important to stress that there are no ‘wrong’ first impressions: poetry is about interpretation, and each child’s perspective has value. This helps to build confidence and removes the fear of making mistakes.

Introduce the SMILE framework, explaining that it provides a step-by-step way to explore any poem. Write S-M-I-L-E on the board, adding prompts for each letter:

S for Structure: How is the poem organised?
How many stanzas does it have? Is it written in the first or third person? Does it have a rhyme scheme or a particular rhythm? Half-close your eyes and look at the shape of the poem. Is it even? Uneven? Long? Short? Thick? Thin? Square? Scattered? Does it look like anything in particular?

M for Meaning: What is the poem about?
Can you identify any key themes? Does it tell a story, describe a feeling or explore an idea?

I for Imagery: What descriptive words stand out? Can you find any adjectives or noun phrases that help create strong images? Are there any similes or metaphors?

L for Language: What poetic devices are used? Look for alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, personification or interesting word choices that add to the effect.

E for Emotion: How does the poem make you feel? What words contribute to its tone or mood? What might the poet or narrator be feeling?

Hand out copies of the poem and, as a class, go through each step of SMILE together. For Structure, identify stanzas and any rhyming pattern. For Meaning, discuss what the poem is saying beyond the surface. For Imagery, highlight rich descriptions. For Language, spot poetic techniques. Finally, for Emotion, reflect on the poem’s overall effect.

Encourage pupils to work in pairs, choosing a new poem to analyse using SMILE. They can write their observations in a simple grid or present them creatively on a poster. Some children may enjoy colour-coding their findings, using a different colour for each SMILE category. This makes patterns easier to spot and builds visual memory. Others might prefer to sketch alongside their notes to capture imagery or mood.

Finish the lesson by asking volunteers to share their findings, showing how SMILE works every time. Remind pupils that the aim is not to find a single ‘correct’ answer but to deepen their understanding and enjoyment of poetry. Over time, using SMILE regularly will help them approach poems with greater independence and confidence.

Teaching tip
Ensure pupils understand figurative language, poetic devices and themes before analysis. Teach these concepts first so they can confidently apply SMILE.

Bonus idea
Pupils can create their own ‘SMILE cheat sheet’ with key questions under each category, helping them analyse poems independently in the future.

3) Poetry detection

‘There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.’ – Sherlock Holmes, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, by Arthur Conan Doyle

This pre-reading lesson can be used to introduce and explore any new poem. Pupils will rotate through three stations designed to ignite curiosity, develop inference skills and inspire thoughtful predictions. Each station offers a different approach to making meaning from clues, building excitement and preparing pupils for rich interpretation.

Introduce the activity by telling pupils they are about to become poetry detectives, collecting clues and forming predictions about a previously unseen poem.

Station 1: Picture it: Provide several carefully chosen lines or phrases from the ‘mystery’ poem. Pupils draw what they imagine based on these fragments. Encourage them to use colour and symbols to show what they think the poem’s setting, characters or mood might be.

 Station 2: Word work: Provide a selection of nouns, verbs and adjectives from the poem. Pupils group the words in any way they choose: by word type, by theme, ‘known’ and ‘unknown’. Venn diagrams and sorting templates can be provided for support. Pupils discuss or write what they think the poem might include based on their groupings.

 Station 3: Mystery box: Provide a box or envelope containing sensory clues linked to the poem – objects, textures, photographs or sound recordings. For example, for ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, pupils might find a feather, a toy cat, a mini boat and the sound of waves. Pupils handle the items, then write predictions on sticky notes about what the poem might be about!

Teaching tip
Encourage pupils to justify their predictions by referring directly to the evidence provided at each station – whether it’s a word, object or image. Model how to use sentence stems like ‘I think this poem might be about… because…’ or ‘This word makes me think of… so I predict…’.

Taking it further
Provide only the title of the poem. Pupils brainstorm what they think the poem might be about, listing possible themes, settings or characters. They can record their ideas in thought bubbles, spider diagrams or short paragraphs.

• This is an edited extract from 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Poetry by Adam Bushnell and Frankie O’Reilly is published by Bloomsbury Education (£15).