How to Successfully Include Writing Poetry in The Common Core Standards for ELA

Poetry is a form of writing that creates empathy, helps students process their feelings, and discusses life honestly.  Poetry is about using creativity to understand and break rules so the poet can share their message.  But did you know that the Common Core State Standards make no mention of writing poetry?

Poetry and Writing Helped Me Succeed

I am a perseverant person with a good brain, but I am not a genius.  There are a couple of things that I did outside of school that I think helped me succeed academically and in my career. I read the Bible, which is a complex text, and I wrote poetry.  I think these two things helped me understand how to write well and do well in school.  I didn’t read the Bible and write poetry for a grade, I did it because I liked it.  They were meaningful activities that helped me to connect to reading and writing beyond the classroom.  

Helping Our Students Succeed Beyond the Common Core Standards for ELA

However, not all of our students are going to seek a text they can connect to on their own.  Nor are our students going to choose to practice writing on their own just because they like it.  I think very few students do, which is a shame because reading and writing on their own will help them love learning and creating.  We as teachers have to try to find a way to get our students to love ELA.  And since you’re reading this I think you are doing just that.

Why is Writing Poetry Missing From the Common Core Standards for ELA?

Sticking to the common core standards for ELA is not going to get our students to fall in love with writing because those standards are written for college and career readiness.  The standards have a high focus on writing narratives and informational essays unless your state has added its own requirements. College and career readiness are important but so is developing a love for creating and learning.  Teachers are life-long learners and that is one of my goals for my students too.  I don’t think rigorous essays are going to develop a love of learning in my students.

More About Poetry in the Common Core Standards for ELA

Poetry: A Common Core Dilemma

When Poetry Meets the Common Core

What Skills Does Poetry Teach and How Teachers Can Meet the Common Core Standards for ELA with Poetry

Poetry is a powerful way to get our students the enjoy writing, let out their creativity, and a welcome break from long essays.  There are so many writing skills that teachers can share with their students through poetry and then apply to long writing projects, like descriptive language, literary devices, or sensory details.  We are going to take a look at how to include writing poetry and meet the state standards at the same time.  This easy guide will prepare you to create fun writing lessons while teaching those pesky standards that make teaching stressful.

Common Core Standards for ELA that Require Poetry

Poetry is mentioned in the common core standards for ELA in a few places.  These standards stay almost the same across the grade levels.  We are going to specifically take a look at grades 4-6. Here they are:

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• Students in grades 6-12 apply the Reading standards to the following range of text types, with texts selected from a broad range of cultures and periods. Includes the subgenres of narrative poems, lyrical poems, free verse poems, sonnets, odes, ballads, and epics
• Students in K-5 apply the Reading standards to the following range of text types, with texts selected from a broad range of cultures and periods.
• Includes nursery rhymes and the subgenres of the narrative poem, limerick, and free verse poem
• Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

And that’s it for the common core standards for ELA that mention poetry. 

Hope For Poetry From the Common Core Standards For ELA

The common core itself says it is not here to tell you how to teach the standards, just that after the billions of dollars they’ve poured into the standards the officials and writers of the Common Core Standards for ELA have determined kids need to know these specific things.  Here’s a quote from them.

“By emphasizing required achievements, the Standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers, and states to determine how those goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed. Thus, the Standards do not mandate such things as a particular writing process or the full range of metacognitive strategies that students may need to monitor and direct their thinking and learning. Teachers are thus free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards.”

This means that teachers get to pick how they get to teach writing. Of course, teachers also need to listen to their state and school district  In all the schools I worked in the teachers had more control and creativity available to them in their ELA block than in subjects such as math.  However, we do have to work the system to prove that the lessons we want to teach align with some part of the standards we are supposed to teach.

It’s also important to note that some states have added some standards about writing poetry.  The Massachusetts standards have added more room for poetry in writing lessons by including it with narratives.

Common Core Standards for ELA That Can Be Used For Teaching Poetry

Be sure to check out your state specifically.

Grade 4

• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 here.)
• With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

Grade 5

• Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.
• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 5 here.)
• With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Grade 6

• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 6 here.)
• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

Not Every Lesson Needs to be Aligned with the Common Core Standards for ELA

During my first full school year in public schools, I worked as a paraprofessional with a veteran teacher who taught me a lot. Teaching was her second career and she was the president of the teachers union.  She didn’t align all of her lessons with the common core.  She taught what she felt her students needed to learn.  She broke the mold of what was expected of teachers.  She knew that standards and requirements are going to continue to change and trend, but that she was going to keep teaching her students valuable lessons of every kind.

You do not have to align every lesson to the common core.  You just need to continue to be the great teacher I know you are.  Keep helping your students learn more and understand the world better.  If you need to justify what you are teaching to your students find just one standard that fits or even kind of fits, so you can get your students the lessons you know they need.

What the Common Core Standards for ELA Don’t Teach

I have had so many struggling writers find great success in writing poetry.   I think a large part of that is because poetry is usually short.  Students feel capable of writing poetry because it’s much less intimidating than writing five paragraphs. The best part is that they feel successful when they finish the assignment.  I love reading and grading my students’ poems because they are more detailed and unique than their other writing projects.  Grading poetry is also an easy and fast way for teachers to collect data on concepts learned and add a few good writing grades to the grade book.  

Beyond that poetry can teach students how to cope with their emotions, appreciate beautifully written work, and connecting to writing deeper, which also leads to a deeper understanding of the piece.  

More Poetry and Writing Articles.

Here are some more great tips and ideas on how to include poetry in your classroom.

What are the Best Rules to Writing Poetry that Teachers Need to Know?

Teachers’ Easy Guide on How to Teach Poems

5 Incredible Benefits of Teaching Poetry and Writing

Here is Your FREE Prompt for Writing Poetry

I know that you needed a prompt to help kickstart your students’ writing.  Here is an entire lesson for FREE.  My Our School Poem guides students through using sensory language to describe their school. The step-by-step directions guide your class through the writing process with all the necessary worksheets make this the perfect lesson for your classroom.