Teaching Poetry with a Bracket Competition: Ready-to-Go Tip

What Do We Like About Poetry?

This is the question I will ask my students on the first day back after winter break. This week, our reading and writing instruction will center around exploring poems and using a bracket system to determine what we love most about poetry.

If you’d like a ready-to-use lesson plan for a poetry bracket competition, here you go!

Lesson Overview

Introduction (All Grades)

Start by asking your students:

• “What do we like about poetry? What makes a poem special?” List their responses on chart paper.

Next, share a few age-appropriate poems and ask:

• “What stands out?”

The Competition

Explain to students that they’ll explore and vote on poems throughout the week. Each day, you’ll introduce two new poems, and they will decide their favorites based on what they enjoy most about poetry.

How It Works

Setting Up the Bracket

• Use a whiteboard or chart paper to draw your brackets for easy adjustments.
• Alternatively, use editable digital templates if you prefer a tech-savvy approach.

Daily Time Commitment

Plan 10–20 minutes each day, depending on the length of the poems and your students’ age group.

Daily Suggestions

Before voting, remind students to consider:

• What makes the poem enjoyable to read or listen to?
• Does the poem evoke any feelings or images?

Age-Specific Strategies

Kindergarten – Grade 2

• Provide students with a piece of paper folded in half. As you read each poem, have them sketch what they hear and like on one side for each poem.
• Afterward, they can reflect on their sketches to decide their favorite.
• Ask questions like:
  • “Which poem made you feel something?”
  • “Which poem painted a picture in your mind?”

Grades 3–5

• Build on younger strategies by discussing sensory details, figurative language, and the tone of the poems.
• As the competition progresses, split students into groups to create persuasive arguments for their chosen poem.

Grades 6–8

• Focus on themes, imagery, and tone when analyzing poems. Compare poems with contrasting emotions, such as a humorous one versus a serious one.
• Encourage students to develop a scoring system to rank poems based on their strongest qualities.
• Build suspense by delaying the announcement of winning poems until all votes are in.

What’s Next: Write Your Own Poem

At the end of the competition, invite students to write their own poems. Provide prompts like:

• Write a poem about a favorite memory.
• Create a poem that uses sensory details to describe a season.
• Experiment with humor or a serious tone in your writing.

Leave space for students to share their creations and reflect on their newfound appreciation for poetry. Celebrate their efforts by displaying their work or compiling a class poetry book.

Need a Resource?

Here are my favorite websites for poems to print, listen to, or read!

Poem Hunter

Readworks

Poetry Foundation

CommonLit

Poets.org

The idea for creating a poetry bracket competition came from the book, 4 Essential Studies, by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher.