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Let's examine the problem of teaching poetry in Middle School
🤓 English teachers teach poetry.
🤢 Kids hate poetry.
🙄 Riddles are in poetic form.
🥰 Kids love riddles.
😀 So riddles are a way to teach kids poetry.
Well, perhaps that's a little harsh: some kids love poetry and some hate riddles. Riddles written as poems are different than most poems in that there is a puzzle to solve. It turns a simple poem into a game.
The following is an outline of a lecture given to a seventh grade Language Arts students about riddles and poetry.
  • Sample riddle. Show them an easy riddle and have the class solve it.
  • Why does one write poetry?
  • Solve another riddle.
  • Who can be a poet? (For fun, hand out "poetic licenses")
  • Solve another riddle.
  • Tolkein Talk. Show riddles from The Hobbit.
  • Discuss forms of verse (limerick, haiku, sonnet, etc.)
  • Limericks, including some sample riddle limericks.
  • Haiku and haiku riddles.
  • More about rhythm.
  • Samples of anapestic meters.
  • Riddles written in anapestic feet.
  • Conclusion: poetry can be fun!
Are you looking for more ways to use riddles in your class setting? Here is our list of all our articles on riddles in the classroom.
Check out Cloud Kingdom's sourcebook, Riddles in a Language Arts Classroom , available on Amazon.