Poetry is an important ingredient in the elementary school curriculum both for its intrinsic qualities and as a vehicle for other subject matter. Rhythm, rhyme, word choice and relationships are best seen and felt by children listening to poetry and, in later elementary school, reading poetry themselves. Children can be motivated to write too, enhancing the technical and emotional aspects of published poetry as well as occasionally serving an individual therapeutic need. The creative teacher can devise jingles and poem games to reinforce learning in subject areas, particularly language arts. Syllabication becomes a game instead of a drill when students write Haiku and Tanka. Vocabulary development is immediately meaningful as students write cinquains or descriptive couplets. Samples of children's work and suggestions for motivation and working methods are included. (TO)