The starting point for teaching children to write poetry is allowing them to develop experiences and language to describe them. Another way of teaching or stimulating children to write poetry is to provide them with a rich and varied background of poetry by reading a wide range of poems to them. Poetry should become an integral part of talk and response in the classroom. Children need to know that poetry is a way of responding to something very real in their lives. Another way of helping children experiment with words and get started with poetic expression is by not imposing adult standards on children's writing. A final way of helping children grow in their ability to express themselves through poetry is by introducing various poetic forms for them to use. Children's poetry should indicate an awareness of an experience, sincerity of feeling, a choice of appropriate and natural language, and the creation of a response to the idea in the reader. Several poems written by children are quoted as examples demonstrating these qualities. (TS)