In order to make the tour as enjoyable as possible for students, many of the poems selected incorporate humor. Also, a section on nursery rhymes serves as an example of the simplest poems and builds students' confidence in their ability to read and comprehend poetry. To broaden the scope of this tour, teachers may choose to have students write their own poetry and publish it in the classroom or on the Internet. Suggestions for ways to expand the learning experience into other subject areas are included in the Classroom Activities . To make exploring more works by the featured poets and delving deeper into poetry forms a simple task, additional online resources are enumerated in the Teacher's Resource Tour .
Poetry even serves a role in music, and it has a well-established place in language arts education.
Poetry has the power to change our way of thinking, and it is because of this complexity and importance that we must begin to study it early in life. When elementary students tackle simple rhymes and funny verses initially, their fear of poetry subsides. They form an understanding of its lighter side, making it much easier for them to grasp the more complicated themes that are later presented. When they have finished this tour, students will have met a few of the best writers of children's poetry through their work. The experience is designed to help set a foundation of interest in poetry that will last a lifetime.