In Poetry Pauses, Vogelsinger provides exactly the encouragement, guidance, and resources that teachers of writing need. He is a master reader and master teacher—practical and accessible, nuanced and detailed. From content that students will love to assessments that will challenge them, from first principles of understanding to subtle approaches for analysis, Vogelsinger thinks like the veteran practitioner and generous colleague that all departments need. Poetry Pauses is a collection of resources and inspiration that I am certain will enliven and enrich my courses right away, and for years to come.

Brett Vogelsinger’s Poetry Pauses is the book we need right now to guide us in how to bring poetry into our classrooms every day not as a full-scale unit of study but by ‘opening little nooks of space for poetry.’ Brett’s practical ‘poetry pauses’ give us an accessible framework and an abundance of ideas and materials for supporting students not only as poets but also as writers in all genres throughout the school year.

I have a few teaching books that sit right next to my desk. Tattered and dog-eared and covered in tabs, these are my go-to resources that I use again and again. Poetry Pauses is the newest member of this shelf. In it, Vogelsinger offers practical, vibrant lessons for using poetry to enhance everything I want to do: help students learn about language, brainstorm new ideas, sharpen claims, encounter different perspectives, hold on to feedback, engage in deep thinking, build skills, and lay the foundation for living better, richer, and more poetic lives.

Poetry Pauses beckons us away from our classroom routines to learn in the presence of a poem. Here you will marinate in surprising language. You will laugh. You will imagine new lessons in all genres. You might grab a pen and drop a few lines. I did. Keep this on your desk; you will return often.

Brett Vogelsinger’s passion for poetry bleeds through every page of Poetry Pauses. Poems have long often been thought of as scary or boring and using Brett’s ideas in this book are sure to get your students— and YOU—to fall in love with the beauty of poetry. I can’t wait to share this book with every teacher I know!

Writing, like teaching, is a mixture of art and science. So many professional texts make writing scientific—practical, discrete steps that can be broken down and easily taught to any student. In Poetry Pauses, Brett Voeglsinger brings the art and magic and mystery of writing back to our classrooms. This practical and beautiful book invites us to look at poetry in a new way. It nudges us to consider that poetry is not just a genre to be studied one month a year, but a genre that unlocks possibilities for student writers at every stage of the writing process—from planning to drafting to polishing. Poetry Pauses reminds us once again that poetry is a vehicle through which we can teach ‘every essential feature’ of writing in any genre and can be the ‘foundation for a year of motivated writing’ (Atwell 2015, 317–318). This book will live on the corner of my desk to be used every day in my teaching.

Poetry, and taking time to pause, is a powerful ally in the endeavor to strengthen student writing. Vogelsinger’s work is jam-packed with protocols, activities, resources, and just the right amount of research that will not only meet your students’ writing needs, but also their need to connect to self, SEL, and society.