How to Teach the Power of Words Through Poetry (Jewellyn Forrest)
Poetry isn’t just “beautiful prose” — it’s a doorway into critical thinking, voice, and perspective.
In this episode, I sit down with Jewellyn Forrest, national writing consultant and co-founder of Autonomy Learning, to explore how poetry — and especially figurative language — can:
✔️ Help students “read between the lines”
✔️ Unlock reluctant writers
✔️ Build community and celebrate student voice
✔️ Offer an equity lens by honoring culture and personal experience
Jewellyn also shares her powerful Figurative Language Stretch strategy which she wrote about on the ASCD blog — a simple, playful way to help students move from identifying similes and metaphors to confidently weaving them into their own poems.
Give it a listen if you’ve ever wondered: How do we get students not only to understand poetry, but to love creating it?
Jewellyn Forrest LinkedIn Page
ASCD Blog Post - The Figurative Language Stretch
Music by Aylex