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

AutonoMY Learning Website

ASCD Blog Post - The Figurative Language Stretch

Music by Aylex