Janet S. Wong Response

When choosing the poetry you want to expose your student's to, you must proceed cautiously. You want to first assign a poem that is not too intimidating, that doesn't have language that exceeds their understanding; poetry is a scary enough concept to these students in the first place! Janet S. Wong's Behind The Wheel is a great starter book of poetry, although I personally would assign the poem's one by one as I saw fit.

The poem Stuff holds metaphors, comparison, and simple symbols that are easy for all students to understand. It holds the idea of parents and the idea of "home", which is a common discussion area for all students. What do they consider home? How would they describe it? A teacher can so easily show students how much a poem can stir anyone's own emotions.

Wong, Janet S. Behind the Wheel: Poems About Driving.
 New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1999.