To determine whether the suggested poetry teaching procedures found in the teacher manuals of sixth-grade basal readers reflect the pedagogical procedures suggested by expert opinion and research, an indepth analysis was made of a total of 106 poetry lessons in eight teacher manuals. The poetry lessons were analyzed for the purposes of determining the general organization of the student text and the manual, noting any statements of objectives for poetry instruction, and identifying the number of poetry lessons contained in the manual. The complete analysis of each manual consisted of an overview of the poetry lessons, including a listing of stated objectives; the assessment instrument ratings and descriptions of the suggested teaching procedures; a summary table of assessment instrument ratings; and a concluding summary. Findings indicated that the stated objectives stressed a one-dimensional, mechanistic view of poetry instruction. They focused on cognitive rather than affective response to poetry, with an emphasis on the comprehension of form rather than the apprehension of content. The suggested teaching procedures made very limited provision for presenting poetry in a meaningful context and did not suggest any readiness experiences to stimulate interest or prepare students for reading or listening to poetry. For the most part, the poetry instruction in the sixth-grade basal manuals consisted of a superficial examination of poetic text, language, and form rather than an exploration of feelings, thoughts, and ideas. (HOD)