"I have become increasingly convinced that poetry offers one of the best-and often most underused--resources for developing literacy foundations," writes Timothy Rasinski. Poetry and songs are typically short and easy to learn, provide opportunities for students to play with the sounds of language, and offer an engaging way to learn phonics. In addition, reciting poetry builds reading fluency, one of the foundational skills for reading success identified by both the Common Core State Standards and the 2000 National Reading Panel report. But despite these benefits, many school reading programs have slowly reduced the amount of poetry students learn. Rasinski calls for making poetry and rhythmic texts an integral part of the reading curriculum.