Teaching writing was one of the hardest curriculum activities I had to do as a full time classroom teacher. Just setting up for a writing activity was hard enough with the little ones.
Poetry is an excellent way to get students thinking about how different parts of a sentence can be used to create an effect. Poetry gives clear examples of how an adjective in the right place can make all the difference. More experimental poetry can also provide interesting models of the variety of ways words can be used and how meanings can change based on the construction of a sentence.