"Grass" is a nice short poem with a lot of opportunities for discussion. You could ask students what the message of the poem is and then have a mini-debate about what Sandburg was trying to say through the poem. (Two possible themes are the grass telling people to forget about the past and let the pain fade away, or the grass could be subtly accusing people of letting time erase memories and lessons that deserve to be remembered.)
Other ways to use Sandburg poems:
"Fog" can be used to introduce the imagist poets.
"Cool Tombs" can be used to discuss assonance and word choice.
"Chicago" can be used as a prompt for students to write autobiographical poems and to show that a poem doesn't have to be about an abstract object to be insightful.
Video footage of Chicago as the poem is being read:
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