Sharon Ruth Gill
The forgotten genre of children's poetry
In reading this article, I took away an understanding of the importance of children's poetry in literacy. Children should be exposed to new and exciting forms of poetry, rather than simply reading the “classics”. Poetry should be something used in the classroom for students to enjoy and participate in. Instead of simply reading the words of great poets, students should be given opportunities to write their own poetry, talk about themes and meaning, and what poetry actually is. Instead of always using poetry as something to read, students should practice writing poetry with the guidance of some of the various poem structures. To build a classroom collection of poetry, the teacher should work with students to create their own collection in the classroom. This collection should include work done by children poet’s as well as innovative poets who write children’s poems.
I would use poetry at my grade level in a variety of ways. From time to time, during literacy block, I would have my third graders focus on writing poems, talking about themes and meanings, and/or simply reading and exploring poems written by other children. I think poetry could absolutely be incorporated into the language arts curriculum in my classroom. Poetry exploration offers a lot for enriching writing instruction because it allows students to express their ideas and thoughts through a new outlet. Poetry can be used for anything; to express feelings and thoughts, relive a memory, evoke emotion, etc. Other literary aspects such as theme and genre can be addressed while instructing poetry as well.
In order to use poetry in the classroom, I think I need to learn more about good resources to get the poetry from. I think having the resources to build the classroom collection of children's poetry is a significant part of using poetry in the classroom. I want students to want to learn and explore through accessible and relative poetry, rather than just reading the “classics”.
As I plan for instruction for unit, I need to consider my students as writers. I need to consider how well students are able to communicate their ideas through written English. I also need to consider students’ understanding of sentence structure, grammar, spelling rules, vocabulary, and use of evidence to support their ideas/thoughts. In analyzing students' writing samples, I will be able to analyze the things that they need further instruction and practice in so that they will continue to develop as literacy learners.
Kendall,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. One thing that I found interesting was your connection of poetry to theme. I know that in my classroom, theme and meaning are a big part of our literacy instruction. We focus a lot of time on pulling the big ideas and themes out of things that we read. I think this could be a great opportunity to include some poetry, since poems almost always have one concise theme.
I agree with you that if I were to plan a poetry unit, I would have to first educate myself. I really enjoy poetry, but I can’t say I know much about it. I would want to make sure that I am exposing my students to good, quality poetry while at the same time making it fun for them. I think I am also guilty of really only knowing the “classic” poets. I would like to look in to more contemporary children’s poets.
Finally, I like that you are thinking a few steps ahead. Before you can have children write poems, you have to make sure they are comfortable enough writers to be able to express their thoughts through writing. This is another good point that I hadn’t thought about.
Nicely done, see you tomorrow!
Amy