The readings for this week helped to give me ideas about how I will teach one of my favorite genres of literature. Poetry is such a unique style of writing, and I think the teaching of this type of literature should be just as unique. I liked the bulletin board idea that was mentioned in the article entitled “Poetry is like Directions for Your Imagination!” I think displaying children’s work is something that should be done during every unit that is taught, and this idea helps to do that in a way that shows students how poetry can be categorized. My favorite aspect of this idea is that the children taught the teachers that poems can belong in multiple categories depending on the person reading it. I thought this was such an accidental way of showing students how meaningful and emotional poetry really is.
In the second article entitled “Poetry Top 10: A foolproof formula for teaching poetry,” I loved the advice that the author gave to the readers about how to become comfortable with poetry themselves before teaching it. I love poetry, but I completely understand the many people who have a hard time enjoying the subject. When teaching something to children it is important to be passionate about it so that your students can become passionate about the subject themselves. It is hard to show passion for something that you don’t understand or that you simply don’t like, but as the article suggests, learn to write poetry again, this might help you to see how fun it really can be, read famous poetry on your own so that you can have deeper discussions with your students about the poetry that you read together in class, and lastly give your students the opportunity to see how creative poetry really is.
Teachers can use poetry to build imagination in the written work of students by giving them free rein when it comes to poetry assignments. Poetry itself is a creative way of writing that does not require punctuation or many other grammatical rules. Have students write about something in their lives that is bothering them, something that they are passionate about, or anything else that they please. Don’t require that they do anything but write poetry. Let them be free writers and their imagination will shine through like never before. They will see just how creative they can be when they are given no limits, and this will help to build their confidence and imagination during other forms of writing.
Some poems that I would use in my classroom are:
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/creativity
http://storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/lightinspring.htm
http://storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/star.htm
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/wind-on-the-hill-by-a-a-milne
