Background on this tip
This journey began with a post on a personal page, asking friends and family what they liked to read as kids. Almost no one responded with poetry.
And this caused me to reflect. I wouldn't list poetry as a favorite as a kid either.
But oddly, when I taught poetry, I usually thought the students I worked with had fantastic poetry. They did an elegant job of hitting on the soft spot of an emotion or being real about an experience. I've said this before - I think kids experience life in a more complete way than we learn to as adults. Somewhere along the line, we learn to be polite, politically correct and guarded in our speech. Kids feel very intensely about events, have bright feelings, and sometimes blurt out profound words.
And this caused me to reflect. I wouldn't list poetry as a favorite as a kid either.
But oddly, when I taught poetry, I usually thought the students I worked with had fantastic poetry. They did an elegant job of hitting on the soft spot of an emotion or being real about an experience. I've said this before - I think kids experience life in a more complete way than we learn to as adults. Somewhere along the line, we learn to be polite, politically correct and guarded in our speech. Kids feel very intensely about events, have bright feelings, and sometimes blurt out profound words.
You love poetry and we want your kids to at least experience what poetry could be. Most teachers don't love poetry and therefore don't love teaching it. It's usually taught in the Spring with Poetry Month in April and generally gets short shrift in the year. Or, kids are exposed to the same kind of poetry over and over, year after year and so there is poetry fatigue. They usually don't get to pick their own poetry to read, either.
It's generally not included on standardized texts, but poetry, as you know, is a fairly sophisticated way to express ideas. If you can understand and analyze poetry, there will be less problems with analyzing regular prose.
It's generally not included on standardized texts, but poetry, as you know, is a fairly sophisticated way to express ideas. If you can understand and analyze poetry, there will be less problems with analyzing regular prose.
The actual tip
We're going to start with sneaking in poetry. One poem per week.
I will send you a poem to use, or you can go rogue and choose your own - you know your kids best. I will send you ones that might expose you all to different poets, different ideas or different ways to think about poetry, but you are obviously the stop.
Introducing the poem
I find, when kids discover things on their own, it's way more fun and they feel special for finding it themselves. There are a few ways to accomplish this with poems.
One way: The quickest way is to print out the poem and put it up in plain view on the wall, on the back of a door, on the refrigerator, by the front door, near the garage entrance/mudroom. Sneaky places that they go. But, don't say anything about it. Let them find it. See if they talk to you about it.
Another way: Make a poetry placemat. You can print out the poem, go to Kinko's and have them laminate the page. Make a few and use them as dinner placemats. If you have dry erase markers, leave a set of markers out for the kids to doodle on them (it'll wipe off the lamination).
And another way: Poetry post-its or poetry notes in lunches/snacks. This one is illuminated in this post.
You could do one way for one kid, another for another kid, whatever you think will work for your kids.
One way: The quickest way is to print out the poem and put it up in plain view on the wall, on the back of a door, on the refrigerator, by the front door, near the garage entrance/mudroom. Sneaky places that they go. But, don't say anything about it. Let them find it. See if they talk to you about it.
Another way: Make a poetry placemat. You can print out the poem, go to Kinko's and have them laminate the page. Make a few and use them as dinner placemats. If you have dry erase markers, leave a set of markers out for the kids to doodle on them (it'll wipe off the lamination).
And another way: Poetry post-its or poetry notes in lunches/snacks. This one is illuminated in this post.
You could do one way for one kid, another for another kid, whatever you think will work for your kids.
When the conversation starts about the poem
If your kids don't actively bring up the poem for the week, you can bring it up yourself. You can do it very intentionally, you can memorize it and just say it one day in the car, you can include it in your reading with the boys at night, you can tell them all you have something you want to tell them and then read the poem.
For the summer, especially, you want it to be fun still. And, you will get to participate. You will think out loud for them. For quick reflections, you can first check for comprehension - make sure they know what the poem is about. We will keep them relatively simple this summer for that, so this is easy.
And two, you will connect the poem to your own life. Your kids will learn about you and will more importantly see how to connect poetry to life. Poetry is just a reflection of experience, so let's connect it to your experience.
And then of course, ask them to connect it to something they've experienced. The more thinking they do, the better you will be about asking why that connects - and having them use lines from the poem to support their thinking. But, we can tread lightly to start in the summer.
For the summer, especially, you want it to be fun still. And, you will get to participate. You will think out loud for them. For quick reflections, you can first check for comprehension - make sure they know what the poem is about. We will keep them relatively simple this summer for that, so this is easy.
And two, you will connect the poem to your own life. Your kids will learn about you and will more importantly see how to connect poetry to life. Poetry is just a reflection of experience, so let's connect it to your experience.
And then of course, ask them to connect it to something they've experienced. The more thinking they do, the better you will be about asking why that connects - and having them use lines from the poem to support their thinking. But, we can tread lightly to start in the summer.
Without further ado...
Week One's Poem
This poem is one of many from What a Day at School by Jack Prelutsky. If your youngest likes the poem and seems to want more, I'd pick it up at the library.
I Made a Noise This Morning
by Jack Prelutsky
I made a noise this morning
That I didn’t mean to make.
It truly was an accident,
An error, a mistake.
I don’t know how it happened,
But it suddenly was there,
Filled with great reverberations
That resounded in the air.
It made a strong impression
On the people in the room.
A lot of them reacted
Like they’d heard a sonic boom.
They looked at one another
As if asking, “was it you?”
They were laughing, they were pointing--
I behaved the same way too.
I couldn’t keep from joking
With the other girls and boys,
And never once admitted
It was I who made that noise.
Though I’m sorry that I made it,
From the bottom of my heart,
In a way, my brief eruption
Was a little work of art.
by Jack Prelutsky
I made a noise this morning
That I didn’t mean to make.
It truly was an accident,
An error, a mistake.
I don’t know how it happened,
But it suddenly was there,
Filled with great reverberations
That resounded in the air.
It made a strong impression
On the people in the room.
A lot of them reacted
Like they’d heard a sonic boom.
They looked at one another
As if asking, “was it you?”
They were laughing, they were pointing--
I behaved the same way too.
I couldn’t keep from joking
With the other girls and boys,
And never once admitted
It was I who made that noise.
Though I’m sorry that I made it,
From the bottom of my heart,
In a way, my brief eruption
Was a little work of art.
Click to listen to Jack Prelutsky read his own poem. | Here is a printable version of this poem to use at home or in the classroom. |
Reflection Questions
Does this poem remind you of something in your life?
- Have you ever tried to fit in with the crowd and not draw attention to yourself, like the farter did in the poem?
- Has something embarrassing ever happened to you in front of everyone?
- Jack Prelutsky did not rhyme every line, but every other line. How does rhyming every other line make the poem better, instead of rhyming every line or not rhyming at all?
My reflection
It's embarrassing, I admit! I've peed on the floor at dance rehearsal - when I was old enough to try an and avoid the situation. I think I was 10 or 11. There was no trying to blame that one on anyone else like the kid in the poem tries to do.
Our dance teacher had a strict policy on bathroom breaks, and well, I used mine up. So, really I had no choice. It was still super embarrassing though.
I couldn't hide and luckily, my friends and other dancers in the room did NOT make fun of me. So, I think I also lucked out, unlike the classmates in the poem, who were laughing and pointing.
I feel like I would behave the same way as the farter in the poem. I can understand how the farter feels! I don't think I'd want to admit it, especially with everyone laughing at the fart.
Would you admit it?
Our dance teacher had a strict policy on bathroom breaks, and well, I used mine up. So, really I had no choice. It was still super embarrassing though.
I couldn't hide and luckily, my friends and other dancers in the room did NOT make fun of me. So, I think I also lucked out, unlike the classmates in the poem, who were laughing and pointing.
I feel like I would behave the same way as the farter in the poem. I can understand how the farter feels! I don't think I'd want to admit it, especially with everyone laughing at the fart.
Would you admit it?