Please share!
Poetry is something people do.
I left all that blank space so you could sit on that sentence for a few extra seconds.
In high school, I had to read Shakespeare. It was on the required class list - I was forced. Not even a lot of it, but enough of it to know it meant that I didn't like poetry. It seemed flowery and dense at the same time but also, so, so, so, so OLD. A snooze. Hard. Boring.
I was uninterested. And, unfortunately, this is a fairly common thread among students. Even teachers don't always like to teach poetry. We focus on what the famous poems are, or what poetry form is (or has to be, or should be), we arm ourselves with rhyming dictionaries and we count out syllables. And we bore our students and completely miss the essence of poetry.
Poetry is something people do.
Okay, so let's unpack that. What does that mean? What DO people do?
We live our busy lives
We check our buzzing phones
We walk on bustling streets
and
We drive on congested highways
We crowd onto the train
We check on our kids
and
We ask how people's days are going
We inquire within
We desire to know more
and
We tell our stories
We listen to our kids
We share our lives together
and
In high school, I had to read Shakespeare. It was on the required class list - I was forced. Not even a lot of it, but enough of it to know it meant that I didn't like poetry. It seemed flowery and dense at the same time but also, so, so, so, so OLD. A snooze. Hard. Boring.
I was uninterested. And, unfortunately, this is a fairly common thread among students. Even teachers don't always like to teach poetry. We focus on what the famous poems are, or what poetry form is (or has to be, or should be), we arm ourselves with rhyming dictionaries and we count out syllables. And we bore our students and completely miss the essence of poetry.
Poetry is something people do.
Okay, so let's unpack that. What does that mean? What DO people do?
We live our busy lives
We check our buzzing phones
We walk on bustling streets
and
We drive on congested highways
We crowd onto the train
We check on our kids
and
We ask how people's days are going
We inquire within
We desire to know more
and
We tell our stories
We listen to our kids
We share our lives together
and
Poetry is something people do.
"It nurtures a love and appreciation for the sound and power of language. Poetry can help us see differently, understand ourselves and others, and validate our human experience. It...enhances thinking skills, and promotes personal connections.... Such attributes deserve a closer look."
People write poems for the same reason they write stories - to share experiences, ideas, and feelings about the world.
Poetry helps kids "develop new insights, new ways of sensing their world."
Poetry is something people do.
Poetry helps kids "develop new insights, new ways of sensing their world."
Poetry is something people do.
Let's do it together.
Click the link. The poem is about farting, so you can see where I'm going with this.
It IS something people do.
Click the link. The poem is about farting, so you can see where I'm going with this.
It IS something people do.
In case you want to read more about what it is I am ACTUALLY going to do, read this first.
Enjoy!
In case you want to read more about what it is I am ACTUALLY going to do, read this first.
Enjoy!
Huck, C.S., Hepler, S.I., & Hickman, J. (1993). Children’s literature in the elementary school. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College.
Perfect, K.A. (1999). Rhyme and reason: Poetry for the heart and head. The Reading Teacher, 52, 728–737.
Perfect, K.A. (1999). Rhyme and reason: Poetry for the heart and head. The Reading Teacher, 52, 728–737.
