If you would have asked me a few weeks ago about my thoughts on poetry, I would have just completely shut down on poetry. I have never liked it, nor did I think I could teach it to the point that my students understand. However, after teaching poetry for the last month and reading about different strategies, I would say I am falling in love with it.
In my fifth grade ELA classroom, we have been focusing on figurative language, structures of poetry, types of poetry, and being present in the moment with poetry. Figurative language is something I work on throughout the year. We usually work on it with prose, instead of poetry, but lately have been finding it in the many pieces of poetry we have been reading. Students are able to point out an idiom hiding within the many lines we read. The precious thing is that students still laugh at some of the idioms we read. There is joy in my classroom, even with the little things. Students fell in love with the acrostic poems they created, with topics ranging from shopping to Fortnite. Fortnite became a little difficult, however, when students wanted to include writing that maybe was not school appropriate. Not that the language they were using was inappropriate, but that some of the themes on the game might not need to be talked about in great detail. One of my favorite lessons to teach, which I was observed on, is teaching poetry with song lyrics. In a two week time span, we worked on analyzing and enjoying Taylor Swift’s ‘Never Grow Up’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’ in a small group setting. My students found it hard to believe that the songs they listen to every day can be considered poetry. We were able to dive into their thoughts and feelings and what they thought the author meant by the lines they wrote. Even today, they still ask me to play those songs, singing along and putting emotion into what they are singing. The best part about our experiences with poetry in our class is that now I am seeing my students borrowing poetry books from the library. I have already seen three students clutching a Shel Silverstein book in their arms. My thoughts and ideas on poetry are dramatically changing, and I cannot wait to dive into poetry more.
Ideas for Poetry Instruction
This past week I read a lot in Awakening the Heart by Georgia Heard. According to Heard (1999), two types of poetry boxes can be used to help craft poetry, music and meaning. The meaning toolbox includes visual tools to help bring us closer to the experience of the poem. The music toolbox helps the reader experience the poem through sound and rhythm. One idea she used was ordinary to poetry. Students write down a list of simple words, such as green, tall, and old. Then they change those words into ones with poetic sounds. They compared trees to being green as limes, tall to majestic giants, and old to historic recorders of time. These simple changes allowed students to see words in a new light.
Another idea is observational poetry. This type of poetry can be used with Valerie Worth’s poem ‘safety pin.’ Students begin by analyzing a certain every day object, such as a paper clip. They write down their thoughts on what it feels like, sounds like, smells like, an animal it looks like, etc. Writing these thoughts down becomes a type of scaffold to help them as they create their own observational poem. They are able to refer back to their observations in creating the poem, instead of having to pull all their ideas out of thin air. Of course, we would begin observational poetry by having me model how to create this type of poetry. Students would be able to see how to create it and the process. We would write down our observations and then create a poem related to a paper clip together. Then I would invite students to create their own.
Being Present in the Moment
This weekend, I was invited to be present in the moment. I sat on a park bench with the cool air whipping through the air. I noticed a beautiful Dogwood tree and decided that I would work on my observational poetry with it. I grew up with a Dogwood tree in my yard and would always love the time it bloomed. It seemed like it had an endless amount of beautiful petals. I have included my thought process and poem below. I hope you enjoy!
References
Heard, G. (1999). Awakening the heart: Exploring poetry in elementary and middle school. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Mrs. Pitman's Classroom 