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| Schoolwide
Poetry Display ~My last
year teaching 8th grade I had my students post poems around the
school during National Poetry Month. First I sent them out with
notepads looking for good locations for poems - in the office,
over the drinking fountains, in the detention room, in the bathrooms,
hallways, etc. We posted their results on newsprint and stuck
them up on the wall. Then I dumped my large college of poetry
books on the table, gave them each a package of stickies, and
said, "Find some poems." When they found one they liked,
they put in a sticky and wrote the location they thought the
poem should grace (one about water over the water fountain, one
about understanding in the counseling office). When all were
selected, I photocopied them. Students glue-sticked them to bright
paper, and we put them in plastic sleeves - there were about
fifty in all. Then we stuck them on the walls. We got many, many
positive comments. These were my 'at-risk' readers, and they
had a good time doing it. ~~ Mary Tigner-Rasanen (with help from
the NCTE listserv) |
| Poem
of the Day ~ Something
I try to do from the beginning of the semester is have a "poem
of the day." Sometimes we discuss it, sometimes I put it
on an overhead, and sometimes I just read it, let them think
for a moment or two and then move on. I try to get them used
to poetry as a non-threatening daily event. After all, how often
does the average person hear or read poetry, other than when
the teacher is asking them to torture a confession out of it?
How can we get the "poet-phobic" students to like poetry
if all we ever do is turn it into work? I really don't think
poets write because they want to provide English teachers with
more teachable poems, so I don't think that I need to turn every
poem into an English assignment. Eventually we do move on to
a unit on poetry, but by then, they're used to hearing poems
and it (hopefully) isn't such a traumatic event. ~ Gregory Van
Nest |
| Poetry
Reading ~ On almost every
Friday, we devote our Language Arts block to poetry. I usually
start by sharing some favorite poem books, modeling some poems
with expression and simple hand movements, and modeling other
learning like changing tempo, voices, etc. Kids are then given
10-15 minutes to find a comfy place in the room and enjoy poetry
books. At the end of that time, I invite them to pick a poem
to "perform" and a partner, if they wish. Kids can
perform solo. I give them 15 minutes or so to practice, reminding
them about what makes the performance exciting to the audience.
We gather together on our carpet and share our performances the
final 20-25 minutes. My kids love this, believe it or not! ~~
Anita Britton |
| Poem
of the Week ~ I like to do a "poem of the week"
every Monday. Usually these are seasonal or else they connect
to a theme or topic we are working on. I write the poem on chart
paper with a marker, and have students use the poem for a variety
of activities. For example, I have them circle the periods or
capital letters, find and underline or highlight rhyming words
or high frequency words. I also use these poems to teach about
stanzas, rhyming patterns, onomatopoeia (and let me tell you
it is a trip to hear first, second, and third graders talking
about onomatopoeia) and other poetry elements. I
also put the poem on paper, followed by several word identifiction
questions (Write two rhyming words. Find a three syllable word.
Find three words that are colors.) PLUS a response question (What
do you think the poet means by ______ ?) PLUS instructions to
draw a picture on the back of the paper that shows what the poem
is saying. This goes home for homework Monday night. The charted
poem goes on the wall, and two "poems of the week"
are always readily visible next to each other for "reading
the wall" with the earlier ones underneath them (so students
can lift the current ones to see/read the ones underneath).
This is a very popular activity with
little ones, and addresses many areas. ~ Renee Goularte |
