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Poetry in the Elementary Classroom
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From: Monica R. Edinger <edinger>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 13:57:07 -0400
As someone who likes poetry, but not as passionately as some, I often feel uncomfortable when the topic comes up. For one thing, sometimes from where I stand, there is an either or quality to the discussion. That is, either you love it or you don?t. Then there is the issue of blame. That is, on another list, after someone confessed to disliking poetry, someone else stated that it was the result of bad teaching. Bingo. Got me in my teacher?s Achilles? heel. That time I fretted quietly (? am I a poetry hater? don?t think so?I mean I like quite a lot of poetry although I?d probably take a prose novel over poetry if stuck on a desert island? oh, but I do like verse novels?. but he?d probably still say I hate it since I don?t do enough with it in the classroom?. and my kids aren?t really writing it?and they prefer funny stuff whatever I read to them?. Aargh!), but I?ve decided to confess publicly this time. (Whew?feel better already!)
The most common way people advocate the use of poetry in elementary classrooms is as a model and to inspire children to write their own poetry. With the exception of found and concrete poetry, this has generally (deep breath) NOT worked for me. Now don?t all go suggesting people to read on how to do it. Believe me, I?ve read them and listened to them and observed them. I have a colleague who is passionate about poetry and I love to watch her at work or to have her pull me into her classroom to show me and tell me about the results of a particularly wonderful lesson. I go away inspired each time, but usually by the time I?m back in my own classroom the inspiration has ceased.
I?m not a poet. There?s the rub, I think. However, I am a writer and teach writing by doing a lot of it in front and with my students. But, other than the aforementioned concrete and found poetry with my students, I do not write poetry anywhere.
So, poetry in my classroom is not primarily there to inspire young poets
(although if it does so, as happens on occasion, how wonderful, of course). Rather, it is there to enjoy and appreciate as another form of literature. Sometimes one of us (usually, but not always me) will have come across a poem he/she liked and will then read it to the class. I?ve written before about my Friday last period Literary Salon in which prepared readings and recitations of poetry are especially enjoyed. Whenever I discover another new poetry book I read it aloud and leave it out to be read and enjoyed privately and in small groups. Not too long ago one child enjoyed a poem so much he memorized it and we could hear him coming down the hall from the water fountain mumbling it to himself.
I?m a fan of choral reading, commonplace books (collecting and rewriting beloved poems), and other ways of enjoying poetry. I read Cinderella-related poems (everything from Dahl to Sexton) when we do our Cindy Unit and history?sed poetry at other times. And, of course, Lewis Carroll's Alice songs and poems.
So there; it is in my classroom, really it is! I?m not a part of the poetry-hater problem, am I?
Monica poetry appreciator
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at yahoo.com
Received on Sat 12 Apr 2003 12:57:07 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 13:57:07 -0400
As someone who likes poetry, but not as passionately as some, I often feel uncomfortable when the topic comes up. For one thing, sometimes from where I stand, there is an either or quality to the discussion. That is, either you love it or you don?t. Then there is the issue of blame. That is, on another list, after someone confessed to disliking poetry, someone else stated that it was the result of bad teaching. Bingo. Got me in my teacher?s Achilles? heel. That time I fretted quietly (? am I a poetry hater? don?t think so?I mean I like quite a lot of poetry although I?d probably take a prose novel over poetry if stuck on a desert island? oh, but I do like verse novels?. but he?d probably still say I hate it since I don?t do enough with it in the classroom?. and my kids aren?t really writing it?and they prefer funny stuff whatever I read to them?. Aargh!), but I?ve decided to confess publicly this time. (Whew?feel better already!)
The most common way people advocate the use of poetry in elementary classrooms is as a model and to inspire children to write their own poetry. With the exception of found and concrete poetry, this has generally (deep breath) NOT worked for me. Now don?t all go suggesting people to read on how to do it. Believe me, I?ve read them and listened to them and observed them. I have a colleague who is passionate about poetry and I love to watch her at work or to have her pull me into her classroom to show me and tell me about the results of a particularly wonderful lesson. I go away inspired each time, but usually by the time I?m back in my own classroom the inspiration has ceased.
I?m not a poet. There?s the rub, I think. However, I am a writer and teach writing by doing a lot of it in front and with my students. But, other than the aforementioned concrete and found poetry with my students, I do not write poetry anywhere.
So, poetry in my classroom is not primarily there to inspire young poets
(although if it does so, as happens on occasion, how wonderful, of course). Rather, it is there to enjoy and appreciate as another form of literature. Sometimes one of us (usually, but not always me) will have come across a poem he/she liked and will then read it to the class. I?ve written before about my Friday last period Literary Salon in which prepared readings and recitations of poetry are especially enjoyed. Whenever I discover another new poetry book I read it aloud and leave it out to be read and enjoyed privately and in small groups. Not too long ago one child enjoyed a poem so much he memorized it and we could hear him coming down the hall from the water fountain mumbling it to himself.
I?m a fan of choral reading, commonplace books (collecting and rewriting beloved poems), and other ways of enjoying poetry. I read Cinderella-related poems (everything from Dahl to Sexton) when we do our Cindy Unit and history?sed poetry at other times. And, of course, Lewis Carroll's Alice songs and poems.
So there; it is in my classroom, really it is! I?m not a part of the poetry-hater problem, am I?
Monica poetry appreciator
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at yahoo.com
Received on Sat 12 Apr 2003 12:57:07 PM CDT
