Poetry

Poetry is a format, not a genre. We should not be dissecting it and it needs to be enjoyed by kids.  The words, flow and topics are to be savored and loved, but we sometimes turn it in to a cut up mess.  Narrative poetry is a fun way to get kids into poetry because it tells a story.  They love poems with things they are familiar with such as trees, animals, playing and even technology they use.  The poems should have imagery to create smells, sights, tastes, and textures for kids that they can see in their mind’s eye.  They should not talk down to kids, but should let them get involved and understand what is going on.  Poetry doesn’t need to rhyme but kids do enjoy the rhyming, especially when they are younger.  They rhythms can vary and kids should hear the “beats” and fit the subject of the poem. 

Poetry is very overlooked and I think more kids would enjoy it if we used it more for springboards in discussions and for enjoyment.  I think a lot of our dissection now is because of all our testing and needing to meet criteria for students passing the test, which is sad.