Hi Everyone:
I am new to liking poetry and really only enjoy poems that rhyme. I know it’s the lack of education on my part, but poems that don’t rhyme, simply don’t seem like poems. Can anyone help me with this? We LOVED AA Milne, liked Robert Louis Stevenson. Couldn’t get through Carl Sanburg, and (I think it was) Lewis Carroll.
Can someone please point me to a quick resource that will explain the different types of poetry, either a resource for me, or the kid? And possibly suggest another poet who likes to rhyme? Offer any suggestions……
I would suggesg you get an anthology of poetry – a book that has a lot of different poems by a lot of different people – that has good artwork (pictures your kids will be drawn to), and just read a poem every chance you can. You might read one every day or every couple days, but your goal is to slowly introduce yourself and your kids to good poetry that might not rhyme. I think it helps if a poem tells a story, but they don’t all do that.
We stretched ourselvs this year by reading Tennyson. I had never read any of his poetry before. We used SCM’s poetry book. It didn’t have artwork, but my girls still enjoyed narrating back the story of the poem or telling me what the poem was about.
One thing I don’t suggest you do is to analyze poems to death. I think a simple reading, narrate please, and did you like that one?- type lesson is best.
I guessar some point (high school?) analyzing would be important, but for lower grades I think it just kills poetry.
I agree with getting an anthology. We’ve enjoyed Favorite Poems Old and New. We just read a new poem once or twice a week. Sometimes I’ll read a book about the season, about a holiday, or about something we are studying. Other times I just read a random poem.
My kids have enjoyed poetry more when we do it this way, as opposed to studying one poet per term.
Is it important they know Haiku, Cinquain ect….? I was thinking if they knew there were different types of poems, they might appreciate it. Otherwise, they say, “That’s not a poem, it doesn’t rhyme.” And I say, “yes, it’s a poem, and they don’t have to rhyme.” But I don’t know much more than that……and so that’s the discussion.
Depending on their ages, that bit of a discussion is probably fine.
You maybe could point out that some poets used alliteration (words beginning with same sound) or other devices instead of rhyming. I can’t think of any of the vocab words (b/c I forgot all that stuff from high school!), but the words maybe paint a picture or sound like the action that is going on. Or something like that. ?
As for the different types of poetry, if you think they’d benefit from knowing it, by all means tell them. Maybe they’d enjoy composing their own haiku (I hated doing those, so my children have no idea they exist!)
I enjoy poetry that doesn’t rhyme. My problem is reading it aloud. Sometimes it’s harder for me to interpret how it should sound. Also take them to the Pslams. True, they are translated but still let them know that God is the original Poet and His language is beautiful.
My kids are all little, but they really enjoy Firefly July. It’s a collection of short poems or snippets of poems about the seasons. The art is bright, modern, and fun. The pictures do help with getting a feel for the poems. They even decided to memorize a few just for fun. (Some are just two lines!) It’s a newer book, but maybe your library has it: http://www.amazon.com/Firefly-July-Year-Short-Poems/dp/0763648426