Teaching Poetry

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Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • February 28, 2013 at 9:50 am
    Mum In Zion
    Participant

    I am after suggestions/ideas for learning to write poems (for kids aged 9 & 11).  We read poetry, memorize poems and have used them for copy work…  But how do you go about actually teaching your kids to write their own poems?  I am not good at poetry or know much about the different types/styles of poems, so really any help at all will be great 🙂

    Michelle

    February 28, 2013 at 12:39 pm
    nebby
    Participant

    I like this website for desciptions and examples of different kinds of poetry:

    http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/index.html

    Honestly, I would just introduce a kind of poetry, discuss its rules (if any), read a bunch of examples, and then ask thme to try to imitate them by making their own poems. If they are younger, maybe you coudl give them the beginning of poems, like half a couplet or the start of a limerick and ask them to complete it.

    Nebby

    http://www.lettersfromnebby.wordpress.com

    February 28, 2013 at 12:46 pm
    Monica
    Participant

    I really like Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? for ideas about teaching poetry.  It’s an excellent book.

    March 1, 2013 at 8:22 am
    Mum In Zion
    Participant

    Thank you for the suggestions ladies.  

    Does anyone else have favourite resources for teaching and writing poetry?

    Michelle

    March 1, 2013 at 2:16 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    My very favorite hands-down poetry resource is Suzanne Rhodes’ The Roar on the Other Side.  I’d really only recommend it for junior high and up.  I don’t really teach much form or ANY poetry writing to little kids since nearly everything is centered around twaddly forms like haiku or acrostics.  (Haiku is not bad–in Japanese.  However, nearly every haiku written in English by American school kids forced to write “poetry” is undadulterated twaddle.)  What I especially like about The Roar on the Other Side is that it doesn’t just teach mindless form but how to SEE what you want to write about and how to choose a form that would fit it. he begins with observation, not sonnet rules.  LOL If a student, having finished Roar, is still interested in metrical poetry, then Rules for the Dance by Mary Oliver, one of the best contemporary poets, is the thing you need.  

    March 1, 2013 at 4:31 pm
    blue j
    Participant

    Ditto Bookworm.

     

    March 1, 2013 at 5:48 pm
    missceegee
    Participant

    Bookworm, that was a useful bit of info. Thanks.

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