The Elements of Poetry
Composing poetry [DET teachers only] can be one of the most exciting and personally rewarding forms of creative writing. By writing poems [DET teachers only], students learn how to tap into their feelings, as well as their five senses. But learning to write poetry can be a daunting task for most children as students often mistakenly equate poetry with rhyme. The studying of poetry should be one of exploration and initial poetry study should focus on meaning and playing with words. Focusing on poetry in this way allow students to express themselves and delve deeply into their own creativity.
How to write poems by Wes Magee is a useful resource for teachers for teaching young writers to express themselves creatively and explore poetry craft elements. Designed to assist children write poems, this book contains basic tips on getting started and gives examples of types of poems and their special features.
One common approach when challenging young people to write poetry is to focus on themes such as colours, seasons, the weather or the natural elements and introduce poetry forms as students write on these themes. The Elements in poetry series of four books comprising of Air, Earth, Fire and Water brings together a mix of poetical works related to each of the elements. The poems in these books are short and contain a variety of different forms, styles and structures.
By reading a variety of poems by a range of writers including their peers in read alouds, independent reading and group sharing, students will begin to play with poetic ideas and forms.
Students also enjoy seeing their by-line, and publishing their work brings out their best efforts. Teachers can create a class anthology that includes at least one poem by each student and is available for borrowing at the school library. Other teachers may publish poems in less traditional ways, such as on classroom bulletin boards or in common spaces around the school. There are also web sites that provide opportunities for electronic forms of publishing young poets’ works.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I like that idea of having students write poems on the four elements. It certainly is best to have an assigned theme for the students, at least in my experience, rather than have them start from scratch. Thanks for the link to Wes Magee’s book. When I was in search of similar resources I found several ebooks at http://www.dedicatedteacher.com on poetry in the classroom that have been a great help. I’ll make sure to check out “How to Write Poems” too.