Amy AndersonApril 7, 2010

WHY POETRY? Maybe you've heard before that poetry

is magic, and it made you roll your eyes, but I believe it's true. Poetry matters. At the most important moments, when everyone else is silent, poetry rises to speak.

Ralph Fletcher, Poetry Matters, 2002.

THE BENEFITS OF POETRY Alternative to traditional writing forms Requires fewer words to make a

meaningful message De-emphasizes mechanics Focus on careful and creative word

selection Uses imagery Express feelings with a personal voice Incorporates all five senses into writing Inspires a love of poetry

Regie Routman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, 2000. (7)

POETRY IN THE PRIMARY GRADES Children have a natural talent for writing

poetry and anyone who teaches them should know that. Teaching really is not the right word for what takes place: it is more like permitting the children to discover something they already have.

Kenneth Koch, Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry (25)

POETRY IN THE PRIMARY GRADESI am the kind of writer who writes

in peace and quiet.I am the kind of writer who really feels

the rain and the windThat feeling makes me want to sway from

one way to another.It’s all in the heart.

Written by a five-year-old kindergartener from the Bronx

A PLACE FOR POETRY “…the emotional climate of the

classroom is one of the most important factors in setting up an environment that will nurture the poet inside all of our students.”

Georgia Heard, Awakening the Heart, 1998.

PREPARING FOR A UNIT OF STUDY A Poem in Your Pocket

Chorale poetry readings

Read Alouds Honey, I Love and Other Poems by Eloise

GreenfieldCreatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia

Heard Moon, Have You Met My Mother? By Karla

KuskinAll the Small Poems and Fourteen More by

Valerie Worth

POETRY MINI-LESSONS Seeing with Poets’ Eyes Listening for Line Breaks Hearing the Music in Poetry Showing, Not Telling Hearing the Voices of Poetry Word Choice (Using Honest, Precise Words) Patterns/Repetitions Using Comparisons/Sustained Metaphors Strong Endings Poem Shape/Use of Blank Space

Lucy Calkins Stephanie Parsons. Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages. 2003.

SEEING WITH POETS’ EYESPencil Sharpener by Zoe Ryder White

I think there are a hundred beesinside the pencil sharpenerand they buzzand buzzand buzzuntil my pointis sharp!

*Observation Activity

HEARING THE MUSIC IN POETRY

Went to the cornerWalked in the storeBought me some candyAin’t got it no moreAin’t got it no moreWent to the beachPlayed on the shoreBuilt me a sandhouseAin’t got it no moreAin’t got it no moreWent to the kitchenLay down on the floorMade me a poemStill got itStill got it

Things by Eloise Greenfield

LIVING OUR LIVES AS POETSA child wrote a letter to poet Naomi Nye asking “How do you make a

poem?” The poem “Valentine for Ernest Mann” was her response…

Valentine for Ernest MannYou can't order a poem like you order a taco.Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"and expect it to be handed back to youon a shiny plate.

Still, I like your spirit.Anyone who says, "Here's my address,write me a poem," deserves something in reply.So I'll tell you a secret instead:poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,they are sleeping. They are the shadowsdrifting across our ceilings the momentbefore we wake up. What we have to dois live in a way that lets us find them.

Tiny Topics Notepads

SHARING KIDS’ POEMS By sharing kids’ poems, the message is:

“Kids just like you wrote these poems. You can write poems too.”… “They don’t see themselves as poets until they see other children as poets.”

Regie Routman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, 2000. (11)

Using poems of children from previous years Kids’ Poems examples in folder

SHOWING, NOT TELLING Splash MountainI was shivering and closing my eyes.Squeezing my dad’s hand.My heartis beatingveryfast. Justbeforethe drop!It was likeI couldn’t breathe.

By Leah

HEARING THE VOICES OF POETRY

The MoonPleasemooncome out.I smilewhen youcome out.I wantto go

to bed.

I liketosnugglewhenI go tobed.

By Sean

Start with a feeling, Talk to the object you are writing about…

PATTERNS IN POEMS Go Wind by Lilian Moore

Go wind, blowPush wind, swoosh.Shake thingstake thingsmake thingsfly.Ring thingsswing thingsfling thingshigh.Go wind, blowPush things - wheee!No, wind, no.Not me -Not me!

PATTERNS IN POEMS My Cat

My catis tryingto catchthe deer.The deer was runningbut mycat wasstillchasing him

still chasing him butmy catwas finallycloseto him.He found out it istoo bigfor him.

By: Kenny

USING COMPARISONS TO CONVEY FEELINGS Inside My Heart by Zoe Ryder White

Inside my heart livesOne birthday partyTwo jazz bandsThree wrestling puppiesFour dancing birdsFive laughing babiesSix blasting spaceshipsSeven lucky fireflies and A sky full of stars.

USING COMPARISONS TO CONVEY FEELINGS I couldn’t go to my friend’s houseI saw in my heart2 wrestlers punching each other3 kids stomping very loud4 kids shutting the door loudly5 teachers moving desks6 giants playing the drums7 people throwing 5 books at a time8 babies crying loud9 classes screaming loudly10 bands playing the hornBut my dad called my friend and now they are homeand I jump up and down and say “yay”

By: Aneri

SUSTAINING A METAPHORMe and My Brother Me and my brother played in the playroom veryloudly. That makes theplayroom wakeup and shout.The playroom lookedvery surprisedand verywoken upfrom its sleepand very gladto see me and

my brotherplaying in it. It was sohappy that itshouted and danced and it sang and it spinned and spinned all the way to the car and broughttoys for meand my brother.