I’ll be the first to say, however cliche it may be, I love poetry. I love the whole idea of poetry. To me, poetry feels less constricting than any other form of writing I’ve tried. No one gets to tell me my poetry isn’t good enough. No one gets to tell me my poetry is wrong. Poetry is about expressing myself in the way I think is best representing how I feel.
I’ve always had teachers that appreciated poetry. In elementary school, my AIG teacher did extensive poetry units every year. My parents still have my poem and painting from kindergarten hanging in our stairwell. In 5th grade, my poem was published in an anthology. In AP Lang and Comp, we studied Shakespeare and the way he influenced poetry today. I’ve had nothing but pleasant experiences with poetry throughout my schooling.
Here is a clip from my AP Lang and Comp class in high school. We were discussing iambic pentameters.
My favorite form of poetry to read by far is novels written in free verse. As soon as I pick them up, I can’t put them down until I reach the end. Free verse creates such flow within a story that it encourages readers to keep going through until the end. It almost doesn’t even feel like reading. My two favorite novels written in free verse are Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai and House Arrest by K.A. Holt. These are both novels I would share with upper elementary grades in a poetry unit.
I aspire to include poetry in my classroom through more than just one unit of study. I think poetry can be used across content areas to help increase student interest and investment. From my experience, students can really get a lot out of poetry. It provides an outlet for all types of students. For those who are interested in little structure and room to explore, there’s free verse. For those who prefer more structure and rules, there are many other types of poetry. There’s potential for every student to have a positive experience with poetry and find the form of poetry that speaks best to them. Poetry is something I really look forward to teaching and exploring in my own classroom.
After reading so many blogs about how people are apprehensive about poetry, its so nice to hear that you love it and have had a good experience learning and writing poetry in school. I think our view that poetry you write can't be bad or not good enough is the view that I want my students in future classes to have about their own poetry that they try to write.
Callie,
It is so nice reading your post! I have not always had a great relationship with poetry as a young student because I felt the opposite that you did. I felt very judged and that my thoughts were so harshly graded. It seems that you felt so positive about poetry because your teachers valued it first. Just like in "awakening the heart" the author talks about having someone deeply listen to you and that emotional environment is so important. I am so glad that is what you had a school and at home! I hope to bring this to my classroom!
Callie,
It is awesome to hear that you have always had positive experiences with poetry. I do not feel like that happens often, but it makes me hopeful for my future students. I think it is awesome that you plan to include poetry throughout the year. In my experiences, there has been a poetry unit and that was all I ever saw of poetry. Thanks for the post!
Callie, it was so refreshing to read your post - I think that I often think the opposite of poetry than you, that I love how you wrote about your love of poetry. I also find it so interesting, because as I have talked with you throughout the semester you have shared how you struggle with writing about your feelings but with poetry that doesn't seem like the case.
I am glad that you have always had great experiences with poetry and I think that makes it pretty promising that as a teacher you will teach poetry in more than just a unit. I think I will look up both of your favorite poetry novels with I get the chance!