Chapter 9

Poetry

• Poems can be a powerful thing
• Children love to use expression while reading poems
• Children often reflect off of their teacher's attitudes towards topics and genres

Attitudes toward Poetry

• 1 to 2/3 of each class have negative attitudes toward poetry
• Teachers that don't necessarily enjoy poetry tend to ignore it
• Other teachers may be into poetry and give the students too complex poetry that they don't understand

Children's Poetry Preference

Continued

• Narrative poetry and limericks were most popular with readers of all ages
• Free versus and haiku were the most disliked forms
• Students often preferred rhyme, rhythm, and sound in poems
• Children also enjoyed most poetry with humor, familiar experiences, and animals

Continued

• Children disliked poems about nature
• Elementary student preferred contemporary poems, but disliked poems with visuals or figurative language

Appreciation for Poetry

• The most important thing teachers must remember is that poetry is many things children love!
• Poetry is learning and experimenting together
• Poetry is laughter

Appreciation for Poetry

• Poetry is music, students come to poetry through songs lyrics
• Poetry can be unified performance, it give children the opportunity to play with words and their sounds

Appreciation for Poetry Continued

• Poetry is stories, young children and their parents often chant the sing-song words
• Poetry is more interesting, and more impactful learning
• Poetry isn't just used in one subject it can be used in all subjects
• Poetry is seen as well as heard

Appreciation for Poetry Continued

• Concrete poems are written or printed to represent the poem's subject
• Poetry is shared experience and appreciation
• Poems are meant to be read aloud

Evaluation Criteria for Children's Poetry

• A fresh or original view of the subject presented
• Insight or emotion is shown or felt
• Poetic devices are used effectively
• Language is used effectively

Evaluation Criteria for Children's Poetry

• The voice or persona of the poem appears to be sincere
• Adding criteria for the illustration is to match the tone of the poetry
• The illustrations should encourage children to make their own interpretation of the poems

Building a Poetry Collection

Continued

• Should include poems that meet the needs of children who are in the process of developing their appreciation for poetry
• Anthologies; which means the beauty and signigicance in a poem
• Collections; number of specialized, single-topic collections also appear on the reading list

Continued

• Single-poem picture books; useful for giving children a taste of the more traditional and more sophisticated poets
• Verse novels; cross boundaries because they are written in poetry but often classified as another genre

References
Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (2011). Children's literature, briefly (7th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.