What is Poetry? by Jackie and Janel
Poetry ~ Eleanor Farjeon What is Poetry? Who Knows?
Not a rose, but the scent of the rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky;
Not the fly, but the gleam of the fly;
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea;
Not myself, but what makes me
See, hear, and feel something that prose
Cannot: and what it is who knows?
(*from Eleanor Farjeon's Poems for Children,1938)
Not a rose, but the scent of the rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky;
Not the fly, but the gleam of the fly;
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea;
Not myself, but what makes me
See, hear, and feel something that prose
Cannot: and what it is who knows?
(*from Eleanor Farjeon's Poems for Children,1938)
Growing up with Poetry
MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES
Children grow up learning how to speak and sing with the different poems from the Mother Goose Rhymes such as
Children grow up learning how to speak and sing with the different poems from the Mother Goose Rhymes such as
Our kids grow up with these lovable and easy to memorize lines from Mother Goose. One would think that they would continue their love for poetry with rhymes and understanding what is going on in the poem. However this isn't always the case. Many times students grow up with a distinct distaste for poetry.
Why Children Learn to Dislike Poetry
Students who once grew up with fun poems learn to dislike poetry for the following reasons:
- Teachers who don't care for poems may skip the instruction all together
- Teachers who love poetry may focus on traditional poets that can be overwhelming to the students.
- The confines of learning poetry through the form of Haikus
- Instruction is based on teacher preference vs student preference
Building Appreciation for Poetry
How can this dislike be corrected?
Instruction and teachers can focus on the following points:
Instruction and teachers can focus on the following points:
- Focus on light, humorous poems
- Use rhythmic, humorous verse
- Share poems daily- just for fun in the lunch line, after recess or first thing in the morning
- Read poems aloud on a regular basis
- Use music as the road back to love of poetry- duplicate the lyrics of a loved song and distribute as a poem
- Have students read free verse poetry a choral reading session
NCTE Poetry Award
NCTE stands for the National Council of Teachers of English. Teachers can use the poetry that is awarded from this group of teachers which includes poetry from a living poet whose body of work is considered excellent selections for children aged 3-13. Click on the website below to access examples of these NCTE Poetry Award Winners.
http://www.mymcpl.org/kids/ncte-award-poetry-children
http://www.mymcpl.org/kids/ncte-award-poetry-children
Forms of Poetry
Narrative Poem
- Narrative poems tell stories in verse. A number of them are very old and were originally intended to be recited to audiences, such as Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey".
- For children, perhaps the most accessible narrative poems are ballads. Traditionally, a ballad contains four lines, each with eight syllables and with the second and fourth lines rhyming.
Lyric Poems
- Lyric poetry typically describes the poet's innermost feelings or candid observations and evokes a musical quality in its sounds and rhythms.
- Lyric poems exhibit an endless variety of forms. Below are examples of popular lyric forms.
A lyric, unrhymed poem of Japanese origin with seventeen syllables divided into three lines. It is usually on the subject of nature and humans' relationship to nature. Successful haiku uses metaphor to give us a fresh and imaginative look at something we may view as quite ordinary.
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/create/haiku.cfm
Cinquain
A five-line stanza apparently of medieval origin, often with two, four, six, eight, and two syllables respectively in the five lines.
http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/how-to-write-a-cinquain-poem/
Sonnet
A very old form of poetry, having gained prominence during the Renaissance, but not found much in poetry for children. It contains fourteen lines, each line with five iambic feet (or ten syllables).
http://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/sonnet.htm
Limerick
A five-line humorous poem, the first, second, and fifth lines rhyming and the third and fourth lines rhyming. It is one of the most popular poetic forms among children, The fun of the limerick lies in its rollicking rhythm and its broad humor.
http://www.brownielocks.com/kidlimericks.html
Free Verse
It is verse that adheres to no predetermined rules, but usually with its own intricate patterns of rhyme and rhythm. It requires the same thoughtful choice of words and rhythmical patterns as the more rigid stanza forms.
http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/poetry/free_verse.html
Concrete Poetry
The words of a poem are arranged to form a pictorial representation of the poem's subject.