Don’t Leave Out Poetry!

By Morgan Schoenacker, Teacher, Writing Symphony

Poetry is often tainted by memories of school assignments focused on dissecting poems for figures of speech, word choice, and meaning. The over-analysis of a poem doesn’t do much to spark joy for the reader. As a result of this over-analysis, many children and adults are missing out on the beauty and wonder of words that can be discovered through reading poems. Poems are often looked upon by teachers and students as another standard to be mastered in the classroom when, instead, they should be seen as a feast for the senses, a path to deeper understanding about a topic, and a way to experience life through a different lens.

Reading, speaking, and listening are common literacy goals in the classroom; each of these can easily be accomplished through poetry with its power to accomplish so many things with just a few lines. For younger children, it can spark a curiosity and love for words and build a foundation for speech patterns and sentence structure. They don’t even have to understand everything they are hearing to be able to enjoy the rhythm of a poem and learn from it. For older children, it can nourish their minds with quality vocabulary and ideas that build character.

Memorizing

Our memorization skills can be strengthened through repeated exposure to poems. Committing these well-written poems to memory allows children to build their repertoire of vocabulary, ideas, and understanding of language. When they read or listen to a poem, they are an apprentice to the great poetic minds and can learn to express themselves from these experiences.

Andrew Pudewa, Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, explains how powerful memorization can be. He tells us how memorization affected the life of Frederick Douglas with his popular, moving speeches. Born a slave, Frederick Douglas was not literate as a child. When he became a free man, the first book he owned was a book of famous speeches which he proceeded to memorize. He did not memorize these speeches to deliver them; his practice of memorization furnished his mind with rich ideas, grammar, and syntax. This storehouse of great speeches gave Frederick Douglass the creativity needed to create his own, powerful speeches.

Young children are built to memorize. The easiest way to start with young ones is to read Mother Goose nursery rhymes. It’s always such pleasure to hear your preschooler one day recite the rhyme on their own. With older children you can work together to pick a poem to memorize. Seeing you memorize the poem as well will be extra motivating for your kids. Simply read it each day as a family to begin. You’ll be surprised how much children will retain from this simple repetition. As Frederick Douglas did with famous speeches, memorizing poetry is an excellent way to strengthen the minds of you and your children to create a stockpile of thoughtful word choice, variety of vocabulary, and inventive ideas from which they can draw when writing or presenting in other academic and professional situations.

Resources

There are a wide variety of resources to choose from when it comes to poetry. Some of the best classic poets to begin with for children include Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson. There are many illustrated Robert Louis Stevenson poetry books available that spark the imagination of young children. Some highly recommended poetry books include:

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson is perfect for Preschool and Elementary aged students.

A Child’s Anthology of Poetry by Elizabeth Hauge Sword contains classic and modern poems for all ages.

The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets by Suzanne Underwood Rhodes is great for students in 7th grade or older that teaches appreciation and writing of poetry.

Talking to the Sun: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems for Young People by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell includes many translated poems from different cultures. The illustrations for the poems are famous paintings and photographs of historic artifacts. Some pictures may not be appropriate for elementary and middle school students.

When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne is wonderful for elementary aged students. This is the original author of Winnie the Pooh.

The foundation of the poetry journey is simply to read it aloud! Analyzing it line by line, stanza by stanza with a critical eye could, in some situations, add to your enjoyment of the craft – but for most, that’s not likely. For any student, but especially younger ones, there needs to be a foundation of satisfaction. Select a poem or poet that you enjoy (this is key!) and read it aloud to your children – No matter the age! My children and I have been enjoying a tradition that is growing in popularity in the homeschool community – Poetry Teatime. There’s no curriculum, only snacks, tea/juice and building a habit of enjoying poetry together. If you have younger children, you can read aloud poems while they eat. For older children, you could have a selection of poetry books that you each peruse. When someone finds a poem that looks enjoyable to them, they read it aloud to the family. As far as snacks go, you could make it simple with store-bought goodies or you could bake a treat together as a family. If you have the time, energy, and desire, many families make poetry teatime fit with a theme. For example, if it was Autumn, you could serve pumpkin or apple themed treats and read Autumn poetry. This could be a weekly or monthly event.

My hope is that this information makes incorporating poetry in your family’s home life a little more approachable and less daunting. Start small, find pieces of poetry you enjoy, and share the beauty and power of words with your children.

Barnhill, P. (2015, Sept. 1). Furnishing the Mind: A Conversation on Recitation with Andrew Pudewa (No. 2). In Your Morning Basket. https://pambarnhill.com/ymb2/