Poetry is
an important part of our literacy program. Poetry is a unique
genre that is highly accessible to children as well as adults.
It encourages higher level thinking skills; students become more
aware of the metaphorical, or inferential, meanings of text.
In class, we study poetry through discussion. Students
spend some time reading and listening to poetry, then are encouraged
to react to structure, sound, and meaning of the poems. Lessons
are incorporated into the discussion. For instance, a student
may notice a lot of "s" sounds in a poem, and this will
present an opportunity to teach alliteration, which is the repeating
of consonant sounds in writing. The goal is to create a stress
free, risk-taking environment in which students can explore the
genre of poetry.
Here are poems discussed recently in class: