Week Five: Poetry
Picture by Marta Brzosko
Click the picture to read "Why You Should Write Poetry"
Poetry Reflection
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I have personally found that I enjoy reading poetry more than writing poetry. I believe that this came from years of not writing poetry-only narratives in school. I also had a misconception that poetry had to be a long poem or had to rhyme. To me this was more challenging than writing an actual story. I did not think about how a poem could tell a story. I enjoy writing free-verse poems or shorter poems. Writing poems has become easier throughout this class and I do believe that it would benefit my students to write more poems. Often I see poems on my instagram from accounts such as @morganharpernichols and @poetryofdhiman. I will add pictures of my favorite poems below. If I had to choose, my favorite poem would be "i carry your heart with me, i carry it in my heart" by ee cummings. I have a print of that poem on my bedroom door that I have surrounded with pictures of my loved ones.
Teaching Poetry and
Creating a "poetry environment" in schools:
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I think one of the biggest tools to teaching poetry in the classroom is for students to have their own Writer's Notebook. A Writer's Notebook is a place where your students can share their thoughts and feelings through medias such as writing and sketching. I will not only model writing poetry as a form of expression in the classroom, but also I will be hanging different poems in my classroom. I will post some examples of this below along with the links to purchase. These will show students a more"modernized" form of poetry. It will show them that poems do not have to rhyme or be over thought out. It is supposed to be a freeing way to write your thoughts. In our Writer's Notebooks we will have multiple activities such as heart maps where students will be able to look back and find poetry starters.
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One goal I have for myself as a teacher is to always stay up to date with the latest best ways to teach. In terms of poetry this means that I will stay up to date on the latest model texts and lesson plans. Teaching is all about being a team. In order to do this, I will collaborate with my peers to benefit my students. I want my students to enjoy poetry and like writing in their Writer's Notebooks.I know that in order to do this, I will model not only how to write poetry but also a growth mindset attitude in terms of it.
How do you know you've read a good poem?
I personally feel like I have read a good poem when I can connect with the poem or when I see that the author of the poem has poured their heart into their work. I feel like a great poem is a poem where the reader feels inspired. A great poem can act like a model text for students to write their own. There is also no "one" great poem. Every poem is different and beautiful just like it's writer.
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Mentor Poems and Poems from Firefly July and
all the small poems and fourteen more
