Dear Colleague,
Last week's newsletter introduced word choice and now, this week, I'm on to poetry. What gives?
Actually writing traits can be found in all genres and need not be taught separately. In other words, we don't need to have separate units for teaching say organization and information texts -- we can teach the trait while studying that particular genre.
Since April is National Poetry Month, we'll look at poetry -- a genre that's terrific for examining any one of the traits.
Happy writing!
P.S. The mentor text I mention below was first introduced to me by Karen White, the former librarian at Durham Elementary School. She told me that, much to her astonishment, kindergarten students LOVE this book. I'll admit I was skeptical. This is a sophisticated text. But she was absolutely right. Wait until you see! |
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Observing Poets Observing
On Hand: Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman (2005) or any other collection of poetry.
Mini-Lesson: This award-winning picture book presents both a poem and a scientific paragraph for each of the pond subjects. Consider the following full-page spread on peepers. On the left-hand side we read a poem that begins with this stanza:
Listen for me on a spring night
On a wet night
On a rainy night,
Listen for me on a still night,
For in the Night I sing
And on the right-hand page we read these first two sentences of a paragraph:
The sound of spring peepers is one of the earliest signs of spring. These inch-long tree frogs can freeze almost completely in winter because of special "antifreeze" in their cells.
This text is best digested slowly, so you might want to conduct this mini-lesson over several days. Write a chart of observations about the poems. The chart might look something like the one below.
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Observation |
Example |
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Some poems repeat words. |
"Peck, peck/Crackle, crackle/Fluff, fluff" |
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Sometimes the words create a picture.
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"L e a p i n g" |
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Poets use stanzas and break up sentences.
Sometime the lines begin with a capital letter and sometimes they don't.
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"Here kicks the frog with golden eyes
that gulps the bug
that nabs the nymph" |
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Some first lines of poems begin with the same word. |
"Here hang"
"Here floats"
"Here nods" |
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There is lots of space around some of the poems. |
"Smart
young
caddis worms
select only" |
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Some poems rhyme and some do not, and some poems do both. |
"Song of the Water Boatman" does both. |
Extension: Invite students to choose a subject they know a great deal about and write a poem pertaining to that subject. If you made a list titled "Things We Know About," earlier in the year, you might want to take a moment to review it and add any new interests that come to mind.
Adapted from No More "I'm Done!" Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades by Jennifer Richard Jacobson |
| I recently created a podcast with Stenhouse Publishers in which I discusss the challenges of teaching writing to primary students. To watch this brief video, go here. | |
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Writing Tip
Primary students often equate poetry with rhyming, and although many poems do rhyme, you may not want to focus on this particular style. Why? Creating meaningful rhyming poetry requires both a broad vocabulary and dexterity with words. Typically, when young children focus on word endings, they sacrifice both fluency and poignancy. We get a sort of meaningless word play:
I saw a dog.
Sitting on a log.
With a hog.
And although this does create a fun image, the words bounce right off us. Opportunities for connection are lost.
Instead, be explorers of poetry. Don your binoculars and take a close look at author's craft. How do authors arrange words in free verse? What do they do with line breaks, white space, and font? What types of words do they choose? How do poems tickle our senses, our thoughts, our emotions?
Begin, of course, by reading lots and lots of poetry. Okay, go ahead and read some Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, but again-be careful not to focus too heavily on this one type of humorous, rhyming deliciousness. (You might save these books for the end of the month.) |
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No More "I'm Done!" focuses on nurturing independent primary writers. In addition to suggesting a classroom set-up and routines that support independence, a year of developmentally appropriate minilessons is provided.
Preview the text online here. | |
for primary teachers
