Monday, April 9, 2012

The Benefits of Writing Poetry with Young People


Children who are immersed in poetry, hear poems read aloud every day, participate in reading poetry aloud, experience poetry across the curriculum, and talk about and share their responses to poetry will quite naturally want to try their hand at creating and writing poetry, too. Not every child will be a poet, of course, but all children should have the opportunity to express themselves through poetry. Poet Sara Holbrook offers these sound reasons for encouraging children’s poetry writing efforts.

The list begins:

Writing poetry jogs the memory.
“Working my memory over, I prioritize, make order out of chaos, rediscover details, and put events in sequence.”

Writing poetry demands keen observation.
“We want students to do more than watch—we want them to see.”
For more details, get your copy of The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists.
And if you already have the book and would like to offer additions, corrections, or other input, please do so in the COMMENTS area. Thanks!

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