Chapter 8: Poetry

Why do children learn to dislike poetry?

• Poetry does not receive the same attention as other areas of literature.
• Teachers who do not appreciate poetry do not teach poetry
• Poetry may be too complicated for their age, and it causes them to lose their excitement.
• Not all people like the same type of poetry, so if only one is presented not all kids are going to appreciate it.

Rebuilding Appreciation for Poetry

• Children can learn to like poetry again from teachers who make it part of their day.
• Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is a favorite among elementary students.
• Teachers can help show poetry's worth by sharing what they personally enjoy.

Many different types of poetry

• Narrative
• Lyric
• Limericks
• Haiku
• Free Verse
• Concrete poems
• And many more....

Poetry Collections

• Anthologies are books put together to highlight a variety of topics with multiple poets.
• Single-topic collections contain poems about a particular topic written by a variety of poets.
• There are also single-topic collections by a single poet.
• Another type is a single-format collection with only poems of one type. (Ex. Haikus, riddles, concrete poems, etc.)

Poetry Collections Cont.

• Single-poem picture books help give children a taste of more traditional poetry.
• Verse Novels are written in poetry, but are generally classified as another genre.