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David L. HarrisonFor the Fun of It
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How Songs and Poems Help Your Children Learn to Read
Eric Litwin
● I have written a poem a day since 2011. For me every month is poetry month.
● In the good old days, when you could give treats, we discussed the different ways to eat an Oreo cookie (an old Scholastic idea.) Do you pull it apart? Dip it in milk? Eat the icing first?
● Work on writing poems related to social studies and literature. Bio poems are good. At the end of the year, let the kids write a poem about themselves or about an historical or literary character. One year had them do this about their mother for Mother’s Day.
● In April, spring is coming and the weather in Missouri is very unpredictable. This is a good time to write Haiku poems relating to rain, storms, tornados.
● Get online and find some videos of poets "performing" their own poetry. Kids love to see "real" poets, and realize they're just people, too. They are usually "hooked" by this point, and ready to learn more about and try writing their own different types of poetry. Be sure to find examples to share from published poets before the kids begin writing. It helps them to "see" what they're going to write.
● With my students, I present a poetry form each day of the month and they write a poem to post on our class blog site which is hosted by Kidblog.org. Through my involvement with the Teche Project and my book Bayou Song, I will be hosting student poem submissions to publish on the website
https://ulpress.org/products/bayou-song-creative-explorations-of-the-south-louisiana-landscape
● Golden Shovel poetry is a poetic form that takes a word from each line of an existing poem and uses them as the last word of each line in a new poem. Poet Niki Grimes uses the Golden Shovel poetic form in her book, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance, to create original poems that highlight the ideas and words of extraordinary women poets. Teachers can use Grime’s work as mentor poems and invite students to find poems of lesser known poets of all cultural backgrounds and create their own Golden Shovel poetry. They can find or create art that suits the content, mood, and style of the poetry.
● In our educational world where stories and informational texts are the dominant forms of reading, we need to make a concerted effort to allow poetry a foothold. Just 10-20 minutes of poetry reading a day can have a profound effect on children’s literacy development. Poetry is particularly well suited for remote and virtual instruction. Poems can easily be sent electronically to students and printed at home. Then, via zoom or other distance technology, teachers and children can easily practice, master, and perform a daily poem in that 10-20 time span. Let’s make it a goal for poetry to be read, rehearsed, and performed every day of the school year!
My thanks to Tim Rasinski for summing up. I can’t improve on that.
Public library youth services, storyteller
● Ruth Nathan: [email protected] (California) Professor, classroom teacher, author, lecturer
● Susan Hutchens: [email protected] (Colorado) Classroom teacher, author
● Tim Rasinski: [email protected] (Ohio) Professor, researcher, author, lecturer
● Mary Jo French: [email protected] (Ohio) Professor, researcher, author, lecturer
● David L. Harrison: [email protected] (Missouri) Poet, author, speaker
● Charles Ghigna: [email protected] (Alabama) Poet, author, speaker
● Nancy Raider: [email protected] (Missouri) Elementary classroom teacher, retired
● Sarah Howard: [email protected] (Missouri)
● Sylvia Vardell: [email protected] (Texas) Professor, poetry book publisher, lecturer, blogger
● Nile Stanley: [email protected] (Florida) Professor, performance poet, author, lecturer
● Janet Wong: [email protected] (New Jersey) Poetry book publisher, poet, author, speaker
● Ruth Culham: [email protected] (Oregon) Literacy expert, author, lecturer
● Matt Forrest Esenwine: [email protected] (New Hampshire) Poet, author, speaker, voice over artist
● Margaret Gibson Simon: [email protected] (Louisiana) Teacher, poet
● Jane Yolen: [email protected] (Massachusetts) Poet, author, storyteller, speaker, teacher
● Patricia Cruzan: [email protected] (Georgia) Teacher (retired), author, poet
● Stephanie Smallwood: [email protected] (Missouri) Public librarian, early literacy specialist
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