chapter 5/14

My memories of poetry are very slim and boring. I don't remember doing much poetry in elementary school. But I really do remember poetry in high school. The poems we had in high school were boring and extremely confusing. We always had to interpret what we thing the poet was trying to get across, but when we would do that, the teacher would mark it wrong. After reading the chapter, poetry looks fun for elementary school children. Also if the teacher is really, really good, then he/she can make poetry for the older kids. Most of the books that are mentioned in the chapter, I have never heard of. So it's good to have a list of good poerty books for future references. Last semester in my EDRD 3344 with Barker, we talked about poetry. She even allowed us to create out own poem in any form we wanted. Allowing the kids make up thier own poem would be fun. You will be able to get an insight of the child thoughts, and check if they understand the concept. Since you're allowing the kids to write a poem, don't critize what they wrote, or then they may never want to write ever again. A teacher should not only make the children feel comfortable in reading, but also in writing. We should encourage them to write whatever comes to their mind.