Poetry…

This is a stimulating word. When you hear or read this word, it might remind you to some historical authors, or maybe to some of the most famous poems in literature… But, is there someone that thinks of a really fun and motivating time that had at school? This is a challenge for us!

Poetry develops creativity and imagination, besides some multiple intelligences such as linguistic and intrapersonal. It makes you think about aspects you have never reflected aboutbefore and itprovokes you tolook at life with others eyes completely different as the ones you have never had.

For all these reasons, we can start being in contact with this kind of literature since we are little, with some of the huge variety of children´s literature, so children begin to investigate this new trip full of experiences.

Inclasswehaveseensome videos about some experts talking about poetry in children’s classrooms. Most of them talk about interpretation. In my opinion, interpreting a poem is also needed to be worked in class, because it is not only reading aloud so the audience can understand and interiorise its meaning, but also when you read it to yourself.

Also we have seen some websites that tried to help students create a poem, but most of them where about children just giving words and a poem was created. I think this could be applied for an example so children can start having some ideas, but it doesn’t foment the creativity so they can make a poem by their own.

It could be really enriching for the class and for the individual, to encourage children to feel like real authors. This way, involving them in the creation of poems and making them take part of a project, is very motivating and exciting. Also, developing different skills, such us writing expression or mind opening, is very beneficial for them in the present and in the future.

Apart from all this, working with poetry can be used as another resource to foment reading habits in class… Think about it!

In the next link, we can see other of the multiple facets of Michael Rosen. On this website, he offers an example of how to create an enjoyable and pleasant atmosphere to foment reading and writing habits with poems. He calls it “The poetry-friendly classroom”.

Waterstones Children’s Laureate, retrieved from http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/michael-rosen/michael-rosen-poetry-video-tips/

I hope you like it and I wish you add some more ideas!

Thankyou.