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Teaching
poetry in Fargo-Moorhead area schools can be an easy task, contrary
to what you may believe. In a small classroom of the new Bennet
Elementary School, one instructor allows her students free reign
over the world of poetry. Although teaching poetry is not always
a requirement, many area teachers use new, fun and exciting ways
to keep their students involved.
For Tammy Greff, third-grade teacher
at Bennet Elementary, including poetry during her writing and language
arts curriculum is a necessity. “I don’t think we do enough,”
says Greff. “With the time constraints we have, it is hard
to get it all in.” Greff makes the most of her time by integrating
poetry into her daily activities throughout the school year. The
students start the year off with acrostic poems. These are poems
in which you write your name vertically and place in new words that
start with the same letters. The students tend to like these activities,
they even do several of these types for the different holidays of
the year.
Aside from all of the fun activities
Greff provides for her class, she does like to get a little more
in-depth about poetry. “I really like the book ‘Owl Moon,’
by Jane Yolen,” said Greff about teaching her students about
the use of descriptive writing. The book provides many descriptions
which helps students feel as if they are inside the story. That
can be a very important part for the students who are writing their
own poetry. One scene that Greff speaks of is the opening section
of the book.
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It was late one winter night,
long past my bedtime,
when Pa and I went owling.
There was no wind.
The trees stood still
as giant statues.
And the moon was so bright
the sky seemed to shine.
Somewhere behind us
a train whistle blew,
long and low,
like a sad, sad song.
—Jane
Yolen—
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Greff
provides the basic information or ideas when her class writes
their own poetry. “I like to give the students a format,
like that the poem should have at least two lines that rhyme”
she says. Greff also has a great activity in which she takes
an old photo, preferably from an old Time Life magazine, and
brings it to class. She then places a cardboard sheet over the
picture with a small cut-out box in the middle. The students
then are only allowed to view a small portion of the picture.
The class then proceeds to write their own poems about what
they saw. She says: “By only allowing them to view a part
of the picture, their imaginations work even more to figure
out what the picture is of. By the end of the session, it’s
wonderful to read what they have put together.”
Teaching poetry at this
age is very beneficial to students, according to Greff. “When
students write their own poetry,” says Greff, “they
become more involved in the many areas of thinking and understanding.”
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Since much
of poetry involves using imagination and description, students tend
to be more aware of how they describe things in their own work.
By using fun activities in the classroom, the students learn to
appreciate what poetry sometimes symbolizes.
The Fargo-Moohead area is rich in
culture and history. With the help of teachers, like Greff, students
receive a positive perspective on a respected style of writing:
poetry. “After the school year is over, I hope that the students
will remember what they have come to value, and carry it on to classes
in the future,” says Greff.
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