A+Project+-+Kimberly+Scott

=Introduction = Much of the time, students have very strong feelings about poetry – these are usually pretty negative. As a teacher, we have to teach poetry as part of the curriculum, but the students may show resistance to the subject (Milner, Milner, and Mitchell 167).There has been a lot of discussion on how to properly teach poetry ever since it was introduced to classrooms. Some argue that the way we teach poetry makes people lose the pleasure for poetry (Milner et al. 168).
 * The World of ****Teaching Poetry **

I know that, since I was once a high school student, poetry is something difficult to grasp. I never liked poetry and even now I still am a little leery of it. I never understood poetry when it was read and I hated writing it. In our class I know we have read some poems, but we have not really delved much into poetry and how to teach it. I wanted to find out some ways that would motivate my future students to want to read poetry and how to help them understand it better – things that my teachers did not do.

=Essential Question = How do I motivate studentseffectively to read poetry and what are some approaches to teaching it?

=Motivating Students to Read Poetry = One thing to motivate students to read poetry is to let them find poetry in the world around them (Milner et al. 169). One place that students can find poetry is in music. Students are interested in the rhythm and rhymes that show up in music (Milner et al. 170). Songwriters, just like poets, choose words that sound and flow well. They choose words for their meaning (Milner et al. 171).

By using music as a way to become aware of poetry students learn that it is “not a thing far removed from the ordinary sphere of human experience, but a thing at the center of our lives” (Milner et al. 170). The discussion of songs will spark interest in the students, especially if the songs are songs //they// like. They will have more knowledge and be able to share more with peers and teachers (Milner et al. 171). When making the connection between the language of music to the language of poetry the teacher can help the students understand the rhyme, meter, and repetition (that are in the music) are what make up poetry, as well (Milner et al. 172).

Another place students can find poetry, interestingly, is in bumper stickers. Bumper stickers, just like poetry, try to communicate a message or an idea. Bumper stickers can have rich connotations, sharp images, concrete images, allusions, juxtaposition, irony, compressed language, figurative language, alliteration, word and sound repetition, approximate rhymes, playfulness, etc – these are all qualities that poems can have, too (Milner et al. 175). Bumper stickers can provide a nice transition into teaching poetry because of the similarities. Students can enjoy finding and sharing bumper stickers or making their own. They may find making their own bumper stickers more fun than writing a poem right away. The bumper stickers help the students see different plays with language and they can examine the way the words work together (Milner et al. 175).

=Getting Students to Write Poetry = One way to get students to write poetry would be to provide them with a fixed form for them to work from. The patter they have to follow would help them write the poem. Some students like the constraint of the pattern (Milner et al. 181). One of the more popular forms is a limerick. Students like this form because it only needs two end rhymes and has a memorable metric pattern that students know. The tone and content are usually humorous, as well (Milner et al. 182). Haikus are also popular. The structure is very manageable for students. The poem usually evokes an image and the juxtaposition (Milner et al. 183).

Another way that would encourage students to write poetry is to have open forms – also known as free verse. This type of poetry is less restrictive (Milner et al. 184). It does not necessarily need to have the traditional idea of rhyme, meter, and stanzas. It still needs good word choice, repetition, and some rhyme, though. Students may like the more openness of the poetry writing (Milner et al. 185). Concrete poems would fall under this category - this is a good starting point for students to write poetry. It encourages creativity (Milner et al. 187).

=Helping Students Understand Poetry =  Choice of the poems students read is a good way for opening the world of poetry to them. Students love to have a choice and vote in matters. The teacher can let the students pick from a set of a few poems – this way they can already begin to make opinions and analyze the poems before they make their final decision. They can also choose between poets. By reading the poems out loud first, they are put into the world of poetry and they may understand and be more interested in the poetry (Milner et al. 189). This promotes conversation about the poems so that they can make a choice (Milner et al. 190). This approach may also make them more motivated to read the poetry, as well as able to understand the works.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Personal responses to poetry can help students understand and work through difficult passages. Having students keep a journal or a log to record their responses, engagement, and interpretations of poetry is helpful (Milner et al. 190). The students can take time to write down questions they have, what they found confusing, what they understood, what seemed important, and any insightful findings they may have had. By doing this they can help to prepare for class discussions (Milner et al. 190).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another way to help promote students understanding of poetry is to have enactments. Most poems have “dramatic tension” that students can enact (Milner et al. 192). The properties of the enactment help liven up the poem for the students. The gestures people use when acting a poem out help to bring the work alive. Also, some poems may be set like spoken dialogue with more than one student. Just reading the poems out loud with lots of feeling, emphasis, and gestures can also work (Milner et al. 193).

=<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conclusion = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> After examining my essential question, “ How do I motivate studentseffectively to read poetry and what are some approaches to teaching it?” I have found several ways to approach the subject. I chose to focus more on aspects that I thought would have helped me when I was a student in high school. Motivation was a key factor for me and other students back then. The information about using music and bumper stickers to get students interested in the subject will be very useful. Students will become more engaged in the topic if it is something relatable and interesting. I also liked some of the suggestions on how to approach writing – with different forms for the students to work from. This gives more choice for students that may have trouble writing poetry – they can find the style that suits them better. Helping the students understand the poetry was something I was also concerned with. The suggestions for giving students choice in poetry, letting them have journals for responses, and enacting poetry are insightful. When I was in school, we did none of those things – and I think they would have really been helpful. The students can reflect and discuss the poetry more, thus giving them further insight.

=<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Works Cited = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Milner, Joseph O'Beirne, Lucy Floyd Morcock Milner, and Joan F. Mitchell. // Bridging English //. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.