Text Reflections: Poetry

                Kids love poetry when it doesn’t feel like poetry! It seems very odd, but if you consider how much analysis adolescents are asked to do, sometimes before they are intellectually ready, it makes sense that would have negative associations with it. When they do like a poem, they prefer it to fit the “standard” poetic structure that they recognize. Rhyme scheme, rhythm, various song-like qualities that students can easily recognize. When given poems that are less formatted, they don’t feel like they are poems and are therefore confused by them!

                The best part about poems, especially for little ones, is that they lend themselves to shared storytelling. Many tend to be repetitive and have a sing-song rhythm to them that makes them very fun to hear and repeat! This can help littles learn to read as well. The use of figurative language often aids that musical quality in poetry,

                Elizabeth Barret Browning is not for everyone. Shell Silverstein is also not for everyone. No poem is for everyone! But it is logical that the people who are newer to the world would enjoy poetry that is also newer to the world, especially when accompanied by illustrations! Since they are not all equipped with the ability to understand abstract concepts, it helps if they have concrete imagery for the kids to relate to and enjoy.

                Reading increases vocabulary. It doesn’t matter if the child is reading Seuss or Byron. As long as the poem itself is not out of reach of the child’s understanding, and the kid is willing to work through it, reading poetry is beneficial! It teaches rhyme, sometimes on accident, can be used to teach new vocabulary or ideas and it can help develop that ever-elusive ability to think abstractly. Often, their brevity makes them a little more user-friendly because they don’t have the menace of bulk like a novel.

Image borrowed from: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/explore/topic/poetry