Poetry - A Simple Explanation

[Guest]

I always struggle how to define poetry to young children. How do you guys explain it in simple terms?

[Susan]

A story that often has rhyming words.

[Guest]

Thanks Susan. But what about when it doesn't rhyme? The old NLS stuff says 'a text which uses features such as rhythm, rhyme or syntax and vocabulary to convey ideas in an intense way'. That's all well and good but it's not very user friendly for Reception is it? Heeeelllllpppp. I'm doing my usual tying myself in knots and I can't do my planning until I sort it out - well that's my excuse anyway!

[Sue R]

Err,

 

I'm not a teacher, but how necessary is all this incidental stuff to a small child? Just concentrate on rhyme, would be my response.

 

Surely that's a maturity thing? When do people begin to understand that poems don't really need to rhyme, it's all about metre etc????? Shakespeare and T S Eliot didn't always (hardly ever!) rhyme - so???

 

Just concentrate on rhyme!

 

Shoot me down, now! if you want

 

Sue

[Guest]

No, no - no shooting. It's just that I want to write a poem as a class. I don't want to focus on rhyme as lots of children seem to find that hard. So when I outline what we're going to do: 'Today we're going to write a poem. A poem is...' I don't know what to say. The poem is going to be about leaves, with children generating, after lots of practical, exploratory work, words to describe what autumn leaves are like. Something along these lines:

 

'On a tall tree some leaves were dancing.

The wind blew and...

A ___________ leaf came tumbling down.

A ___________ leaf came tumbling down. etc'

 

I just want to give a brief idea of what a poem is so that children are aware that a poem is different from a story.

[Sue R]

Sorry, got you now, Moose!

 

My daughter wrote something when she was about 8 that had her teaching raving. It didn't rhyme, it was just in balancing lines -= check the syllabic balance ?

 

No, that doesn't help the children! ............. Unless you get them to clap the syllables, get them to count/compare - can you make that a starting point, re the rhythm of poetry?

 

Sue - floundering a bit...

[Guest]

Hmm - more the essence of poetry. 'A poem is like a story, only shorter, and it uses lots of interesting words'. What do you think? See Sue - I've drawn you into my madness - there's no escape for you now!

[Sue R]

It's a madness I'm happy to be in!

 

I think that's a really accessible way of putting it. - I'll try it with mine!!

 

Sue

[Susan]

I usually use poems to explore rhyme, not tried writing any but that sounds like a really interesting idea, Moose. Not sure Ive any better ideas.

Perhaps you can share when you've finished?

[HappyMaz]

Hmm - more the essence of poetry. 'A poem is like a story, only shorter, and it uses lots of interesting words'. What do you think? See Sue - I've drawn you into my madness - there's no escape for you now!

I think of it as telling a story.

In short sentences.

One on each line.

It may rhyme from time to time.

Or not.

 

Some poems have lines of identical length

So you can clap for each word or syllable said

Each line just follows along the same lines

You can hear the words 'bouncing' as you go along.

 

And now I can hear rude limericks in my head, I'm off to bed!

 

Let me know if there's a concensus on what constitues a poem won't you?

 

Maz

[Marion]

We did a lovely idea on a training day. Everyone thought of a word or short phrase to describe the topic (floods) and then they were written down on separate pieces of paper and put into a long line (one word or phrase per line) which we moved around until we were were happy with the order then the trainer used sellotape to join them as they were laid out making a very long poem . I haven't explained it very well and can't remember how it went but something like .........

 

Clouds

raindrops

umbrellas opening

people running

thunder crashes

storm

wind

water

[HappyMaz]

We did a lovely idea on a training day. Everyone thought of a word or short phrase to describe the topic (floods) and then they were written down on separate pieces of paper and put into a long line (one word or phrase per line) which we moved around until we were were happy with the order then the trainer used sellotape to join them as they were laid out making a very long poem . I haven't explained it very well and can't remember how it went but something like .........

 

Clouds

raindrops

umbrellas opening

people running

thunder crashes

storm

wind

water

This is a brilliant idea - especially for groups of young children who might think only in two word sentences! I might try this and write a group poem for our open evening. Thanks!

 

Maz

[Guest]

Poems are also used to describe emotion which is such an individual thing.

 

They are great for children to help them to express their feelings. There is a great poetry book written by children about bully's, its great to see them express their feelings in such a creative way.

 

Shelley