I felt that this chapter was directed towards me and was trying to convince me that poetry is good. I have never been a fan of poetry; it is one of those genres that never caught my attention. However, I forget that poetry is not just stanzas and rhyming, poetry comes in forms of lyrics. I believe that when teaching poetry it is tricky because there is not much writing, but the meaning is so deep. It is important that students know the proper terminology before stepping up and reading poetry. Jago suggests “putting down definitions in their own hand helps to make these terms more their own” (p. 76). This allows students to simplify the definition for them to understand.
I like the idea of having the students read the poem while doing think-aloud statements. I noticed while I was reading this chapter, and the previous chapters, I made notes in the book, so when I went to write my blog I would have them. All the benefits for think-aloud statements are great: helps with class discussion, students discover they are not the only ones confused, open up the poem to richer interpretations, one-on-one. Most importantly, it allows students to participate in class discussion without being unprepared with a “Gotcha” moment.
While taking my British Literature class I struggled to understand the poetry we were reading. However, once my professor interpreted it in class I felt dumb because it all made sense. I believe with poetry, it has to be dissected, that was the easier way for me to learn. By dissecting the words and interpreting them with modern language it will help students understand, instead of, reading the whole poem at once.
My new favorite quote that will be displayed in my classroom—
“Knowledge is power and ignorance always a handicap” (Jago, p. 83).
You bring about a key point here: the idea that poetry comes in many forms. It is good that you can recognize your weakness (I say that mildly here) in this category. Knowing that you have a bias against poetry can help you relate to your students who may be the same way.
ReplyDeleteAs for ways to help make poetry more user-friendly for you and easier to teach to your students, you may want to explore new-age forms of poetry. If you prefer prose, try a prose poem! You can turn pretty much anything into poetry, and it's always fun to explain that to students.
I highlighted the quote by Jago that you are making reference to. I find that it is very powerful and a great quote to look to on those days that we just feel like giving up with something. I agree that poetry comes in many different forms and as Jago states a great way of doing that is through song. Students do not realize that their favorite song is a form of poetry. I agree with Cindy that anything can be turned into poetry and a great way of doing that is to have students write poems about themselves or focusing on a object that means a lot to them. It is a great way of teaching them a lot of the things they are writing is poetry.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people's post on Chapter 5 has been that they are not poetry fans. I find this interesting because I'm in the same boat. The lyrics part reminded me of a situation at Firestone where a boy showed me a poem that he wrote. It was more a rap, but he really enjoyed poetry and writing and I think that came from his love for music.
ReplyDeleteDissecting a poem is what I struggle with. It seems to me that we can all dissect something and get something different out of it, so that's why I hate people saying "no, that's wrong" because unless you're the author, you really don't know what the intentions were for it. I would rather have someone respect a students answer, even if it's not the best answer than to just say no because that makes students want to quit trying.
I love your quote. I am a quote guru and that's a great classroom one!