In fact, kids are natural poets. Just turn on the tap and voila! Poetry pours out.
Kids think like beat poets, in small observations and spurts
of thought. That’s why I love to teach
them free-style poetry writing. It
mirrors the way they naturally see the world.
Poetic devices help to polish it up. If you teach kids one poetic device per day, and
let them try it, kids catch on quickly. If
you use that poetic device often during the school day, it becomes a regular
part of their language.
Then move on to the next device, step by step. Show them the natural arc of a poetic
structure; what might come first, next and last.
Set them loose, and kids will make perfect poems every
time. I’ve been creating these poems
with kindergartners for years, and I’ve never seen a bad poem—not even from my
just-off-the-boat ESL or RTI kids.
Advanced kids produce jaw-dropping stuff, and older kids get doodle-framed
paper with extra lines, to spin out verbal wonders till the cows come home.
And the pride on their faces is—well, poetic!
If you’d like 16 full writer’s workshop Poetry Lessons, with
detailed examples and charts to help your K – 5 kids write poems effortlessly,
please stop by my place. I’d be
overjoyed to share my time-tested recipe.
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