Unlocking the poets within

Friday, May. 13, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY – To commemorate National Poetry Month in April, students in grades 3-5 at Our Lady of Lourdes School delved into poetry, discovering that poetry is more interesting and fun than they had thought.

The month-long poetry unit took the students from an introduction to a familiarity with this literary genre. They learned about different types of poetic forms, devices and how to identify them, and how to better interpret a poem’s meaning. They also read and discussed a variety of poems, and conveyed their ideas, experiences and opinions through an original poem. 

Mrs. Brown’s third-graders began by learning how words help paint the picture they want to create in the poem. By listening to and reading a variety of poems, the students identified and selected their favorite phrases and key words to produce an imaginative formula poem. They also turned their words and images into a highly personal piece of art for their poem. The month concluded with the students presenting their poems to the class.

Mrs. Ferre, the fourth-grade teacher, believes that poetry is everywhere and that moments can be turned into poetry by writing down one’s thoughts.  

“I tell the kids the most important thing about poetry is that people feel differently after reading it,” said Ferre, who combined poetry reading with analytical and creative writing assignments throughout the month. For their final assignment, the students selected their favorite type of poetry and composed an original poem on a topic of their choice.

“I liked identifying and using descriptive words to share my feelings,” said fourth-grader Andrei Ryan. “It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.”

Fifth-grade teacher Mr. Little began his poetry lesson with a collection of poetry to help show his students the range of emotion and beauty poetry can hold.  

“I love focusing on poetry because it helps kids see the world God has created for them in a new light,” said Little, who believes that poetry is an ideal vehicle for enticing students to learn – poems are short and manageable, which makes it less intimidating to read and write one.

“I liked doing poetry. It makes it easy to express my feeling so that other people can understand it,” said fifth-grader Klowie Pike. 

Little concluded the month with a poetry slam in which each student read or recited their original work of poetry in front of their peers and parents, using voice and gesture to bring their words to life.

The teachers all agree that learning poetry helps students become more versed in writing and literature. Older students benefit from the language study and attention to detail; poetry’s rhythms and rhymes attract younger students to the beauty and functions of language. More importantly, though, it changes the way the students think about poems and their relationship to them as a reader.

Courtesy of Our Lady of Lourdes School