Originally published in TEACH Magazine, November/December 2012 Issue
By Chris Colderley
Teaching poetry to children is often considered one of the most tedious aspects of the language arts. One of my colleagues, for example, once lamented, “If you want to turn the kids off, just mention the word poetry.” But much of the disdain for poetry is unfounded. In fact, it’s a lot of fun. Children who dislike language arts find enthusiasm and zeal for poetry. Even those students who struggle with writing find success experimenting with different poetic forms.
From a pedagogical point of view poetry is a key to teaching reading and writing. Knowledge of figures of speech, for example, is critical to comprehension, developing voice, and creating imaginative and descriptive text. Literary critic and educator Northrop Frye claims, “If literature is to be properly taught, we have to start at its centre, which is poetry, then work outwards to literary prose… Poetry is the most direct and simple means of expressing oneself in words.”1
Chris Colderley is an educator in Burlington, ON. He is a 2012 Book-In-A-Day International Fellow, and has conducted several workshops on using poetry in the classroom. His poetry has appeared in Canadian Teacher Magazine; Inscribed Magazine; Möbius, The Poetry Magazine; Maple Tree Literary Supplement; Quills Poetry Magazine; and Tower Poetry.
