My Experiences with Poetry
- Lauren Vines
- Apr 29, 2020
- 3 min read
As I have mentioned in an earlier blog post, I have always loved poetry. It's always been something I have used to express my thoughts and feelings. Throughout this semester, I have been able to see poetry in a whole new light. I've gotten the opportunity to dive deeper into poetry and learn more about its forms. I never realized that there could be so much you can do with poetry and how it can be used as a learning tool for students of all ages. My love for poetry has grown and my understanding of it is greater than it's ever been before. However, I know there is so much more for me to learn.
One of the things I loved most about diving into poetry this semester is learning more about who I am as a poet and getting more experience composing my own work (see my favorite poems here). I loved reading the work of Amy Ludwig Vanderwater. She is a great mentor poet and I find her work very inspiring. Her website, The Poem Farm, is a great resource for teaching poetry as well as learning yourself. I'll post the link below!
Amy Ludwig Vanderwater writes most of her poetry about nature, which is something I love to do as well, so I felt very connected to her in a way. I think we would get along nicely. She wrote a book, a collection of poems, about observations in nature called Forest Has a Song. I used this book as a mentor text in one of my poetry invitations (see my poetry invitation using her poem "Bone Pile" here). In the lesson, I model writing a poem after Amy Ludwig Vanderwater which I titled "Butterfly Home" (you can also see this poem on my poetry page).
One of my biggest takeaways from learning poetry this semester is making observations and how to dive deeper into composing poetry. I learned that it does not have to rhyme to be beautiful, and that it can be about absolutely anything. Three of my greatest poetry role models this semester were Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, Valerie Worth, and my personal favorite, Dr. Beth Frye, who has inspired me so much as both a teacher and writer. Her love of poetry, especially about nature, is contagious. One of her favorite poets is Valerie Worth, whose book All the Small Poems and Fourteen More is a great mentor text for teaching poetry in the classroom as well as looking for inspiration yourself. It is filled with poems about nature.
One of my favorites parts about learning poetry this semester was not only learning who I was as a poet, but how I can encourage and lead my students in poetry. I was introduced to so many resources that are available for both teachers and students while teaching/learning poetry. I thought that as a first grade teacher, poetry would not be something I could teach my students. However, I was proven wrong while reading Regie Routman's book Kids' Poems: Teaching First Graders to Love Writing Poetry. In her book, Routman lists strategies, lessons, teaching methods, and advantages to teaching poetry in a first-grade classroom.
After having my own meaningful experiences with poetry and learning how to instill a love of poetry in my students, I feel much more prepared to take on this task in my classroom. I am thankful for my experiences with poetry and hope to inspire others through my own work. I am excited to see what my future students accomplish!
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