April is National Poetry Month, and it is a time of year many teachers dust off their nursery rhymes and poetry books, only to tuck them away again once the month is over. However, in my English as a Second Language Classroom I liked using poetry all year-long. There are so many great reasons to use poetry with English Language Learners (and all other students too!). Here are just 5 of them:
Shorter Text
Because poems are typically shorter, students are less likely to be intimidated when presented with a poem over a full book to read. The shorter length also allows for more repeated readings to practice fluency and understanding. Once students are used to listening to and reading poems they may be comfortable writing their own. Again, the shorter text requirement will make some students more comfortable sitting down to write.
Rhyme
In my experience, rhyming can be a difficult skill for English Language Learners. Poems can help students familiarize themselves with identifying rhymes. When using a poem to work on rhyming skills explain to students where rhymes occur in poems (at the end of the lines). Present a familiar poem to students and point out a few rhyming words. Then do a choral reading and ask students to listen for rhyming words. Because they know where to look they will be more successful in finding rhyming words. Extend the practice by asking for additional words that fall into the rhyming pattern.
Rhythm
Most children’s poems are written with a repeating rhythm and rhyming structure. The rhythm helps students hear and practice oral fluency. Young learners, especially, love doing choral readings of poems and nursery rhymes. As they become more familiar with the text students can work on reading poems independently. Poems are a great way to increase a student’s oral fluency.
Vocabulary Development
Poems can offer an opportunity to use and study vocabulary in a new format. Students can identify new words in a poem and work to define them. You can slo ask students for other words which could be used in poems, and why poets chose the vocabulary they did. When using thematic poems students can look for their vocabulary words or create poems of their own with new vocabulary. You can find thematic poems in my TpT store.
Fun!
Finally, poems are fun! With so many different types of poems students are bound to find a poem they want to read over and over. One student may be drawn to silly poems, another to beautiful poems, and yet another to academic poetry. There are so many amazing books of poetry available today. I hope you’ll decide to keep them around all year!
Do you read poetry regularly in your classroom? Does your class have a favorite poem or poet? I'd love to hear about it! You can e-mail me at TeachingEternity@gmail.com or find me on Instagram @TeachingEternity.
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