Poetry as Community, Connection, and Celebration in the Classroom
Valerie Bolling, Founding Member of Diverse Verse, Author and Educator, shares her thoughts on Poetry as Community, Connection and Celebration in the Classroom…
I still remember the first poem one of my ELL students wrote. Sophie had recently arrived from Austria and didn’t know English. Her first poem was “Ha Ha Ha!” She used simple language and the repetition of “ha ha ha.” When she read it aloud, the class laughed along with her. It was an instant hit! It connected Sophie to her classmates and allowed her to be celebrated as they expressed their pleasure and support with applause.
This is why children must write poetry. Not only does it teach the readerly and writerly business of using precise language and selecting optimum word choices, but it also fosters community. When we write together and share our work, we create community. We celebrate each other and our writing, and we feel more connected.
Even students who struggle with more traditional writing assignments can experience success writing poems. Poems can be short; they’re fun to write; and students can experiment with rhyme and refrain ... or not. Students build their confidence as writers, composing poems and then transferring the skills they’ve learned to other forms of writing.
A great way to get students started writing poetry is to have them do two things:
1. Use a poetry form with a TEMPLATE.
2. Write about the subject they know best: THEMSELVES.
Having students write autobiographical poems is a wonderful way to write about what, or who, they know and to celebrate themselves. It also allows students to get to know each other – find out things they didn’t know and discover what they have in common. I like to supply students with two or three of the following poem templates.
Longer Poems
· I Am
· Autobipoem
· Pantoum
Shorter Poems
· Cinquain
· Diamante
· Limerick
NOTE: For these shorter poems, I encourage students to write at least three poems about themselves and string them together to create a longer piece.
I’ve also shared George Ella Lyons’ Where I’m From as a mentor text for students to write their own Where I’m From poems. (There are also templates for this poem, too, but the Lyons’ poem itself may be enough to inspire.) Of course, students have the option to choose to write a poem, celebrating themselves, that doesn’t follow any of these formats.
Once students have written poems, that’s when the community expands – getting feedback from peers to make revisions and then practicing reading the poem aloud in small groups. The community extends farther when there’s a class sharing, as I used to do in my classroom, where we invite parents and school personnel to join us. That’s a real celebration!
Keep the celebration going by making a booklet (printed or electronic) of students’ poems. Students can also be encouraged to submit their poems to the school literary magazine and other publications that accept – and even award – student work.
And don’t forget to write alongside your students and share your poems with them. After all, you’re part of the community and deserve to be celebrated, too.
Bio
Valerie Bolling is the author of the 2021 SCBWI Crystal Kite award-winning and CT Book Award finalist LET’S DANCE! (March 2020). In 2022 Valerie is happy to welcome TOGETHER WE RIDE (April) and RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN! (October). Sequels to these books as well as a Scholastic early reader series, RAINBOW DAYS, are slated for 2023.
A graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University, Teachers College, Valerie has been an educator for almost 30 years. She currently works as an Instructional Coach for Greenwich Public Schools and is on the faculty at Westport Writers’ Workshop. She is also a WNDB mentor and deeply immersed in the kidlit writing community, particularly involved with SCBWI, the 12X12 Picture Book Challenge, and Black Creators HeadQuarters.
Valerie and her husband live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater, and dancing.
Hair Love meets bike rides in this loving portrait of a father-daughter relationship.
Learning to ride is no easy feat! But with a little courage, a guiding hand from her dad, and an enthusiastic bark from her pup, one brave girl quickly learns the freedom that comes from an afternoon spent outside on a bike.
Experience the fear, the anticipation, and the delight of achieving the ultimate milestone in this energetic, warm story that celebrates the precious bond between parent and child.
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Perfect for:
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Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781797212487
From Publisher
https://www.chroniclebooks.com/collections/upcoming/products/together-we-ride?_pos=1&_sid=7307d654b&_ss=r
Purchase from Valerie Bolling’s Black-owned bookstore
https://www.multiculturalshop.com/product/together-we-ride-available-april-2022-/3734