Teaching Kids Poetry

Teaching Kids Poetry

Five Steps for Teaching Kids Poetry

There are a few basic steps that you can follow which will help you be comfortable teaching kids poetry and will help the students get the most out of it.

1. Read the poem aloud.

Have students listen to you as you read the poem aloud. If it is a difficult poem, you may want to give them some background information before you begin.

2. Identify and define words the students do not know.

Ask the students for words that they are unfamiliar with. Then, have the students write each word's definition on their sheet. You can either have a student look up the words in a dictionary, or you can have the definitions prepared ahead of time.

3. Read the poem aloud again.

Listening to a poem a second time will help students to understand it. Before you do   with other parts of the child's curriculum. You may say, "Does this poem remind you of any of the literature characters whom we have read about?"

4. Memorize the poem

If you are teaching a long poem, break it into smaller chunks and assign doable sections for students to memorize. Everyday recite part of the poem as a group. This really helps to ingrain the poem in the child's mind.

5. Recite the poem.

You may want to have students recite the poem in front of the class, or possibly at a recital where you invite parents or other students.