When I was One
I had just begun.
When I was Two
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four
I was not much more.
When I was Five, I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I’m clever as clever.
So I think I’ll be six now, for ever and ever.
A.A. Milne’s poem Now We Are Six is perfect for a toddler bouncing on a grandfather’s knee. The rhyming tempo matches the rhythmic movement. Poetry opens the mind and soul of a child to the wonders of the world.
POEMS FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE
Poetry has a significant role throughout our lives. Rock-a-Bye Baby soothes the infant to sleep by the swaying cadence of this primary poem. In childhood, Dr. Seuss delights the ear with a nonsensical verse that tickles the senses. Teenagers embrace the pulsations of RAP music that match the evolving emotions of their age. From e e cummings to Shakespeare, the world of verse lends a layer of lyrical culture to humans. Even at the end of days, the 23rd Psalm provides poetic solace to the grieving.
POETRY VALUE IN EDUCATION
Teachers affirm the value of incorporating poetry into childhood education. Proud to Be Primary cites five reasons how poetry is important as an educational tool: https://proudtobeprimary.com/reasons-teach-poetry-classroom/
· Build Reading, Speaking and Listening Skills
· Explore Language and Vocabulary
· Inspire Writing
· Encourage Creative Thinking
· Build a Love for Reading
“If children know eight nursery rhymes by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight.” http://timbuktu.me/blog/why-do-children-love-poems/
FOUR BENEFITS OF TEACHING POETRY
The importance of teaching, reading and writing poetry has been widely debated among educators. Some argue that the current emphasis on skill mastery and standardized tests leaves little room for the creative arts in the classroom. However, there is evidence that poetry has educational validity and has an important role in educating the total child.
According to Reading Rockets, good readers are “phonemically aware, understand the alphabetic principle, apply these skills in a rapid and fluent manner, possess strong vocabularies and syntactical and grammatical skills, and relate reading to their own experiences.” Poetry helps children develop these skills through reading and writing poems. https://www.readingrockets.org/news/everyday-learners-benefits-children-reading-poetry
1. POETRY BUILDS LITERACY
Research shows that poetry motivates children to read. An example is Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky nonsense verse that students love to imitate. “Twas brillig and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.” His poems use poetry to strengthen reading skills while creating entertaining stories.
2. POETRY HELPS UNDERSTANDING OF SELF AND OTHERS
The poems of Shel Silverstein are the best example of dealing with the emotions of childhood. His weird and wonderful verse flowing through Where the Sidewalk Ends delights children who can relate to the everyday experiences: I Cannot Go to School Today and “I asked for a hotdog with everything on it…”
3. POETRY CULTIVATES COMPASSION
Children who are developing social skills can learn about differences and sameness of others through poems. Two excellent illustrations are the frustration of Casey at the Bat and Hamlet’s confusion about life “To be or not to be, that is the question.”
4. POETRY PROMOTES LOVE OF LANGUAGE
Writing, reading and even performing poetry can be its own reward. Poems are a fun literary tool that help children learn in a creative, different and enjoyable way. From the moral awareness of The Grinch to the environmental message of The Lorax, playful words foster knowledge and understanding.
WHY POETRY?
Matthew Arnold, a Victorian poet claimed, “the crown of literature is poetry.” https://quotes.yourdictionary.com/author/matthew-arnold Both Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt memorized their favorite poems. Kings of old were expected to write poetry in addition to warfare and leadership skills. Unfortunately, poetry has fallen out of favor in the 21st century. Sometimes dismissed as unimportant or whimsical, it remains a powerful instructional tool for classroom teaching and learning.
Andrew Simmons writes in The Atlantic, “Poetry enables teachers to teach their students how to read, write, and understand any text. Poetry can give students a healthy outlet for surging emotion. Reading original poetry aloud in class can foster trust and empathy in the classroom community while also emphasizing speaking and listening skills that are often neglected….” https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/why-teaching-poetry-is-so-important
Poems are educational. Poems are stimulating. Poems are entertaining. When children are exposed to poetry, they develop fundamental skills that lead to school success. Through reading, writing and reciting poems, they discover the spectrum of emotions and the joy of the written word.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT POETRY
“I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree…” I learned and recited this Joyce Kilmer poem in first grade and can still recall every line. It introduced me to the world of poetry and its appreciation has peaked throughout my life. The message about the beauty of a tree also instilled an interest in nature and living things and influenced my future career choice as director of a nature center.
I have often wondered how I can recall all the words from T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a long and complex poem taught in most high school literature classes. What is it about rhyming verse that helps us remember the words of each stanza? Patrick Kiger presents scientific evidence using (fMRI) tests that the “human brain is hardwired for poetry.” https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-short-poems.
WHY I WRITE POETRY
Since childhood I have enjoyed creating rhyming poems for fun. I amused myself with sounds and words while my classmates played more conventional childhood games. I wrote poems to express the passions of youth…the pain of puppy love lost; the joy of friendships gained. I penned the class poem for our junior high yearbook and have written dozens of others for birthdays and special occasions.
Writing poetry has been an emotional outlet for my deepest feelings. Writing a eulogy for a friend or relative enables me to deal with my grief. Hurricanes, fires, school shootings and the recent Pandemic all inspire me. When tragic events disturb my life, I write poetry to help and heal. Conversely, when I am feeling elated, nostalgic or even silly, I compose my most creative verse.
what can I say about my love of writing
wondrous word play I find so inviting
never to ignore the Muses command
to grab my journal with pen in hand
compose those lines that make me smile
escape life’s messes for a short while
phrases that lift me to places ethereal
invoking times past and futures “mysterial”
inventing new words so mentally sensual
becoming next Poet Laureate…eventual?
POETRY IN MY TEACHING
Scholastic cites the value of using poetry to teach content in the classroom. https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-short-poems. My lifelong romance with poetry prompted me to incorporate it into my teaching. I expanded its more conventional instruction in language arts to other subject disciplines.
My students delighted in learning history through “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and “The Song of Hiawatha.” When my fifth graders had difficulty grasping the concepts of decimals, fractions and percentages, I made up poems that facilitated their math concepts. Poetry was an integral element of my teaching from science to social studies, even physical education and of course music.
An innovative approach to joining marine science with poetry is found in the newly published book Do You Know Me? Poems About the Sea. I collaborated on this collection of poetry with four other writers. Sixteen poems teach about sea creatures in the form of riddles. Facts about the animals and a glossary provide additional scientific information to enhance learning. It is my hope that this educational tool will prompt young readers to appreciate the magic of poetry- a phenomenon that has shaped my own life.
FINAL WORDS FROM AN ARTIST
Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt.
Poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.
Leonardo da Vinci
- About the Author
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Living my personal mission statement, “Each One, Teach One,” my greatest blessing is being the mother of two, grandmother of three and a lifelong educator. A graduate of UF and UNF, I am the former principal of St. Paul’s Catholic School in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and executive director of Tree Hill Nature Center in Jacksonville.
Since retirement my avocation is now my vocation – freelance writing. The technical writing of past professional life evolved into more creative genres of poetry, short fiction and memoir. My goal is to invoke the entire spectrum of human emotions in my reader: longing to laughter, pain to promise, despair to discernment.
