Informational Essay
Because of the popular practice of keeping students in the least restrictive environment, general education classrooms are seeing an increase in the number of students with learning differences. This means that teachers will need to adapt their instruction to meet the needs of these students so that they may be successful. The ability for students to read and write is paramount to their success in all subject areas. That being said, teachers must find a way to help facilitate reading and writing for students with learning differences. The implementation of poetry instruction is a powerful way to help students become successful readers and writers. An understanding of why poetry should be used, how it should be used, and why and how it is beneficial to students with learning differences are key to being able to successfully implement it in a classroom setting.
The first step to implementing poetry in the classroom, is gaining an understanding of why it should be used. It is natural for children to have a tendency to play with language (Cumming, 2007), and they are naturally attracted to songs, verse, and rhyme (Tompkins, 2012). The teacher should take advantage of this innate inclination by having students engage in the reading and writing of poetry. Language play, which occurs when students read and write poems, reinforces the development of metalinguistic skills (Cumming, 2007), and builds phonemic awareness, while enhancing the alphabetic principle, vocabulary, fluency, expression and writing skills (Stange, 2008). Using poetry during reading and writing instruction is a quick and engaging way to help build these important skills.
Customary poetry instruction tends to focus mainly on traditional poems. Students are exposed to mostly rhyming poetry written by adult authors, on topics that they have no personal connection to. This type of poetry instruction has no benefit to students in an elementary classroom. Poetry selected for use in the classroom should be based on students’ interests and experiences (Wicklund, 1989). When using poetry as a mentor text for writing, the authors of poems should be children. Using poetry written by authors around the students age shows them that poems can be about anything, can be easy to create, and allows students to make a personal connection with the author and the topic of the poem (Routman, 2000). When using poetry for reading and writing instruction, it is important to remember to select a wide variety of poems so that students can see there are many different styles. This will help children write their own poetry, because they will see that there is no one right way to do so.
While using poetry for reading and writing instruction is valuable for all students, it is especially beneficial for students with learning differences. The use of poetry during reading instruction allows students’ language development to be challenged without the worry of the material being too difficult (Sekeres, 2007). It is critical that students with learning differences still be challenged academically, but in such a way that they can be successful. Poetry is a great tool for this because it uses descriptive language and figurative language, but is written in short lines and is often not very long. The use of poetry instruction helps struggling readers improve their fluency, attention to the reading process, word recognition, and confidence (Lee, 2012). Since reading and writing are connected, these skills and confidence can then transfer to students’ writing. When a teacher with four special education students (two LD, one language delayed, and one behavior disorder) had her class write poems, she was unable to distinguish the poems written by the students with learning differences from the rest of the class (Routman 2000). Writing poetry allows students to loosen their linguistic and grammatical formality, and show readers versions of themselves that are otherwise unseen (Dean 2002). Since poetry does not rely heavily on standard grammatical conventions, and can be easily scaffolded, students with disabilities are able to express their thoughts with greater ease.
Using poetry during reading and writing instruction is a powerful way to help students with learning differences become successful readers and writers. There is a wealth of information educators must be aware of in order to provide quality poetry instruction. Being knowledgeable about why and how to use poetry, and how it benefits students with learning differences is the first step to creating a fun, engaging, and valuable poetry classroom.
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This informational essay discusses key research pertaining to poetry and how it is beneficial to students with learning differences.
References:
Cumming, R. (2007). Language Play in the Classroom: Encouraging Children's Intuitive Creativity withWords through Poetry. Literacy, 41(2), 93-101.
Dean, J. (2002). Simon Says: A Case Study of Simon, Poetry, and Success.Voices from the Middle, 10(2), 25-28.
Lee, G., & Hughes, M.(2012). The Interpretive Strategies Utilized by Elementary Students with and without Learning Disabilities in
Comprehending Poems.International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(3), 489-506. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from
http://www.iejee.com/4_3_2012/IEJEE.
Routman, R. (2000).Conversations Strategies for Teaching, Learning, and Evaluating. Portsmouth:Heinemann.
Routman, R. (2000). Kid's Poems Teaching Third and Fourth Graders to Love Writing Poetry. New York:Scholastic.
Sekeres, D.C., & Gregg, M. (2007). Poetry in third grade: Getting started. The Reading Teacher, 60(5), 466-475.
Stange, T., & Wyant, S. (2008). Poetry Proves to be Positive in the Primary Grades. Reading Horizons, 48(3), 201-212. Retrieved November 2, 2012,
from http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=reading_horizons
Tompkins, G. (2012). Poetry Writing. Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (6 ed., pp. 154-177). Boston:Pearson.
Wicklund, LaDonna. "Shared Poetry: A whole language experience adapted for remedial readers." The Reading Teacher 42 -7 (1989): 478-481.