About poetry

I have always thought that poetry had to rhyme. I also have always believed it must make sense to the reader. However, after creating my poems for my blog I realized that poetry doesn’t do these things all  the time. In my poem about the sea shell I found when I was 10 years old, I could not find rhyming words (nor did I want to). Also, although the poem can be understood by the reader, it was more about getting my memory down in writing for me.

Going through the process of trying to write my poems helped me to understand what children will face when they begin studying poetry. It may seem odd to them if they have not been exposed to different types of poetry. This is what happened to Jack in Love that Dog. He tried but could not write a poem at first. He progressed in time and created some very good work. Also, he went from being afraid of poetry to proud to have his name placed at the bottom of his work.

Out of all the poetry we were asked to read I preferred Love that Dog.It shows that with encouragement from a teacher, students can find a type of poetry that  they will enjoy. Also, students can pattern their works after their favorite author or authors. This will give them a point of reference for their own creations.  Another reason I liked this book was that they poems did not have to rhyme. Jack wrote his thoughts down and his teacher typed them into stanzas; turning his words into poetry. This is a wonderful way to encourage children to write poems.

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