Does anyone have any suggestiong for introducing a poetry unit to 4th graders?

Question

I am currently students teaching in a classroom of very low to average 4th graders. My co-op would like me to do a unit on poetry. He suggested that I use this book called Love That Dog by Sharon Creech to introduce the topic. I'm not really feeling this book. I don't think that any child would actually write like this. Does anyone have any other ideas?

Answer 1

Oh the hoops school make new teachers jump through. My suggestion is that you NEED to start feeling the book--especially if your coop suggested you teach it. Remember you a guest in his/her classroom.

When you have a classroom of your own, then you can make the literature decisions.

Sorry for the reality check, but I have seen too many student teachers get poor final evaluations because they attempted to take over the classroom.

Your decisions now could be career enders later.

Good Luck....

Answer 2

You can start by introducing rhyming poems...some popular ones and some not-so-popular ones...but rhyming poems are not the only ones, so gradually introduce them to more complex poems as you go. Haikus are popular, not for me, but they work well for elementary school kids. To conclude your unit, you can host a "poetry reading" in the class and the students can choose their best piece to present, family may be invited to attend this as well. A lot of books and songs are poems, just in different forms, so you can look into that as well (try some dr.seuss books).

Answer 3

I wouldn't do anything like that. not everyone likes dogs. so some kids who are pet fanatics will be like "yay" and other's will be like "argh crap another stupid animal book." I'd suggest taking very basic poems, and have different themes, like humour, or horror, or something special like that. beucase if you have sometihng sort of gothic, the kids who are possibly depressed or dicouraged will be like "ooo we're allowed to write stuff like that?" and other children will enjoy the uplifting humour. showing genre poems are better than themed poems, because not everyone likes the same thing. When I was in school, i struggled becuase the teachers always gave me boring things to read, like always sometihng about the circus, which didn't interest me at all and i found boring. It wasn't until I read some E.A.Poe and i was in HIGH SCHOOL that I actually read. the raven isn't that scarey, but it was a very grim, eloquent air to it that should entice people who enjoy things the more out of the ordinary they are. and lymerics are fun to do with another majority of children

Answer 4

I read Love that Dog to my fourth graders and they loved it!! It is a very fast and easy read, so you could read it in addition to a poetry unit that you are conducting. The book has examples of classic poems from authors like Robert Frost, so you could collect other poems by him and others for the kids to read together and discuss. The shape poems that the book talks about are fun for kids to do and get creative with, even if they aren't good writers.

Fourth graders should be able to do acrostic poems very easily. (Write a word vertically, then think of words or phrases that begin with each letter. They like to do their name, or maybe "Mother" for mother's day gifts.) My students were able to write limericks and haikus fairly easily. We also looked at some Dr. Seuss and modeled his rhyme scheme and make-believe characters.

There is a LOT that you can do with poetry to make it very fun for children. During your unit, I would also recommend sharing a few funny poems each day with them that are meant for kids, like Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein. The Internet is FULL of lesson plans - even fill in the blank poems to make it easier for below-average writers.

Answer 5

try looking for clean rap lyrics. L.L. cool J has some very powerful and meaningful stuff. also look at reggae by Bob Marley. I'm suggesting this because today's kids will hook in right away to these lyrics which are poems put to rhythm and/or music. once you got them hooked, then you can take lead them into other genre.