Poetry

I'll be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of poetry. With that being said, I actually really enjoyed reading this book. It was awesome to see how the boy started out disliking poetry, but then each day he wrote in his journal (or whatever he was writing in) you could see his love for poetry growing. I loved how excited he got when he found out that Walter Dean Myers was coming to visit his classroom. I also enjoyed reading the thank you letter that Jack wrote for Walter Dean Myers. Sharon Creech did a really good job showing how Jack's feelings for poetry changed overtime.

I think this book would be great for students who do not like poetry. It would be good for them to see how Jack's feelings changed when he read poetry over a period of time. I think the main reason that students do not enjoy poetry is because they do not understand it. This book shows how Jack went from not understanding any of the poems that his teacher read to the class to him loving the poems that the teacher read to the class. I would definitely have my students write in a journal about the poems like Jack did so they could see how their feelings might have changed over time.

 

Shel Silverstein is one of my favorite poets. I remember when I was little and my older sister would read his poems to me. I still love reading his poems today. I included two of his poems that I used to love listening to when I was little. 

Questions to Consider: 

1. By definition, great poetry has amazing language. Notice and discuss what the authors do in their writing.

2. How can you help students both make meaning of poetry and enjoy it?