Did you know the use of poetry in the classroom has been on the decline in recent years? (Gill, 2007)
This statistic makes me sad, because poetry is a fantastic tool to use in the classroom--especially for struggling readers!
Below are four reasons why poetry is PERFECT to use with students with reading difficulties.
1. Less Text
Struggling readers often get overwhelmed when they see a long text passage or story, which makes the concise format of a poem less stressful. The text of a poem is often shorter, and the use of stanzas (groups of lines within the poem) chunk text on a frequent basis.
Chunked text, and less of it, reduce the overwhelm a struggling reader might feel. In addition, less text means a greater likelihood a struggling reader will be able to master the text more quickly. Experiencing reading success is a great confidence booster!
2. Build Phonological Awareness Skills
Did you know problems with phonological awareness have been identified as a major cause of reading difficulties? (Share, 2011) Phonological awareness skills are ESSENTIAL in order to become a successful reader, as they are the anchor to written words.
Awareness of the sounds in spoken language is required to learn letter-sound correspondences; to blend sounds together to decode a word; and to "map" words into long-term sight vocabulary. (Kilpatrick, 2015)
When teachers use poetry in the classroom, students will be building their PA skills. Students will be hearing rhymes, alliteration and syllabication.
Also, many poems lend themselves to the exploration of individual phonemes which helps build phonemic awareness. Make sure to check out Playing with Poetry to Develop Phonemic Awareness by Mary Jo Fresh, a professor of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. In this quick read, Fresh provides a variety of teaching ideas that would be easy to try in you classroom!
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| Phonological Awareness work in action! When students heard a word that ended with a long o sound--they highlighted it. |
3. More Opportunities to Read
The more we can get text in front of a student--the better! Poetry is often rehearsed and then performed--which is ideal for repeated readings. Struggling readers need lots and lots and lots of opportunities to interact with text. Rehearsal of poetry is an authentic way to provide those opportunities.
Repeated Readings don't have to be boring! Students could work with a partner, read the poem in a silly voice or record themselves reading the poem. Vary the way students re-read to increase engagement.
4. Increased Engagement
I can vividly remember the first time I heard a Shel Silverstein poem. I was in the fourth grade and my teacher, Ms. Child's read from Where the Sidewalk Ends. I was immediately hooked! On my next trip to the library, I checked out every Shel Silverstein book available!
And...that's all it takes to hook a reader......one exposure!
As teachers, we want to foster the love of reading in our students. Unfortunately, learning to read is REALLY hard work for struggling readers! And...when something is hard--we don't often enjoy it.
But, poetry. Poetry is different. It has that "something special" that kids crave!
Do you want more reasons why poetry is perfect for a student who struggles to read? Check out this article from literacy expert, Timothy Rasinski titled What's the Perfect Text for Struggling Readers? Try Poetry!
Now.....lets go turn that statistic around and start using more poetry in our classrooms!
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